Kwara State Government has finally received N7,151,142,190 grants from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), after the state was blacklisted from accessing such fund from the national scheme in 2013.
UBEC had accused the previous administration of diverting N450million funds which had brought the state under the hammer of the agency.
The grant is expected to be used for fixing of 2,000 dilapidated buildings of elementary education (primary schools) and basic education (Junior Secondary Schools) in the state.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq administration made serious effort in the last one year with the payment of the N450million to reposition basic education.
The governor explained that" the N7.1billion is a cumulation of UBEC grants that were not accessed between 2014 and 2019."
According to him "the money was not accessed because the former administration failed to pay its own counterpart funds."
"This money will be spent in phases over the next two years to fix up to 600 elementary schools out of the over 1,400 decrepit basic education facilities across the state",he revealed.
The UBEC grants are meant for rehabilitation of dilapidated basic schools, building 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 State Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development ,Hajia Fatimah Bisola Ahmed in a statement on Thursday said that "the projects will be monitored by UBEC to ensure compliance with the work plan submitted by the government,”
Her words “This development has taken Kwara State out of the bottom position in the ranking of states with highest figures of outstanding UBEC grants"
The Commissioner blamed the structural decay in several schools in the state on failure of government to access the fund from UBEC
" 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.”
To ensure work are done according to specification, the government is organising a three-day workshop for local contractors and anyone interested in working with the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KW-SUBEB).
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