With an enrollment figure of over 70,000 children Sokoto state has been adjudged, under the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) program as having surpassed the watershed mark of 100% by recording over 140%.
According to a statement, this was the verdict of the national implementation adviser of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr Danjumma Adamu Dabo, who led the BESDA implementation committee on a courtesy visit to Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal at the Council Chamber of Government House, Sokoto.
According to him, Sokoto state government is one of the states that have shown a remarkable achievements on BESDA implementation.
He said available record shows that in the seven local governments participating in the BESDA program, 769 schools are online and have registered 264,785, outstripping the targeted enrollment of 187,682.
He explained that so far, in the non-formal learning centres the program have recorded over 4000 enrollment, which is a very laudable achievement by the state government.
These results, which heralds the last verification exercise, precedes the end of BESDA programme next month. Nonetheless, this does not affect reward for performance up to February next year.
So far, the criteria for reward: achievement of digital attendance enrolment target and payment of school grants has fetched each participating school in Sokoto state N100,000 each, instead N250,000-N300,000 per school; in addition to tablets worth over N120,000 each.
Danjumma, who noted that the grant that the accruing to BESDA will soon elapse in less than two months, said this is why his team is going round to meet stakeholders, appraise their challenges and chart course for the future.
He said so far the National Bureau for Statistics (NBS) is on the field to verify the result that the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has submitted.
Responding, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal commended the team and the World Bank for coming up with the initiative with a view to address the challenges that are peculiar in the target states.
He expressed appreciation for the program, saying that it has helped in tasking the state education manpower, making it evolve a competitive spirit geared towards achieving results.
Tambuwal said his administration will continue to do its best as the program winds down, by applying the experiences and practices learnt from it.
Soliciting for a replica of BESDA, he pledged to forge the same cooperation with its initiators, maintaining that the state government will sustain all the fine points of the program within the area of coverage and in the entire state.
Tambuwal said the state government will cooperate with the NBS in its exercise, despite the fact that it erroneously referred to the state as one of the poorest state in Nigeria in a not too distant report.
“I expect you to be fair in your report and assessment of the situation in Sokoto state. We will cooperate with you. Whatever data you require, we will give you,” he explained.
