As schools resume for the 2024/2025 academic session, no fewer than 43 boarding schools in Niger state have received cooking utensils and classroom furniture across the 25 local government areas of the state.
This is even as the government has said, it will spend half of the total budget of 2025 on education and health.
Some of the Kitchen utensils distributed include 5,000-litre capacity Water storage tanks, Frying pans, Plastic drums, Grinding machines, Cooking pots and plastic trays, buckets, serving spoons, big coolers, and turning sticks.
Others are chopping boards, Mortar and pestles, Torch lights, Kitchen knives, Perforated cooking spoons, iron basins, Student plates, measuring jugs, big fire stands and Student food warmers, among others.
The Secretary to the State Government, Abubakar Usman, who represented Governor Umar Bago, said the idea is to enhance school feeding initiatives, to ensure that nutritious meals are prepared and served safely to the students.
He further added that the State government will extend the policy beyond improving school kitchens to empowering students to take pride in their education and aspire to be the best in their chosen endeavours and announced that the government plans to spend half of the total 2025 budget on education.
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The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Hadiza Mohammed disclosed that the State presently has 43 active boarding schools under the government’s direct feeding programme.
These include 34 conventional boarding schools and 8 integrated Quranic Education Schools, serving a total of 9,382 students, with the number expected to rise to 12,000 in the coming 2024/2025 academic session.
Some of the Students appreciated the Governor for the gesture.
The distribution of Kitchen utensils has been described as a significant step in the collective effort to enhance education in the State.
(Editor : Ena Agbanoma)
