The Kano State Government says it plans to spend about ₦3.5 billion on foreign scholarships to 550 students for postgraduate programmes abroad.
Dr Yusuf Kofar-Mata, the state’s Commissioner for Higher Education, said this on Friday in Kano, when he spoke with newsmen after the weekly state executive council meeting.
Kofar-Mata said that the students would study in seven universities in India and Uganda.
The commissioner said that the 550 beneficiaries were selected out of 1,250 students who applied for the scholarship.
He said that a level-playing ground was given to all the students, irrespective of their political affiliations, so long as the candidates were indigenous and qualified.
Kofar-Mata said that the government had almost concluded processing the visas for the students, who would embark on the journey by end of the month.
“We collected 1,250 applications for our postgraduate programmes and we have screened and come up with a list of 550 qualified indigenes of Kano who will be sponsored for postgraduate studies at various universities overseas.
“We are in the process of authenticating all the documents of these students for the Visa preparation.
”We are hoping that by the end of this month, these students will start moving to their various destinations overseas for them to start their programmes in various fields,” he said.