Katsina State Governor, Malam Dikko Umaru Radda, has flagged off the second phase of School Improvement Grants worth ₦6.1 billion for 110 schools across the state as part of efforts to strengthen basic and secondary education infrastructure.
Governor Radda announced the disbursement at a ceremony held at the TESS Project Office in Katsina, where he also commissioned a newly constructed 500-capacity conference hall.
The governor said the ₦6,116,343,477 grant would support the construction of additional classrooms, renovation of dilapidated school buildings, provision of gender-sensitive toilets, and access to safe drinking water in schools in line with Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) standards.
He described the initiative as part of his administration’s commitment to building an inclusive, functional and accountable education system capable of preparing children for global competitiveness.
“Our vision is to build an education system that is inclusive, functional, accountable, and capable of preparing our children to compete effectively in the modern world,” Radda said.
The governor stressed that education remains central to sustainable development, noting that meaningful investment in human capital was necessary for the state’s progress.
Radda also distributed specialised learning materials and assistive devices to students of the School for the Blind in Katsina and the School for the Deaf in Malumfashi as part of efforts to promote inclusive education.
He highlighted achievements recorded under the Transforming Education System at State Level (TESS) project, including the distribution of textbooks in Mathematics, English and Computer Studies, provision of digital tablets to teachers, and training of 28,000 teachers on modern teaching methods and structured pedagogy.
According to him, CCTV cameras have been installed in 130 schools to improve security, while motorcycles were distributed to monitoring and evaluation officers across the 34 Local Government Education Authorities to strengthen supervision in rural communities.
“These funds must be utilized with the highest level of transparency, prudence, and accountability, strictly in accordance with the approved guidelines,” the governor stated.
Radda disclosed that the government had established a monitoring committee comprising representatives of anti-corruption agencies, the State Project Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Team, Katsina State Development Management Board, and the Office of the Head of Service to ensure proper implementation of the projects.
He said the committee would ensure compliance with UBEC minimum standards and position the state to benefit from performance-based rewards from development partners, including the World Bank.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Hon. Yusuf Suleiman Jibia, said the AGILE Project was advancing inclusive education through the distribution of specialised learning materials to children with special needs.
He described basic education as the foundation for national development and social transformation.
Chairman of the Katsina State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Alhaji Kabir Magaji, commended Governor Radda for what he described as remarkable progress in the education sector, saying the interventions had restored public confidence in the school system.
State Project Coordinator of the AGILE Project, Abubakar Abdulhamid, disclosed that 104,111 girls had benefited from the project’s conditional cash transfer programme aimed at improving school attendance and reducing dropout rates.
According to him, the project has so far constructed 75 new secondary schools, with 65 already completed and handed over, while 581 secondary schools have been upgraded through School Improvement Grants, benefiting more than 778,000 students.
He added that 3,099 classrooms had been renovated and 279 new classrooms constructed under the programme.
Also speaking, TESS Project Coordinator, Hajiya Binta Abdulmumini, said the project had procured an 18-seater vehicle for supervision activities and distributed 25,000 copies each of Mathematics, English and Computer Studies textbooks to pupils in Primary 4 to 6 across the state.
She noted that the achievements recorded under the TESS Project reflected Governor Radda’s commitment to transforming the education sector in Katsina State.
