The Kaduna State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to providing every child resident in the state free primary, secondary and technical as well as vocational education.
An extraordinary meeting of the Kaduna State Executive
Council, held on Monday, 7th November 2022, described the provision of free
education for the first 12 years of schooling as a legacy achievement of the
state government.
A statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media and
Communication, Mr Muyiwa Adekeye on Tuesday, said that Governor Nasir El Rufai
chaired the State Executive Council.
The statement added that the ‘’ extraordinary meeting of the
Kaduna State Executive Council discussed a memo from the Ministry of Education
on sustainable funding for the maintenance of school facilities.’’
The Special Adviser further said that the ‘’Executive
Council stated that the Kaduna State Government will continue to faithfully
implement the free senior secondary education policy and to discharge the
primary responsibility for its public schools.’’
According to him, ‘’the Council recalled that in 2015 the
government explicitly banned payment of PTA fees and other levies in public
schools in order to ensure that the free education policy actually delivers
education without burdening parents with hidden fees or levies.’’
‘’Therefore, the Council observed that the circular issued
by the Ministry of Education to school principals on collection of nominal fees
is not consistent with government policy, and is thus invalid,’’ Adekeye added.
The governor directed that the ‘’circular from the Ministry
of Education to the heads of schools, dated 1st November 2022, is therefore
rescinded with immediate effect, and all monies that may have been collected
should be refunded forthwith.’’
The statement said that the Council noted that community
participation and ownership in the administration of public schools is what led
to the creation by law, of School Management Boards and School-Based Management
Committees with membership drawn from all concerned stakeholders.
‘’Accordingly and noting that some alumni associations, community
groups, charities and persons of means may be interested in further supporting
particular schools, the Council directed the Ministry of Education to develop a
suitable framework to guide school heads, parents, old students’ associations,
communities and other donors that may want to contribute to the development of
any public school in the State’’, Adekeye pointed out.
The statement said that the framework is necessary in the
interest of accountability and transparency, adding that it ‘’ will be widely
debated by stakeholders and approved by the State Executive Council before
subsequent dissemination as an official directive to the Principals and Heads
of Schools.
According to the statement, the governor ‘’stated that free
education is the pillar of the Kaduna State Government’s commitment to human
capital development and social mobility for the children of the most vulnerable
residents of the state.’’
‘’With careful implementation since 2015, this policy
guarantees every child access to education from the first year of primary
school to the completion of the final year of senior secondary school or
technical/vocational school.
‘’Free education, up to the completion of senior secondary
school, reflects the government’s abiding belief in promoting equality of
opportunity and expanding access to education as a lever of social mobility.
‘’KDSG’s deep conviction that government has an obligation
to provide free education up to senior secondary level or its equivalent has
been expressed in legal provisions that make it compulsory for every child to
go to school for 12 uninterrupted years, since the financial obstacle
represented by school fees has been removed,’’ the governor reiterated.
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