The Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (KADSUBEB) has inaugurated the distribution of 174,366 textbooks, 190,175 exercise books, and 32,343 school uniforms to public schools across Kaduna State.
The executive chairman of KADSUBEB, Mubarak Muhammad, disclosed this at the event on Monday in Kaduna.
Mr Muhammad said that other materials included 3,675 pairs of school sandals, 3,675 school bags, 40,175 pencils, 36,000 biros, 36,000 rulers, and 2,788 sports equipment items for pupils statewide.
He said the intervention reflected the government’s unwavering commitment to strengthening basic education delivery.
‘’When federal and state institutions and development partners align strategically, measurable impact becomes inevitable, particularly in foundational literacy and numeracy development.
‘’The board’s mandate goes beyond infrastructure to improving learning outcomes and ensuring no child is left behind due to lack of basic learning materials,” the chairman said.
Mr Muhammad appreciated the commissioner for education, education secretaries at the local government education authority level, school heads, and teachers for sustaining the system.
In her remarks, the executive secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Aisha Garba, said the initiative aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Represented by the commission’s acting director of academic services, Zipora Banguru, she outlined the commission’s statutory mandate to coordinate implementation of the Universal Basic Education programme.
Ms Garba said others were to disburse intervention funds to states and the Federal Capital Territory and to ensure quality, access, equity, and accountability.
The executive secretary acknowledged the leadership of the Minister of Education, Maruf Alausa, and Suwaiba Ahmed for strengthening reforms across the education sector.
She disclosed that the commission was distributing more than one million school bags, shoes, pencils, and exercise books nationwide, alongside 8,369,514 assorted teaching and learning materials for early childhood care and development and primary schools.
‘’Five hundred and sixty-seven thousand, one hundred and eighty teachers’ guides; 419,293 library resources for junior secondary schools; 1,480 interactive smart boards; and 287 computers and digital literacy centre equipment for 37 centres are also being deployed.
‘’Also, over 2,000 schools are undergoing renovation, underscoring the scale of federal intervention in the sector,” she said.
Describing the Kaduna distribution as collaborative governance in action, she urged that every item must reach classrooms and translate into measurable learning improvements.
The national team lead for Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE), Samuel Achimugu, said the programme had supported foundational literacy and numeracy in Kaduna, with recent learning outcomes showing that children were making measurable progress.
Mr Achimugu disclosed that English transition materials were being tested in 138 schools, with 1,033 cartons supplied, including materials for primary two and three pupils.
He said that 1,183 teachers’ guides for primary one to three English literacy and 200 cartons of flashcards for primary one pupils had also been provided.
‘’The initiative supports transition from mother tongue to English in line with federal government language policy directives and aims to strengthen children’s English proficiency, ‘’ he said.
The team lead, however, appealed to the state government to scale up the materials across all 23 local government areas once the pilot phase proved successful.
Special adviser on vocational training to Governor Uba Sani, Murjanatu Shika, congratulated the board and described the distribution as a success story for the state.
(NAN)