Despite high number of out of school children, Katsina fails to commit to educational development
By Aminu Abubakar
A SolaceBase review of budget performance documents has shown that Katsina state government has failed to commit substantially to education sector funding.
This development is despite the germane needs facing access to education in the state.
According to the multidimensional poverty index published by the National Bureau of Statistics, 38% of children of school age in Katsina are denied access to education in the state.
73% of children who are ten years and above in the state are deprived access to completion of six years.
As of June this year, UNICEF noted that 36% of Katsina children are out of school.
The primary school completion rate in Katsina state averages 62.5 percent, compared to the national average of 73.1 percent and 56.1 percent for the northwest.
“Senior Secondary School Completion rates are low, with only 32 per cent of children enrolled completing their education MICS 2021,” Rahma Farah, UNICEF chief in Kano noted.
536, 122 children in Katsina are out of school with only school completion of 62.5%.
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Data review shows that in 2022, the Ministry of Education budgeted N27 billion for the state capital expenditure but only spent N7 billion.
The state education board budgeted the sum of N5 billion, however only N308 million was spent in the whole year for capital expenditure in the period.
In 2023, the Basic education capital budget stood at N14.5 billion while only N2 billion was spent.
The Ministry of Technical, Higher, and Vocational Education budgeted N4.5 billion for capital expenditure; however, only N999.7 million was spent on the same purpose throughout the year.
Katsina state also failed to access N1.3 billion UBEC funds in 2023 as it failed to provide counterpart funding. Money that could have helped the state develop its basic education.
As of the first two quarters of 2024, the capital budget for the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, stood at N38.2 billion, while actual for the first six months only stood at N7.4 billion.
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The Ministry of Higher, technical and vocational education capital budget stood at N7.7 billion, while the actual for the first six months was N580.4 million.
This development is despite clamours for better commitment of states to education.
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