The Kwara State Government said it will support owners of private schools in the state amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, the state government promised to provide interest-free loans to private schools.
This is to enable the proprietors to “pay their workers and prevent massive job losses in the sub-sector.”
Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq said he would “not be blind to the plight” of any resident of the state, including “proprietors and workers across private schools in the state who he acknowledged have been the hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic due to the closure of schools and some other businesses.”
The governor who had a virtual meeting today with the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), said his administration will need to have the right database to know the number of private schools in the state, the number of their teachers, and their students.
According to the governor, the database would be key for efficiency, transparency, and success of the move.
He added that his administration had established a hitch-free and transparent bursary regime with digital registration and verification of all applicants last year.
“The issue of the database is critical for planning. We want to know how many private schools we have (and) where in the state. If we do so, we can even give land (to those who may need it), issue a certificate of occupancy and other relevant documents,” he said.