Bauchi Renovates 250 Schools, Spends ₦800m On Examination Fees For 24,917 Students

The Bauchi State Government has renovated 250 schools across the state and spent more than ₦800 million to pay examination fees for 24,917 students, the state Ministry of Education has said.

The Commissioner for Education, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, disclosed this in a statement on Monday, highlighting the administration’s interventions to improve access to quality education through examination sponsorship, school renovation, safety measures, support for adolescent girls and plans to expand secondary school infrastructure.

According to him, the government spent more than ₦800 million to cover examination fees for 24,917 students sitting for examinations conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO), West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) and National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS).

In the statement signed by the ministry’s Information and Public Relations Officer, Jalaludeen Usman, Ibrahim said the intervention had eased the financial burden on parents and guardians while giving students, particularly those in public schools, greater opportunities to pursue their academic ambitions without examination fees becoming an obstacle.

The commissioner also disclosed that 250 schools had been renovated across the state’s 20 local government areas under the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), a World Bank-assisted project.

He said the Bauchi State Government provided counterpart funding of more than ₦150 million to support the project’s implementation, reinforcing its commitment to improving school infrastructure and expanding educational opportunities.

Beyond infrastructure development, Ibrahim said 12,133 adolescent girls had benefited from conditional cash transfers under the AGILE project.

He explained that the initiative was designed to reduce financial barriers to education, encourage school attendance and improve the retention of girls in school.

According to him, the cash transfers complement the school renovation programme by addressing both inadequate learning facilities and some of the economic challenges that prevent children, particularly girls, from accessing and completing their education.

The commissioner further revealed that the state government was making plans to construct 42 new secondary schools across the 20 local government areas to expand access to secondary education.

He also highlighted the administration’s focus on school safety and other measures aimed at creating a more supportive learning environment for students.

Ibrahim expressed gratitude to Almighty Allah and commended Governor Bala Mohammed for sustaining investments in the education sector despite competing demands on public resources.

He reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to implementing the administration’s education policies, improving school facilities and ensuring that public investments deliver tangible benefits to students, teachers, parents and communities.

The commissioner maintained that education remained central to the state’s development agenda, adding that the government would continue to pursue initiatives aimed at building a more inclusive, accessible and effective education system for present and future generations.