Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State on Thursday flagged off school enrollment campaigns for the school-age children ahead of the 2023/24 academic year.
Speaking in his remarks during the program, the governor identifies Out-of-School Children including those who have never been enrolled and those who have dropped out for re-admission and enrolment.
He said the drive will Involve Community and Religious leaders as well as development partners in mobilizing and making schools more child-friendly by providing life skills materials to make Education more relevant and attractive.
Giving insight into some of his achievements since his assumption into office, he said, “During the year under review, we have collaborated with the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) in establishing three (3) new skills-based Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) one in each of the state’s Senatorial Districts.
” These schools are located in Sifawa, Wamakko, and Wurno, which were officially commissioned in May 2024 by the then State Minister of Education, Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu, we have also paid One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (N150,000,000.00) as State counterpart fund and Fifty Million Naira (N50,000,000.00) the take-off of the Agile program in the state.
“Our Government also constructed 147 classrooms, and renovated 142, provided 208 VIP toilets, school fencing and boreholes among others, so as to provide conducive environment for learning.
“In order to enhance their knowledge and performance, training and retraining of teachers had been conducted in all the 23 LGEA in the state. We have also procured and distributed 9,852 set of furniture for both pupils and teachers In addition to provision of other basic school needs
“We have re-introduced and improved School Feeding covering 23 Boarding Schools with a population of 17,367 Students, costing N680,786,400.00 annually. Provision of Sporting facilities across the public schools in the State. Payment of external examination fees for final year students irrespective of their state of origin”
The Governor further said that, “Free feeding for all Boarding students in the secondary schools and three (3) Boarding primary schools; 2,000 teachers have been employed and deployed to teach at Secondary and Nomadic Schools across the state;
“We have introduced monthly imprest of N200,000 to all secondary schools for minor repairs and maintenance of basis facilities in the school”
The governor also announced that his administration recently awarded contracts for the total renovation and remodelling of some Secondary and Primary Schools in the state. They include Command Military Schools located in Giginya Barracks and Shagari local government, Government Science Secondary School Yabo, Nagarta College, and Sultan Abubakar College Sokoto among others.
He reiterated his administration’s determination to make education better than he met it. The governor therefore appealed to parents and Guardians in the state to support his administration by ensuring that their wards attend schools regularly.
“To achieve an educated society, all hands must be on deck.
“Similarly, I want to call on all the Schools-Based Management Committees and our community, Traditional and Religious leaders, to assist in protecting schools infrastructures from vandalization. We need to understand that it is the taxpayer’s money that is being spent to put in these structures. Therefore, we must protect them” he added.
