Alhaji Haruna Dan-Katsina, the Chairman, Kebbi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), said yesterday that the state needed N5 billion to build more classrooms.

The need for provision of classrooms, he said, arose following an increase in the enrolment of primary school pupils.

Dan-Katsina said this while addressing the association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Birnin Kebbi.

He said that out of the 1. 2 million school age children in 1991, only 485,000 were enrolled, representing one third of children who were supposed to be in school.

Dan-Katsina said that out of the current enrolment need for 9,587 classrooms, only 5,764 classrooms were available, adding that 3,824 additional classrooms were required.

"All hands must be on deck to address the problem of shortage of classrooms as enrolment is increasing," he said.

He said that the board was determined to train more teachers to ensure that education at the primary level was enhanced. (NAN)