Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umar Radda, has launched education support programmes targeting 5,075 vulnerable beneficiaries, 66 primary schools and 12,675 disadvantaged pupils across the state.
The interventions include the disbursement of Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT), School Improvement Grants and the distribution of learning materials to vulnerable and orphaned pupils.
Governor Radda launched the programmes at the TESS Conference Hall in Katsina during a sensitisation programme organised by the Katsina State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) in collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
He said the interventions were designed to remove financial and material barriers to education and ensure that vulnerable children had access to quality basic education.
The governor explained that the CCT programme would support poor households, encourage regular school attendance and help reduce absenteeism, child labour and early marriage.
He said the 66 beneficiary schools would use the School Improvement Grants to address priority needs and improve their learning environments.
Radda also disclosed that 2,500 teachers recently recruited by the state government were selected based on community needs and merit to address teacher shortages across the state.
He said the recruitment was part of broader efforts to strengthen basic education and improve the quality of teaching and learning in Katsina.
Earlier, the National Chairman of the School-Based Management Committee, Abdullahi Umar Wazirin Gwandu, and the UBEC representative for the North-West commended the state government for its education interventions.
They called for stronger community participation in school development and urged stakeholders to support efforts aimed at improving access to quality education.
The Executive Secretary of Katsina SUBEB, Dr Kabir Magaji Gafiya, said the interventions would contribute to improved school attendance, retention and learning outcomes.
He added that sustained collaboration among the state government, education authorities, communities and other stakeholders would be important to ensuring that the programmes achieved their intended objectives.
