The Bauchi government says it has rehabilitated and constructed 300 basic and post-basic schools to enhance access to free quality education.

Jalaludeen Usman, spokesman for the education ministry in Bauchi, disclosed this while presenting the scorecard of Governor Bala Mohammed’s administration in the last year.

He said Mr Mohammed’s administration, in collaboration with the African Development Bank, constructed three new model primary schools in Mashema, Dagauda, and Yalwan Duguri.

Mr Usman said the administration also deployed 2,000 newly recruited qualified teachers to basic schools, while 1,000 others went to senior secondary schools, as part of an effort to address teacher shortages in the state.

The spokesman said the state government prioritised teacher development programmes to expose them to modern teaching methodologies to enhance the delivery of quality education.

The gesture, he said, would provide the pupils and teachers with a dignified, safe and conducive learning environment.

He said the governor had approved the release of ₦793 million to pay the 2025 external examination fees for 25,410 indigent students in the state.

Mr Usman listed the examinations as including the National Examination Council, the National Business and Technical Examinations Board, the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies, and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.

The state government, he said, initiated a comprehensive infrastructure development project to revitalise the education sector in partnership with the federal government and development partners.

He said the administration provided 30,474 units of furniture, constructed 880 blocks of temporary shades for IQE, and 12 blocks of 4 classrooms under the UBEC Smart Model School project.

To address out-of-school children syndrome, Mr Usman said the administration had completed mapping 21,000 non-formal Qur’anic schools to fast-track their integration into the formal school system.

Also commenting, Ladi Mohammed, project coordinator of the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment, said the governor has demonstrated great commitment towards advancing girls’ education in the state.

AGILE is being implemented with the support of the World Bank to improve educational opportunities for adolescent girls.

She said the state government had embarked on the construction of 42 new schools, comprising 21 junior and 21 senior secondary schools, equipped with modern facilities such as solar power, gender-separated toilets, and security measures.

According to Ms Mohammed, plans are underway to renovate 1,003 schools to create a safe and conducive learning environment for the girl child.

The coordinator said that 835 junior and 168 senior secondary schools would be constructed under the project.

On his part, Usman Shall, secretary of the National Union of Bauchi State Students, commended the Mohammed administration over the disbursement of the scholarship to its members.

He said payments had been made to many students studying at various institutions in the country.

(NAN)