The Interview Editors
The Kaduna State Government has allocated a total of N107.72 billion to the education sector in its proposed 2023 budget pending before the State Assembly for consideration.
A copy of the budget document obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Wednesday showed that the allocation represents 29.1 per cent of the total budget of N370.3 billion proposed for the 2023 fiscal year.
A breakdown of the allocations also showed that the ministry for education got N34.2 billion representing 9.25 per cent of the total budget made up of N13.28 billion recurrent expenditure and N20.96 billion for capital expenditure.
The state Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) got N45.64 billion representing 12.3 per cent of the total budget with a capital expenditure of N40.22 billion and recurrent expenditure of N5.42 billion.
Kaduna State University (KASU) was allocated N18.59 billion representing five per cent of the total budget made up of N5.15 billion for recurrent expenditure and N13.44 billion for capital expenditure.
Also, a total of N2.69 billion was earmarked for the State Scholarship and Loans Board, of which N42.37 million was allocated for recurrent expenditure and N2.65 billion for capital expenditure.
Similarly, Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria got a total of N3.03 billion with recurrent and capital expenditure constituting N1.81 billion and N1.23 billion respectively.
Furthermore, the State College of Education, Gidan Waya, got a total of N2.86 billion with N1.85 billion earmarked for recurrent expenditure and N1.01 billion for capital expenditure.
However, three sub-sectors with the least allocation included Teacher Service Board with a total of N109.24 million, Kaduna State Library Board got N93.71 million, and the Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority N460.48 million.
NAN reports that the N107.72 billion allocated to the sector was N41.32 billion higher than the N66.40 revised allocation to education in the 2022 budget, representing a 62.2 per cent increase.
However, the 2022 Half Year Budget Performance Report showed that, of the N66.40 billion allocated to the sector, only N19.85 billion had been spent, representing 29.9 per cent performance leaving a variance of N46.55 billion.
Commenting on the development, Malam Aliyu Tijjani, Citizens’ Co-chair, Kaduna Basic Education Accountability Mechanism (KADBEAM) commended the government for increasing the allocation to the sector.
Tijjani, however, said that beyond allocation, the government needed to pay critical attention to the release of funds to enable the education ministry, department and agencies implement planned programmes.
“As you have observed in the 2022 second quarter budget performance, the Ministry for Public Works and Infrastructure with an allocation of N31.92 billion was able to spend N19.91 billion representing 62.3 per cent performance.
“Similarly, the Ministry for Finance with an allocation of N36.31 spent N23.11 billion, representing 63.6 per cent performance, while the education sector with more than N66 billion spent only N19.9 billion,” he said.
He called on the government to demonstrate its commitment to improving the education sector by ensuring adequate and timely release of allocated funds to the sector.
(NAN)
