Jigawa govt spent over N20bn on education in two years — Commissioner

Jigawa State Government said it has invested more than N20billion in education in less than two years, leading to a number of teachers in the state teaching service jumping to 5,986 from 2,566 where it stood in 2023, with additional school infrastructure offered to provide a quality learning environment.

The State Commissioner for Higher Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Isa Chamo, made this known at the weekend on the sideline of the 14th Anniversary and Award Ceremonies of the Nigerian NewsDirect, which was held in Lagos.

The commissioner, who was part of the top government functionaries dispatched to receive the newspaper’s Governor of the Year Award in Agro-Investments and Security for Namadi, noted that the governor had recorded a giant push for higher education in the state by employing over 3000 teachers and building school infrastructure to provide a quality learning environment.

“Governor Namadi spent over N20,000,000,000, invested in education in Jigawa state under the present administration,” Chamo said.

He said that the number of teachers in the state was raised from 2, 566 in May 2023, to 5,986, adding that the administration had procured and distributed over 10,000 3-seater desks for students while 5,000 staff furniture were provided at various schools.

Chamo further added that a total of 3,500 double beds were procured and distributed to boarding schools with 3,840 mattresses to go with, disclosing that 564 tabs were distributed to senior secondary school principals to enhance digital learning skills amongst teachers while 300 routers were procured and distributed.

Besides, the commissioner said the Namadi’s administration had ensured the provision of internet connectivity across the 293 senior secondary schools in the state to ensure access to a wide range of educational and information resources.

According to him, over N200 million has been used to develop a digital teaching and learning platform tagged J-Compete programme, saying that this had helped both teachers and students with numerous resources in the learning environment.

This was just as he disclosed that Governor Namadi’s administration had improved school feeding by 200 per cent from N180 per student to N450 per student, saying that this had made expenditure for school feeding programme to rise from N1.1 billion to N3.4 billion annually.

Speaking further, Chamo said that the government had equally carried out various capacity training programmes for teachers, school principals and directors to enhance their capacity, adding that the administration had carried out several interventions, including Femalethe  Teacher Development Scheme, Girls for Health Programme, free schools uniforms for girls, registration fees for law students, among others.

Also speaking, Technical Adviser to Governor Umar Namadi on Basic Education, Dr. Hauwa Alhassan, said that the administration had taken basic education to the top of the ladder.

She said that the governor had, with the implementation and success of the J-Teach Programme, addressed the shortage of teachers in rural and underserved areas, “with notable improvements in teaching quality and student engagement.”

Alhassan said that the state had improved collaboration with NGOs and strong partnerships with organisations like PLAN and PLANE for educational development and empowerment of educators.

“The administration has enhanced inclusion of children with disabilities, introduced specialised programmes and infrastructure, to ensure access to quality education for children with disabilities,” she said.

Speaking further, Alhassan said that the governor had invested in Nomadic Schools, pointing out that such move had “expanded educational opportunities for nomadic communities, ensuring access to education irrespective of their mobility.”

Besides, she said strategic interventions were made under Namadi’s administration to revert the schools used as IDP camps back into functional educational institutions, noting that the governor had put a special focus on Early Childhood Education, foundational literacy and numeracy programmes.

Meanwhile, Governor Namadi, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Malam Bala Ibrahim, to receive the award, said he was pleased with the recognition, expressing happiness that his contributions to the development of his state and the people were being acknowledged.

Ibrahim said Governor Namadi was highly elated with the recognition of his investments in agriculture, security, education and health for the benefit of the people, saying that the award would serve as an inspiration to do more and work for the betterment of the people of Jigawa.

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