*laments delay in payment of scholarship grants to students
By; DAHIRU SULEIMAN, Dutse
The Jigawa State Social Protection Platform (JISOP) a non governmental organization has applauded the Jigawa State Government over its comprehensive educational scholarship scheme for girl-child at tertiary education level under the state’s free education policy and called on the government to erase all bureaucracy in ensuring prompt payment of scholarship allowances to students.
This was the remark of the group’s chairman, Comrade Shuaibu Kafin Gana during an advocacy visit by his members on Jigawa State SUBEB chairman, ably represented by an officer of the board, Alhaji Habibu Babura in his office.
He intimated him on the objectives and mission of JISOP as a non governmental platform comprising of civil society organizations, professional bodies, academia and the media with a bid to promoting transparency, accountability, and engender social justice in the implementation of inclusive social protection programmes in Jigawa State.
JISOP Chairman noted that even though free girl-child education is a welcome development by Jigawa State Government, he lamented that since the kick-off of the programme about three years ago, significant number of eligible girls are not aware of the operational guidelines of the scholarship scheme, hence the need for government to intensify enlightenment and sensitization as well as embark on enrollment of beneficiaries when due that would assist in paying the students accordingly.
Responding, the acting chairman SUBEB, Alh. Haruna Babura commended JISOP initiatives and foresight and assured of complementing the state government’s policies on education at the grassroots level.
“We at SUBEB, our duty is to translate all directives issued to us from.our mother ministry, education to all the affected bodies within our disposal aimed at strengthening our educational policies and programmes. We are assuring of extending the JISOP good initiatives to our boss for onward transmission to appropriate channels,” he said.
Kafin- Gana stated that the platform will partner with all relevant stakeholders to facilitate and advocate for the scale-up of inclusive social protection across the 27 LGAs of Jigawa State and to create awareness on the social protection programmes and activities in Jigawa State.
This same advocacy was extended to the state scholarship board where the Director Finance and Admin of the board received the JISOP entourage.
At the scholarship board, the JISOP Chairman, Shuaibu Kafin- Gana while briefing the boss, stated that findings indicate that most of the eligible girls studying in tertiary Institutions both within and outside Jigawa State have never benefitted from the scholarship scheme within their first, two or three years of studies.
Among few that received government scholarship grants in the state lamented about the turn around time which takes up to a year or two before disbursement.
In some cases, students often forfeit the entitlements due to the delay in payment.
Responding, the Director Finance and Admin of the state scholarship board after welcoming the entourage, commended them for their foresight.
“We do prompt payment of scholarship disbursement whenever there is enough funds to that effect, we don’t allow unnecessary delay in release of students scholarship payments unless otherwise in exceptional cases,” he said.
He acknowledged all useful discussions rendered to the board by JISOP and promised to uphold in attending to most critical issues raised with a view to ameliorating most of the compounding problems associated with students scholarship grants disbursement to those studying in tertiary Institutions across the country.
