Niger revives bursary payments to students
Taraba State government’s decision to extend schools’ resumption date by an additional one week has become a source of concern to private school owners across the state.
Resumption of schools, which ought to commence today, was extended to September 11, which did not go down well with owners of private schools in Taraba.
The Ministry of Education, through the Director, Quality Assurance Services, Amos Telduol, had announced: “I have been directed to inform all headteachers, principals and proprietors of private schools in Taraba that the ministry has extended school resumption by one week.”
The ministry’s circular added that “students of exchange programmes will now resume on September 17, 2023.”
Piqued by the development, most of the private schools’ owners confided in The Guardianthat they were not consulted by the ministry before the decision to extend resumption date.
Senior staff of the Ministry of Education, under anonymity, tied the extension to the inability of the state government to meet up with its promises to public schools.
On assumption of office in May, Governor Agbu Kefas had announced free education in public schools and promised to give the pupils free uniforms and textbooks, promises, which are yet to be fulfilled at the time of filing this report.
TO cushion the effect of petrol subsidy removal by the Federal Government, Niger State Government has disclosed plans to resuscitate bursary payment to indigent students in tertiary institutions.
Governor Mohammed Bago announced the plan at his maiden press briefing at Government House, Minna, at the weekend.
He explained that the government was aware of the people’s pains; hence, the need for stakeholders at all levels to support the government to enable it to provide dividends of democracy to citizenry.
Bago hinted that very soon, the government would soon launch 200 luxurious buses to provide free public transportation to pupils in all public schools, adding that another 100 buses that would ply Suleja to Abuja would be provided by the government.
