The Jigawa government has earmarked N10 billion for students’ and lecturers’ scholarship programmes in the 2026 proposed budget.

Malam Sa’idu, executive secretary of Jigawa State Scholarship Board, said this during the budget defence of the Jigawa House of Assembly Committee on Basic Education, on Thursday in Dutse. He said the fund would be used to fund domestic and foreign scholarship students and lecturers.

Mr Saidu said 120 lectures would benefit from the scholarship, and 100 medical students would be sponsored for foreign postgraduate programmes. The secretary said the students, comprising 60 males and 40 females, would study different fields of medicine in Cyprus.

“The government is building new health facilities across the state, which are expected to be manned by these foreign scholarship students. So, 100 of them will be sponsored to further their education after which they will come back and serve the state,” he said.

According to Mr Saidu, the board, in collaboration with the education ministry, requested that tertiary institutions of learning identify their critical areas of need for sponsorship of lecturers.

Meanwhile, the Jigawa government has allocated N700 million to the Jigawa State Polytechnic, Dutse.

The rector, Ahmad Badayi, said that N330 million was set aside for the supply of laboratory equipment and workshop tools, while N440 million would facilitate completion of ongoing projects in the institution.

Similarly, the government has set aside N900 million for the Jigawa State College of Education, Gumel. The provost, Dr Nura Muhammed, said the fund would facilitate the execution of 14 new projects and completion of the ongoing ones.

He listed some of the projects, including 1,000 metres of fencing to secure the school premises.

Abbas Abubakar, executive secretary of the Jigawa State Agency for Mass Education, said the government has proposed N400 million for mass literacy programmes in the 2026 fiscal year.

(NAN)