2026 Appropriation: Education Ministry to Prioritize the Ongoing Projects and New Programs

Musa Solomon.

Kogi State Commissioner for Education Hon. Wemi Jones said the State Ministry of Education will prioritize the ongoing projects as well as new programs that will improve the declining quality in education and other emerging challenges in education in the 2026 Appropriation Year.

Hon. Jones made this known during the 2026 Ministerial Budget Defence at the State House of Assembly Complex on Thursday in Lokoja, the State Capital.

He stated that in the 2026 Appropriation Year the Ministry will strengthen Data repository for Education sector and evaluator will be strengthened for stringent improvements in monitoring for effective service delivery in order to reduce Out of School Children rate in the State.

According to him the Ministry will embark on the implementation of the road map on education in Nigeria on Girl Child Education, out of school children, early childhood care and development education, entrepreneurship education, skills acquisition, STEM, basic education, teachers education and development etc.

The Commissioner noted that because of the sustained allocation of 30% of the State Budget to Education, the State Government has been able to invest heavily in the education sector, noting that the Free Education Policy of the State Government has yielded positive results as the State has witnessed a sharp reduction of Out of School Children rate by 135,015 under one academic year.

He said the Ministry has been able to sustain the students exchange program in the five northern states, successful conduct of the 2024/2025 Annual School Census, conduct of all internal and external examinations, payment of all entry and exit examinations fees for pupils in public schools.

The Commissioner also said the Ministry has made cash transfer to 13,359 adolescent school girls under the Adolescent Girls Initiative and Learning Empowerment (AGILE) Project, payment of scholarship awards to students of the State Origin in Higher Institutions across the country and the drafting of Gender in Education Policy and it’s implemention guidelines 2025/2026.

He commended the Executive Governor of Kogi State Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo for his developmental strides in the education sector and appealed to the State House of Assembly to graciously consider and give approvals to the proposals presented in the Budget.