Bilingual Education Project: Islamic bank to spend N19.5bn on Arabic-English studies

The Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB) has said it will invest $98 milion (about N19.5 billion) in Bilingual Education Project in Nigeria (BEP) to bridge the gap between formal and informal education using Arabic and English.

The Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB) has said it will invest $98 million (about N19.5 billion) in Bilingual Education Project in Nigeria (BEP).

The President of the group, Dr. Ahmad Mohammed Ali made the revelation when executives of the bank to hosted the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II at the organization’s headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Daily Trust reports.

Ali said nine states in Nigeria, Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger and Osun, will benefit from the project which seeks to bridge the gap between formal and informal education using Arabic and English.

He said the project, which was successful in in Niger and Chad republics, is expected to encourage and expand enrolment into schools and integrate students of informal education to the formal education classrooms.  

Under the project, 30 modern schools with 720 classrooms and 30 ICT labs will be built and equipped with 1.7 million textbooks while 1800 teachers will be trained.

In his response, the Emir said he would support the project and assist in securing the necessary approvals.

READ: 'Northern Nigeria cannot make progress without heavy investment in education'

Several notable figures have recently spoken about the need to address the education needs of the northern parts of Nigeria.

In July, a senator representing Kaduna Central in the National Assembly, Shehu Sani, said northern states need to jointly make massive education investments if the region hopes to make progress.