Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Federal Government has said that it has commenced disbursement of N220 billion to 17 states with high rate of out-of-school children in Nigeria under the platform of Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme.
According to the authorities concerned, now fewer than 13 states in the North West and North East geopolitical zones as well as Oyo, Ebonyi and Rivers states have been selected to benefit from the disbursement based on the prevalence of the scourge.
Deputy Director, Press, Federal Ministry of Education, Bem Goong, in a statement released in Abuja, yesterday, said the Minister of state for education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, disclosed the information during the launch of the programme in Adamawa state.
He said fund was a credit facility secured from the World Bank for states as grant to enable them fight the scourge of out-of-school children as well as strengthen basic education in their respective jurisdictions.
He urged beneficiary states to commence implementation of the programme in line with specific steps and guidelines provided under the programme, confirming that Adamawa state has successfully commenced the implementation process.