Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State on Thursday said that the state government would increase the funding of education to tackle increasing number of out-of-school children.
Ganduje said during the official flag-off of free and compulsory basic and secondary education in Kano, that the government would fund free and compulsory basic education with vigour.
He said that there are over eight million out-of-school children in Nigeria with one million of them from Kano State alone.
“We have earmarked N2.4 billion for a year for the funding of 1,180 primary and secondary schools with total of 834,366 pupils,” he said.
The governor said that the state government spent N318 million to provide free school uniforms for 779,522 newly enrolled pupils.
According to him, the government will also employ 3,000 voluntary teachers in order to reduce teachers’ deficiency.
Ganduje disclosed that his administration had abolished school fees in all public primary and secondary schools in the state.
He commended GPE/NAPEP for providing 790 digital classrooms, inclusive empowerment for teachers in the state.
He said that efforts of international donors would boost the education system and called on other stakeholders to support the state to achieve its aim.