Digital education gets massive boost in Katsina
JSS1 students of Radda Special Model Secondary School in class
By Emma Ogbuehi
Digital education received a massive boost in Katsina State on Tuesday, May 5, 2026 with the commissioning of the Radda Special Model Secondary School in Radda town, Charanchi Local Government by Kwara State Governor and chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazak.
The Radda smart school, one of three such projects started by the administration of Governor Dikko Umaru Radda, is the first to be completed and commissioned. The other two located in Jikamshi and Dumurkul communities are at different stages of completion.
Speaking at the commissioning, a visibly elated Governor Radda reiterated the commitment of his administration to improving the quality of education in the state through the provision of innovative digital facilities to aid teaching and learning activities.
He said the students will not only “study in modern, fully-equipped classrooms,” they will also “conduct experiments in state-of-the-art science laboratories… read in a library stocked with the knowledge of the world… compete on sports fields that will develop their bodies and their discipline.”
“They will be mentored by dedicated teachers who live among them, in staff quarters designed to attract and retain the best educators we can find,” he emphasised.
Reiterating that the Radda Model Secondary School was built in promise, dedicated in purpose, and offered with love to the children of Katsina and to the future they will build, he said the idea was a school for the brightest irrespective of the financial standing of their families.
Giving further insight, Governor Radda, who was once a teacher said: “When I asked the people of Katsina State for the honour of leading them, I did not come with empty words. I came with a blueprint — a clear, deliberate vision for what this state could become. And at the very heart of that blueprint was a conviction I have carried for many years: that the greatest investment any government can make is not in roads or buildings, but in the minds of its children. Radda Model Secondary School is that conviction made concrete. Made real. Made permanent.”
For him, the project is not just a school. “It is a statement of intent,” which “says to every child in Katsina State — wherever you come from, whichever local government, however humble your home — that your government sees you, believes in you, and is prepared to invest in your future. It says to the daughter of a subsistence farmer in Batsari, to the son of a widow in Jibia, to the bright young girl in Dutsin-Ma who has no one to pay her fees — we built this for you.”
The school which commenced operations with about 900 students in junior secondary school is technology at its best with special digital facilities including smart teaching boards and other digitalised teaching accessories, six state-of-the-art laboratories and a 500-capacity digital examination hall.
The Agric Science laboratory
All the students live in the boarding house and are not only on full scholarship, but each student is given N15,000 pocket money every term.
The school which sits on many hectares of land with teachers’ quarters has 24-hour power supply.
Harping on the significance of the project and the ultimate philosophy behind the vision, Governor Radda said, “This school is the first of three. One for each senatorial zone of our great state. The one you see before you today is the beginning, not the end. We will not rest until every zone of Katsina has access to this standard of education and we will not rest until what we have built here becomes the floor, not the ceiling, for public education across this state.”
Other dignitaries that graced the commissioning included the Deputy Governor of the State, Mallam Faruk Lawal, Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa and Emir of Daura, HRH Alhaji Umar Faruk Umar.
