SHAWWAL 5, 1429 A.H.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 3 2008
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Nigeria spends N24bn debt relief fund on education —World Bank
The World Bank said Wednesday in Abuja that Nigeria spent about N2.4 billion (16.163 million dollars) from its debt relief fund on the education sector.
A publication by the bank entitled “Education Initiatives Funded From Debt Relief,’’ made available to the News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN ), showed that N702 million was spent on the Federal Teachers Scheme (FTS).
The scheme, introduced in 2006, was aimed at providing qualified teachers to disadvantaged states, to drive the UBE programme.
The publication also shows that about N400 million (3.300 million dollars) was spent on teachers upgrading programme, designed for grade two teachers.
NAN reports that the teachers upgrading programme, mounted by the National Teachers Institute (NTI), is aimed at upgrading some 145,000 grade two teachers nationwide to holders of National Certificate in Education (NCE).
The publication said about N501.55 million was spent on the provision of learning materials for schools and mass literacy councils.
It also said about N776 million was spent on the provision of infrastructure and furnishing of classrooms in some Colleges of Education.
The breakdown further showed that about N948 million was spent to scale up UBE programmes in the Federal Capital Territory, through the provision of classrooms and procurement of teaching materials.
About N100 million was also spent on gender education, provision of computers, sports facilities for boy schools and toilets in girls schools.
The publication said the federal ministry of education similarly spent N110 million on HIV/AIDS programmes at the basic education level, in the fight against the pandemic.
