Taiwo Olawale
19 August 2008
Dutse — Jigawa State government may have taken a major step towards making secondary school education free and qualitative with the approval of the release of N654 million for the purchase of textbooks and other materials to be distributed free to all senior secondary schools in the state.
Commissioner for Information, Mohammed Aminu, who announced this at a press briefing in Dutse, said the State Executive Council (SEC) approved the purchase in order to make qualitative education available to all "Jigawa children no matter their parental background."
The money, he said, would be spent on the purchase of textbooks for core subjects and other related materials. "The sum of N654 million was approved for the purchase of textbooks for core subjects of English Language, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Dictionaries, which are complimentary to English Language, would also be purchased with dossiers and other materials for continuous assessment, as well as charts for all subjects."
Commissioner of Education, Professor Ruqqayatu Ahmad Rufaíi the state chose to start with the core subjects because of its determination to make the students proficient in them. Gradually, she said, all subjects would be covered.
In a related development, the SEC has approved the release of N82.7 million to the state College of Education in Gumel as second and third quarter budgetary allocations for the renovation of hostels and classrooms. The sum of N16 million was also approved for the purchase of computers, textbooks and teaching materials for Islamic schools by the Islamic Education Bureau.
The state Science and Technical Schools Board is to get N11 million for the purchase of a school bus for Government Technical School , Hadejia and a car for the boardís Executive Secretary.
Rufai' told THISDAY that the sums approved by council for purchases in the education sector were part of the state government's deliberate efforts to grow the sector into a strong one for sustainable development.
The state government had declared free compulsory and qualitative education for girls last year. Though this has not been extended to all students, the purchase of books for core subjects, observers say may be the first step towards that.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
