The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has donated Solar Power accessories to 30 Schools selected from 11 Local Government Areas of Kano State.
The Director of Public Enlightenment at the Ministry, Balarabe Abdullahi Kiru, in a statement, said the items that were distributed to 15 Primary Schools and 15 integrated Islamiyya Schools of the state include 120 Solar Panels, 60 Batteries, 30 Solar Inverters and 30 Charge regulators.
According to the statement, UNICEF had recently distributed Tablets to 65 Primary Schools in Kano under the Nigeria Learning Passport program to increase access to learning platforms for schools’ pupils.
Handing over the solar accessories to the state ministry of education, the UNICEF Chief Field Officer Mr. Raham Rahul Muhd disclosed that the donation was part of the UNICEF commitment to expand access to learning through a dedicated online platform to children under the Programme of Nigeria Learning Passport (NLP).
“Nigeria Learning Passport is a digital learning platform that offers curriculum-designed content for early childhood education, primary and secondary education, Adolescent skills, and Technology/Vocational education.
“The programme therefore responds to the need of both in and out of school children and youth who need additional support to receive education of sufficient quality,” he said.
Mr. Rahul noted that Kano State is still left behind in access to and use of the learning passport, stressing that there is a need for the state to reach a target of 75,000 Subscribers and Users by December 2023.
According to him, the state was able to meet the target of only 22,000 subscribers and that explains the need to redouble its efforts in involving teachers, students, and parents in the platform system.
He further maintained that the donated items should primarily be utilized to support digital learning readily available and accessible to the intended beneficiaries.
“I therefore urged the beneficiaries schools to make the best use of the items by giving them the needed protection as well as proper maintenance,” he appealed.
Receiving the items, the state Commissioner of Education, Alhaji Umar Haruna Doguwa represented by the Permanent Secretary Hajiya Kubra Imam thanked UNICEF for donating the solar items, assuring that the ministry would form a strong monitoring team that would go around to ensure proper utilization of the items by the benefiting schools.
The Commissioner also implored the Community and Schools-Based Management Committee (SBMC) to work together to ensure that the items are properly utilized.
Doguwa disclosed that considering the importance of the digital learning passport program, the ministry would be fully committed to seeing that Kano meets 100% of Subscribers and Users of the platform.
“We are going to use all the necessary measures to meet not only 70% of digital learning subscribers in Kano but we are hoping to reach the target of 100% digital learning subscribers in our schools,” he said.
