Gombe flags off World Bank IDEAS

Gombe State government has flagged off World Bank’s Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS.)

The $200 million assisted education project aims to revamp science and technology studies in 40 Science and Technology Colleges (STCs) across the country.

The beneficiaries include the 22 federal STCs and 18 state STCs, three in each geopolitical zones.

The beneficiaries are: Gombe (North East,) Kano (North West), Benue (North Central,) Ekiti (South West,) Abia (South East) and Edo (South-South) as pilot states.

Each pilot states are to get N1 billion to revamp their colleges and courses to prepare them for self-reliance after graduation.

Governor Muhammadu Yahaya listed his many intervention programmes aimed at reviving the sector that was in deplorable state before assuming office.

Represented by his deputy, Manassah Jattau, the governor noted that youths have suffered long enough in the hands of successive governments, who often allegedly tapped on their vulnerability to lure them into thuggery and political touts.

The Commissioner for education, Dr. Aishatu Maigari, commended the governor for his foresight in rescuing the state from looming violence in the abandoned youths known for being prone to violence, thuggery and related crimes in future.

She, however, said IDEAS “will reduce graduate unemployment and strengthen their technical skills.”

She explained that the project will not only rehabilitate chosen STCs, but procure modern tools as well as retrain teachers in those schools, listing STCs Kumo, Tula and Gombe as chosen schools for technical trainings of the entire North East indigenes willing to key into the project.