CONVENTIONAL and nomadic primary and secondary schools in Kwara State are to benefit from the state government’s 800-classroom renovation project. The scheme would be completed in four years.

The exercise, which will be carried out in four phases, will take off with 200 classrooms in 58 schools.

In a chat with reporters in Ilorin, the state capital yesterday, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Mohammed Raji, said the project was aimed at making teaching and learning conducive for both the teachers and pupils.

He said the sum of N289 million had been earmarked for the exercise, which would be completed within the next two months.

Besides, the cost covers the procurement of a luxury bus each for the 16 local councils of the state.

Some of the schools benefiting from the scheme are Government High School, Ilorin; Mount Carmel Ilorin, Islamiya, Patigi, Government Secondary School, Lanwa, Government Secondary School Gwanara, Babalola Memorial CAC, Oke Ero and Iwo Community High School, Iwo.

The contracts have been with the renovation of the Kwara State School for the Handicapped, Ilorin, at N48 million.

Raji said the government in a recent survey identified about 800 classrooms in the state needing urgent repairs, adding that "while the government would not rehabilitate all of them at once, it has divided them into 200 classrooms per phase spread across a period of four years".

Raji said the gesture would be extended to nomads residing in the state as three centres with grazing facilities have been spotted for prompt renovation. He put the total number of such schools in the state at 87.

While stressing the importance of logistics for educational growth in the state, he said training and re-training programmes for primary and post-primary schools’ teachers would be intensified.

The commissioner pledged his supports for the Committee on Quality Assurance Rule, which is assessing the curriculum of public schools in the state.