Sokoto targets 1.2m-student enrolment next year

 Sokoto State Government says it plans to enrol 1.2 million pupils during the 2016/2017 academic session.

 Governor Aminu Tambuwal disclosed this while flagging  off  enrolment campaign at Maruda village, Kware Local Government of the state .

‎He said as part of efforts by the state government to ensure success of the enrolment drive, the campaign would be launched in all 23 Local Government areas of the state and down to the 244 ward levels.

The governor  added other measures to boost the drive included integration of secular education into Quranic system, through the construction  of 488 model Quranic/Secular outreach facilities as well as establishment of Junior Secondary Schools in all the 244 wards, where they don’t currently exist.

He said the state government would also inaugurate the State Consultative Committee on Education Development under the Sultan of Sokoto.

He recalled that in 2015, the state government embarked on massive campaigns in addition to the various measures adopted  to actualize the target.

Tambuwal however noted that only an increase of 12 per cent was recorded.

"This is due to certain conflicting factors that constrained the achievement of the target," he explained.

He expressed determination to ensure the total success of the drive this academic year.

In collaboration with the federal government,    the state government would launch a home grown school feeding programme in the first quarter of 2017,he stated.

 Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar who spoke through District Head of Hammali, Bello Abdulrahman, ‎underscored the importance of education.

He stressed that parents owed it a duty to educate their children to become useful members of the society.

Meanwhile, the event also witnessed the distribution of certificates and cash prizes to the best three local governments in the 2015/2016 enrolment campaign.

 Silame local council clinched the first prize   ,Gada second while Yabo emerged third  and  were given N300,000, N 200,000 and N 100,000,  respectively.

There was  drama performance by pupils on the importance of girl-child education.

‎Following the impressive performance of the pupils, the governor pledged to take personal interest in the education of 10 pupils of the Yakubu Mu’azu Model Science Primary School, Sokoto.