NLA Distributes 11,000 Textbooks to Pupils in Katsina 

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

The Katsina State chapter of the Nigerian Library Association (NLA) has commenced the distribution of 11,000 textbooks worth millions of naira to children of the less privileged in public primary schools in the state.

The textbooks are Brilliant English, Mathematics, Macmillan Basic Science and Technology, Agriculture for Beginners, Social Studies, Verbal Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning, among others.

The state NLA Chairman, Prof. Sani Abdu Fari, while flagging off the distribution at the National Library of Nigeria, Katsina, Tuesday, said each pupil has been given 10 textbooks.

He reiterated that the distribution of the textbooks to the children of the vulnerable was part of the association’s effort in revamping basic education in the state.

He explained that books are universally accepted primary information resource materials that give children the ability to read and apprehend topics being taught in their respective classes.

Fari added that the distribution of the textbooks would significantly tackle the dearth of reading culture among pupils and students and contribute to the grassroots educational development of the state.

He said: “The condition that we have today is the dearth of reading culture in our society. Books take you to where you have never been; when you read it takes you even to heaven. We are distributing these books in order to contribute to the reading culture of the society.”

The NLA chairman therefore, warned headmasters, headmistress and teachers of the benefiting schools against retrieving the books from the pupils for personal or school purposes.

“We want to plead with each and everyone of you that these books belong to the children, not for the schools. So, allow them to go home with it. Each child has been given 10 textbooks covering each subject,” he added.

He said the government alone would not tame the challenges besetting the education sector because of the mono-economic system of the state, hence the donation of the textbooks to the pupils by the association.