#NEWS - Kaduna Govt disburses grant to boost education

The Kaduna State Government says it has disbursed about 85 per cent of the 21 . 5 million dollars World Bank grant to boost access to quality basic education in the state.

Mallam Dahuru Anchau, the Director of Public Schools , Ministry of Education , told the News Agency of Nigeria in Kaduna State on Sunday that the amount was disbursed between 2016 and 2019 .

Anchau added that the remaining 15 per cent would be disbursed within the year.

He said that the 21 . 5 million dollars were part of the 100 million dollars grant being disbursed in Kaduna , Kano , Katsina , Jigawa and Sokoto state under the Global Partnership for Education project .

Anchau, who coordinated the three -year project in the state, explained that the project was to support the benefiting states in strengthening the quality of basic education .

He added that the goal was also to increase access to quality education , particularly the girl -child and Almajiris .

According to him , the project is targeted at providing N45 , 000 as a scholarship to 15, 000 primary one to three girls from poor and backward communities in the state.

“ It also supports female teachers annually to enable them to obtain Nigeria Certificate in Education , the minimum teaching qualification in the country, ’’ he said

Anchau said that the project provided grants for school ’ s improvement to the over 4 , 200 primary schools in the state.

“ So far , 4 , 260 primary schools , 249 Islamiya schools have benefitted from the grant , while 1 , 600 pre-primary schools would benefit this year.

“ Similarly , 20 , 000 girl -child and 1 , 053 female teachers have benefited from the N45 , 000 annual scholarship to encourage them to pursue their studies , ” he added .

Anchau, who described the project as a huge success , said that it significantly increased the enrolment and retention of the girl -child in primary schools .

SOURCE - ( NAN )