RUFA'I LAUDS KATSINA GOVT FOR PRIORITISING EDUCATION
••Rufa'i
The Minister of Education, Prof. Ruquayyatu Ahmed Rufa'i, has commended the Katsina State Government for placing education first on its development agenda as demonstrated in its allocation of about 23 per cent of the state's budget to the sector.
Prof. Rufa'i made this observation in Abuja, during a courtesy visit by a delegation led by the Katsina State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Aminu Kurfi. She noted that the consistent priority attention the state has been giving education since 2007 has helped to address many of the great challenges in the sector.
She particularly expressed satisfaction with the level of achievements recorded in Girl Child enrolment and retention in schools due to the various measures introduced and the high quality infrastructure provided which are now serving as model to other states.
She however urged the state government to match the achievements so far recorded in access to education with quality assurance through training and retraining of their teachers even as she expressed Federal Government's preparedness to partner with states as well as provide the necessary framework towards the improvement of the education sector.
Prof. Rufa'i assured Katsina State of partnership, stressing that the Federal Ministry of Education alone cannot achieve the mandate of transforming the sector without active collaboration with the states. She stressed that all possible support would be extended to states even as she advised the States' Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEBs) to come up with its annual work plan and the matching grant with a view to accessing the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Education Grant which are disbursed every year.
On the request for TETFund intervention for the new Faculty of Medicine at the Umaru Musa Yar'Adua University Katsina, the Minister referred the issue to the Executive Secretary, TETFund, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu who advised the delegation to come up with the specific aspect of the project for which intervention is required. According to him, the university is already on the list of universities enjoying the Fund's intervention since the last five years.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Kurfi who was accompanied by the Special Adviser to the Katsina State Governor on Higher Education, Hon. Shehu Garba Matazu, the Special Adviser on Girl Child education and others had briefed the Minister on the achievements of the State in the Education sector and presented documents on areas of possible assistance.