Mrs Ramatu Ajuji-Abubakar, the Commissioner for Education in Nasarawa State, on Thursday said that the state government was contemplating education for prison inmates in the 2017 budget.
Ajuji-Abubakar made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lafia.
According to the commissioner, the move will ensure that inmates in all federal prisons in the state are properly reformed, in line with global best practice.
She said that even though the prison is a Federal Government establishment, the state government is a stakeholder, hence, the desire to provide for the education of inmates.
The commissioner said the modern prison yard is supposed to be a place where inmates are reformed morally, and learn one skill or the other, and be educated.
“The education would be at no cost to the inmates because the state government has made education free from primary to secondary school levels,” the commissioner said.
Ajuji-Abubakar said that any principal or head of school caught collecting money as schools fees from students would face disciplinary action by the ministry.
“Students are not supposed to pay money and any principal caught extorting money from unsuspecting students in the name of school fees will be sanctioned.
“Students in all public boarding schools in the state are not also supposed to pay money or give any food item, as the government has taken full charge of their feeding,” she said.
The commissioner expressed satisfaction with the performance of public school students in examinations like JAMB, NECO and WASSCE. (NAN)