Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State has launched a comprehensive school enrollment campaign targeting out-of-school children, including those who have never been enrolled and those who dropped out.
Speaking at the event on Thursday, the governor emphasized the need for collaborative efforts involving community and religious leaders, as well as development partners, to mobilize support and make schools more child-friendly by providing life skills materials to enhance education’s relevance and appeal.
Highlighting his administration’s achievements in education since taking office, Aliyu said, “During the year under review, we collaborated with the Federal Ministry of Education to establish three new skills-based Junior Secondary Schools, one in each senatorial district. These schools, located in Sifawa, Wamakko, and Wurno, were officially commissioned in May 2024 by the then Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu.”
He further noted that the state government paid ₦150 million as a counterpart fund and an additional ₦50 million for the take-off of the Agile program. “Our government constructed 147 classrooms, renovated 142, and provided 208 VIP toilets, school fencing, and boreholes to create a conducive learning environment,” he added.
In a bid to enhance teacher performance, the governor revealed that training and retraining programs had been conducted across all 23 Local Government Education Authorities. Additionally, 9,852 sets of furniture for pupils and teachers were procured and distributed, alongside other essential school supplies.
Governor Aliyu also outlined efforts to improve student welfare, stating, “We have reintroduced and enhanced school feeding in 23 boarding schools, benefitting 17,367 students at an annual cost of ₦680,786,400. Sporting facilities have been provided across public schools, and external examination fees are now covered for final-year students regardless of their state of origin.”
Further achievements include the employment and deployment of 2,000 teachers to secondary and nomadic schools, free feeding for boarding students in secondary and primary schools, and a monthly maintenance grant of ₦200,000 for minor school repairs.
The governor announced the award of contracts for the renovation and remodeling of several schools, including Command Military Schools in Giginya Barracks and Shagari, Government Science Secondary School Yabo, Nagarta College, and Sultan Abubakar College, among others.
Reiterating his administration’s commitment to improving education, Aliyu appealed to parents and guardians to ensure their wards attend school regularly. “To achieve an educated society, all hands must be on deck,” he said. He also called on school-based management committees, community leaders, and religious leaders to protect school infrastructure from vandalism, stressing that public funds had been invested to provide these facilities.
“The taxpayer’s money is being spent to build these structures, and it is our collective responsibility to safeguard them,” he added.
