Kwara gets N7b grant from UBEC to fix schools

Seven years after blacklist, Kwara Government said it has received N7.2 billion grants from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).

This is the first time since 2013 when the state was blacklisted from the national scheme.

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has spent the last one year working to reposition basic education in the state, beginning with the payment of N450 million diverted funds which had brought the state under the hammer of the UBEC.

The N7.2 billion is a accumulation of UBEC grants that were not accessed between 2014 and 2019.

The money was not accessed because the former administration failed to pay its counterpart funds, Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development Hajia Fatimah B Ahmed has said in a statement.

The UBEC grants are meant for rehabilitation of dilapidated basic schools, construction of new ones, equipment of the schools with ICT tools, training of teachers, and project evaluation, among other purposes contained in the UBEC work plan.

The commissioner added: “This money would be spent in phases over the next two years to fix up to 600 elementary schools out of the over 1400 decrepit basic education facilities across the state. “The projects would be monitored by UBEC to ensure compliance with the work plan submitted by the government.

“This development has taken Kwara State out of the bottom position in the ranking of states with highest figures of outstanding UBEC grants.

“The pitiful state of basic education infrastructure in the state is a reflection of the failure to access UBEC funds and the near-zero investments in the sector over the past few years.”