Jigawa State says it is partnering with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) on a proposed 110 million dollar education project aimed at upgrading school infrastructure, improving teachers’ capacity and raising learning standards.
The proposed initiative, known as the SMART Project, will cover Jigawa and two other states, with plans to construct new schools, renovate existing facilities and provide improved water and sanitation infrastructure.
Governor Umar Namadi disclosed this on Friday while receiving an IsDB delegation led by its Operations Team Leader for Social Infrastructure, Imtiaz Alam, at the Government House in Dutse.
The delegation, which included officials of the Federal Ministry of Finance, visited the state to assess its educational needs and gather relevant information for the development of the project proposal.
Alam said the visit was part of consultations with participating states to identify their priorities and incorporate their needs into a comprehensive proposal for submission to the IsDB Board of Executive Directors for consideration and approval.
He explained that the intervention would also provide teacher training and capacity-building programmes, alongside measures to improve the overall teaching and learning environment.
According to him, the participating states were selected based on their level of preparedness, responsiveness, submitted concept notes and the feasibility of their proposals, as well as factors such as teacher-to-pupil ratios and the number of schools.
Alam said the proposed 110 million dollar funding would comprise development financing from the IsDB and grant support from the Global Partnership for Education, adding that efforts were ongoing to attract additional funding from other development partners.
In his remarks, Governor Namadi described the proposed partnership as a significant opportunity to strengthen his administration’s efforts to address challenges in the education sector.
He said the state approached the IsDB because of its capacity to finance development projects and attract other international organisations and donors to support priority areas.
The governor highlighted ongoing reforms, including the establishment of the Tsangaya Education Board and the development of Tsangaya schools through integrated and model categories.
He said the initiatives were designed to tackle the problem of out-of-school children and expand access to education across the state.
Namadi also disclosed that the government had introduced a policy requiring political appointees to identify and return a specified number of out-of-school children from their respective communities to formal education, noting that the initiative was already recording positive results.
The governor further revealed that the state had recruited more than 10,000 teachers at the basic education level to address personnel shortages and strengthen school supervision, monitoring and evaluation.
He said the proposed IsDB-backed intervention would complement existing government efforts by providing additional funding for school infrastructure and teacher development.
