About 670 students at Idi Junior Secondary School in Gombe State have received school bags and books donated by the North East Development Commission, in an intervention intended to support learning and complement state education initiatives. At the presentation, Education Commissioner Professor Aishatu Umaru Maigari welcomed the donation and urged other agencies and organisations to contribute to education. The school’s principal also used the occasion to appeal for the recruitment of more teachers to address staffing needs.
The North East Development Commission has donated learning materials to students of Idi Junior Secondary School in Gombe State, with 670 students reported by the commission’s representative to have benefited. The materials included school bags and books, providing basic educational supplies to pupils at the school. The intervention was presented as support for the state government’s efforts to develop the education sector and improve learning conditions for younger people. Although the initial description of the beneficiaries referred to about 700 students, the representative of the NEDC state coordinator gave the specific figure of 670 recipients.
State Commissioner for Education Professor Aishatu Umaru Maigari commended the commission for supporting education and described the donation as timely. She called on other government agencies and non-governmental organisations to contribute to the sector’s development. Her remarks placed the donation within a broader need for collaboration between public institutions and other organisations involved in education. The event, however, did not include a detailed breakdown of the financial value of the supplies or an assessment of how the materials would affect attendance, learning outcomes or the school’s overall resource requirements.
Representing the NEDC Gombe State Coordinator, Rufai Lawan Baba Manu said the commission intended to extend the programme to other schools across the state. He described the initiative as a way to complement the education reforms of Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya’s administration. The proposed expansion could widen access to school materials beyond Idi Junior Secondary School, but no list of additional schools, beneficiary targets, implementation timetable or total programme budget was announced in the account of the presentation. The confirmed intervention therefore remains the donation made to students at the school.
Other participants at the event included Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education Alhaji Ali Yaya, School-Based Management Committee Chairman Malam Umar Abbare and the Gombe Local Government Education Secretary. They appreciated the commission’s support and urged school management and staff to carry out their responsibilities with fairness, dedication and kindness. Their comments emphasised the role of teachers and school administrators in turning the availability of learning materials into effective teaching and learning. The donation provides supplies, but the quality of classroom delivery also depends on staffing and the day-to-day functioning of the school.
Principal Hajiya Zainab Muhammad Yakubu thanked the NEDC, the state Ministry of Education and other donor agencies for their support. She also appealed to the state government to consider recruiting more teachers to address staffing needs and improve educational quality. The request highlighted a challenge that the supply of books and bags alone does not resolve. The reported outcome of the intervention is that 670 students received materials, while the NEDC representative said the programme would be extended to other schools. No recruitment decision or date for the next distribution was announced.