By Deborah Hassan
For the first time since 2013, Kwara State Government has received a N7,151,142,190 grant from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) after a 7 year blacklist over failure to pay its own counterpart funds.
The state was blacklisted from the national scheme, a statement from the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development in the state, Mrs Fatimah Ahmed, said on Thursday in Ilorin.
According to Ahmed, the N7.1bn is an accumulation of UBEC grants that were not accessed between 2014 and 2019.
The money was not accessed because the former administration”, she stated, adding that the “development represents a historic feat for Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who has spent the last one year working to reposition basic education in the state.
The commissioner also explained that the UBEC grants were meant for rehabilitation of dilapidated basic schools, construction of new ones, equipping the schools with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools, teacher training and project evaluation, among other purposes contained in the UBEC work plan.
She also disclosed that the money would be spent in phases over the next two years to fix up to 600 elementary schools out of the over 1400 decrepit basic education facilities across the state.
“The projects would be monitored by UBEC to ensure compliance with the work plan submitted by the government,” Mrs Ahmed added.
While noting that the development had taken Kwara State out of the bottom position in the ranking of states with highest figures of outstanding UBEC grants, the commissioner revealed that the state government is organising a three-day workshop for local contractors and anyone who is interested in working with the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KW-SUBEB) starting from Tuesday November 9, 2020.
“In compliance with the Public Procurement Act 2007, the KWSUBEB will be inviting interested registered, competent, capable and reputable contractors, to submit their pre-qualification document to tender,” Ahmed said.