Kwara to spend N2b on four mega schools

The Kwara Government has set aside N2 billion for the establishment of four mega schools in the three senatorial districts.
The state Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Alhaji Saka Onimago, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Ilorin, the state capital.
Onimago, who said the proposed mega schools would evolve under the Public Private Partnership arrangement, added that they would have facilities for sports, recreation and boarding.
According to the commissioner, one of the schools is expected to be for physically challenged persons.
“I am assuring you that the mega schools would be full boarding schools,” the commissioner said.
He pointed out that the education sector had the largest share of N12 billion in the 2013 budget, adding that no fewer than 400 classrooms had been rehabilitated.
Commenting on vocational education, Onimago said Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed had released N9 million for the resuscitation of vocational schools in the state.
He also said only qualified teachers would be considered for appointment while N40 million had been released for the increment in the salaries of promoted teachers.
He said: “Let me use this opportunity to warn that any teacher that refuses posting to rural areas would lose his or her appointment.
“The Kwara State Government will not tolerate a situation where teachers are influencing their posting and any teacher caught in the process would be dealt with.”
Onimago further said government was taking a lead in entrepreneurship and skills acquisition programme in line with its policy thrust.
He said Kwara State University’s Entrepreneurship Centre was saddled with the responsibility of developing the curricula for entrepreneurship studies in the state’s tertiary Institutions.