In meeting the commitment to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support basic education, the Government of Sokoto state launched the distribution of early grade reading materials worth $270,000 to schools across 10 local government areas in Sokoto state.

The Executive Governor of Sokoto state Aminu Waziri Tambuwal flagged off distribution of the reading materials produced by the USAID-Northern Education Initiative Plus at the Sokoto State Universal Basic Education Board Headquarters on Friday, December 7, 2018.

USAID signed a five-year MOU with the Government of Sokoto state in 2016 committing to mutual accountability for education activities in the state.

With this distribution, Sokoto state meets the required 30 percent contribution to print and distribute third term early grade reading materials to schools by 2018.

During the flag-off ceremony, Governor Tambuwal said the government will continue to make efforts to reduce the number of out-of-school-children in the state.

“Education remains a collective responsibility and we will make efforts to see that children learn to read, comprehend and apply these skills acquired,” he said.

Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education Prof. Aishatu Madawaki Isah said in the last three years the state government utilized nearly $ 11 million as counterpart funding from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) to improve access and quality of basic education.

“Government continues to pay attention to teacher training, school supervision and monitoring and provision of infrastructure to improve the learning environment for children,” Aishatu said.

In his remarks, Chairman of the Sokoto State Universal Basic Education Board Bello Yusuf Danchadi said USAID in partnership with the Sokoto state government has provided 2,739,733 textbooks to teachers and pupils, trained 2,000 head teachers and 300 school support officers in the last three years.

“The Sokoto state government payment of counterpart funding in the third year to support the Northern Education Initiative Plus amounted to $ 497,000 for the production and distribution of teaching and learning materials, teacher training and school support monitoring and supervision,” Danchadi said.

Acting Chief of Party for the Northern Education Initiative Plus Nurudeen Lawal commended the Sokoto state government for demonstrating commitment to improving learning outcomes for the children of the state.