The Kaduna State Community and Social Development Agency has expressed readiness to assist the National Open University of Nigeria’s Centre for Human Resource Development (CHRD) in discharging its mandate of providing social services to communities.
Director-General of the agency, Engr. Muhammad Shuaibu Abdullahi stated this in his office when a high-powered delegation from the centre, led by its director, Dr. Aminu Umar, paid him a courtesy visit in Kaduna.
Abdulahi said the primary responsibility of the agency is to bridge the gap in the rural communities through intervention in the state.
He informed his visitors that CHRD can access a grant of up to N15 million as intervention for the development of NOUN Staff School..
“The intervention fund, if accessed, will touch projects like the construction of classrooms, water and sanitation facilities, teaching aid, furnishing of library, provision of computer lab for ICT classes, depending on the priority of the school,”Abdullahi added.
The Director-General cautioned that the grant can only be accessed when the team from the agency carried out NEEDS assessment, and found out that the bill of quantity and all other processes are found in the right presentation.
He promised to present some of the centre’s requests to His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru El-rufai, owing to the immense contribution the centre is offering to the development of education in Kaduna and the country at large as part of its Cooperate Social Responsibility, for his blessings.
Abdullahi expressed his impression on the teachers ratio in the NOUN Staff School, describing it as a perfect standard worth emulating by both public and private schools.
Earlier in address, the director of CHRD, Dr. Aminu Umar, extended the appreciation of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof.Olufemi Peters, who, in the true spirit of community development, granted permission to the centre’s request.
Umar took time off to explain in detail the status of the university in Kaduna, with about four study centre across the state.
Besides being the Centre for Human Resource Development, Umar said, it is also the custodian of Kaduna Campus and the only centre outside the university headquarters.
The director, who explained the purpose of establishing the centre by the university, also dewelt much about the Staff School as well as its present needs.
He said engaging in construction and provision of other needs by the school management will surely lead to the increment of the school fees, which would be at the detriment of the parents that the management do not want to shift to.
Consequently, he appealed for project intervention in the area of classrooms, modern library, teaching aids, water and sanitary facilities.
The director assured that the centre can partner the agency in consultancy services in the area of administration, information and communication technology and a host of other services.
He called on the agency and the Kaduna State Government to leverage on the existence of the university for the benefit of the people of the state so as to add value to the system.
While urging staff of the agency to take advantage of the university, the director added that it is a system that allows one to pursue his educational career without leaving a vacuum in his working place.
