As a
way of reducing the human capital deficit hampering the seamless development of
the state, Governor Abdullah Umar Ganduje administration in Kano State says it
has committed over N1.8 billion in providing sponsorship for indigenous
students studying in foreign and local universities.
The
investment, done by the administration in the past eight months, covers payment
of tuition fees as well as up-keep allowance for the students, in addition to
other forms of support.
Mohammed
Garba, Kano State commissioner for information, youths, and culture, who made
this disclosure while briefing journalists in Kano, said the investment was in
keeping faith with the policy initiated by the immediate past administration in
the state.
According
to Garba, the investment is geared at ensuring that the students complete their
programmes of study on record time, which will go a long way in enabling the
benefitting students to contribute to the development of the state.
In
order to make the investment more benefiting to the state, the commissioner
said the current administration had fine-tuned the programme by signing bond
with the benefitting students.
“When
we came into office as a government we discovered that the sponsorship
programme which ordinarily should has been situated in the State Scholarship
Board was scattered in different ministries.
“We
also discovered that there was no formal agreement signed with the benefitting
students, on the need for them to come back after completing their programmes
of study to serve the state.
“So,
what we need was to capture the data of the beneficiaries across the world, and
centralised the programme under the State Scholarship Board, and sign a bond
with the students which commits them to coming back to serve the state after
might have complete their studies,” Garba said.
In the
same vein, the commissioner stated that the state government was also fine
tuning the programme by ensuring that the human capital development was carried
out in local universities, rather than the present trend whereby most of the
programmes were being done in foreign universities.
“We are
looking at the possibility in which we focus on sponsorship of students in
local universities instead of aboard which is more expensive. As part of the
review of the programme we have also resolved to assist other students, who are
from the state that are not enjoying any form of support.
“In
order to help this class of students we have kick start the payment of bursary
to all our students studying locally, over N500 million has been expended in
this regard,” he said.
He also
disclosed that the state government had in addition expended several millions
of naira in ensuring the accreditation of courses in the two state
universities, as well as other tertiary institutions of learning in the state.
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