From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Kano State Government has released the sum of N880m for the rehabilitation of primary schools across the 44 local government councils of the state.
The state governor, Abduullahi Umar Ganduje, disclosed this, Sunday, while handing over the cheques of N20 million to each of the chairmen of the Community Promotion Committee in these local councils at the In-door Sports Hall, Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano.
“We are providing you with the cheques and also, with the bill of quantities so that the Promotion Committees would know precisely what they are expected to do” he added.
Ganduje declared that his free and compulsory education in the state was sacrosanct, adding that he had worked out a template for the sourcing of the required fund to cater for the additional costs of the new policy
“We have designed a blueprint for the financing of the free and compulsory education in the state, namely the provision of budgetary allocation of more than 26 percent of the budget, five percent of our IGR, five percent of local government statutory allocation as well as two percent of every contract awarded in the state” he stated.
The state, he also disclosed, was up –to-date in its payment of its counterpart fund, adding that they had paid the sum of N1.5 billion as counterpart fund and had received its equivalent from the to UBEC, which has been deployed in the execution of various projects in the education sector of the state.
Ganduje said that in the recent time, his administration has also reinvigorated the state Ministry of Education and the parastatals under it adding that all of them have been equipped to implement the education policy on free and compulsory education.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Kano State Basic Education Board, Dr. Danlami Hayyo had observed that the free and compulsory education has resulted in additional enrollment figures into primary schools in the state.
“Before the introduction of the free and compulsory education,the enrollment of primary school pupils in the state was 1.5 million, bt after the introduction of the policy the enrollment increased to 3.8 million” he said. End.