Kwara State Governor Abdulraman Abdulrazaq has pledged to offer interest -free loans and grants to private school owners in the state to enable them to pay their workers and prevent massive job loss in the sub-sector.
Abdulrazaq stated this at a virtual meeting held on Friday with the umbrella bodies of private schools in Kwara State
in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, the governor stated that his administration is ready to offer succor to people of the state affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, including the proprietors and workers of private schools.
“The government will therefore consider your request for grant or loans, which of course will be interest-free. We can do that as we did for transport workers. But we 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,” he said
“On the gradual reopening of schools, whatever we do would have to align with the position of the Federal Government,” Abdulrazaq said.
The governor added that all schools should be step up their preparation for school reopening by putting in place all safety measures like hand-washing bay and other measures.
Dr Rahman Adetunji, Kwara State President of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), commended the governor for “the hand of fellowship extended to us during the lockdown” saying the palliatives the government gave went round all the member schools of NAPPS.
He urged the government to consider the partial reopening of schools in the state especially for terminal classes– a request which the governor said will be subject to the position of the Federal Government and the schools meeting the requirements for such reopening when approved.
