By Modupe Gbadeyanka
About 1,119 private schools in Kwara State have been offered an interest-free loan worth N135 million to help them get back on their feet following the devastating impact the global COVID-19 pandemic had on the education sector.
The credit facility is being offered by the Kwara State government through the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP).
A statement issued on Tuesday by Mr Rafiu Ajakaye, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq stressed that the gesture was in fulfilment of the pledge he made during a virtual meeting with private school owners in the state.
It was stated that the 1,119 private schools have been grouped into two, each category receiving between N200,000 and N100,000 depending on their staff strength.
Under the arrangement, category A schools, which totalled 236 and have 20 staff and above, will each receive N200,000 to support their workers.
For the category B schools, with 19 or less staff and totalling 883 schools, they will receive N100,000 each under the arrangement that is purely voluntary.
“KWASSIP has engaged with the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) in Kwara State after they reached out for assistance to cushion the effects of school closure arising from the COVID-19 pandemic,” the anchor of KWASSIP, Mr Mohammed Brimah, was quoted as saying in the statement issued by the CPS.
At the virtual meeting with the private school owners, Governor AbdulRazaq had said he would not be blind to the plight of any Kwaran, including proprietors and workers across private schools in the state who he acknowledged had been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic due to the closure of schools and some other businesses for months.
