Niger State governor Mohammed Umaru Bago has announced the plan to merge technical and vocational schools even as he advocated a review of school syllabuses to encourage school enrolment.
Bago made the suggestion during a National Colloquium held in honour of renowned Literary icon in the state Baba Mohammed Dzukogi on his 60th birthday yesterday.
The governor said the state government is trying to encourage parents to enroll their children in schools, adding that relevant stakeholders and experts in education should join hands with the state government to provide solutions in that regard.
He described out-of-school children as a menace not just in the state but in the Northern region in general that needs to be tackled in accordance with the global call to which Niger State is a signatory.
The governor also disclosed that the state government is going to merge vocational and technical schools together and will renovate and rebuild over 200 schools this year as part of the government’s priority to the education sector.
He acknowledged Baba Dzukogi for the works he has been doing especially in Hilltop Model Arts and his efforts in organising arts festival in honour of the late wife of Ibrahim Aliyu saying, that he has written his name in the sand of time through his good works and advocated a collaboration to redevelop a storyline for the state.
He also reiterated the need for a 30-year development plan for the state while emphasizing the need to immortalize people who have paid their dues by renaming some schools and institutions of learning after them.
The chairman of the occasion, Prof Mohammed Kuta Yahaya, described the celebrant as a literary giant, excellent scholar, and an erudite Nigerlite who is a source of inspiration to many.
The highlight of the occasion was the launch of four recently authored books by BM Dzukogi and Governor Umaru Bago.
