The Lagos State Government on Friday said it would commence the disbursement of bursaries and scholarships totaling N635.576 million to a total of 8,419 students in the state tertiary institutions next Wednesday.

In a statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr Obafela Bank-Olemoh, the commencement of the disbursement followed the approval of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, and same was in furtherance of the premium placed on education by the present administration in the state.

According to the Special Adviser, notwithstanding the economic constraints, the Ambode administration continued to prioritise education across all levels, with investment in school infrastructure and furniture, as well as human infrastructure projects.

While urging the beneficiaries to make good use of the funds for the purpose intended, Bank-Olemoh assured that the state government would continue to come up with policies and programmes to develop and transform the education sector in the state.

“Students across the state, and particularly beneficiaries of the bursaries and scholarships are urged to steward well the resources of the state as good citizens, and to make the most of the educational opportunities that have been given to them,” Bank-Olemoh said.

Earlier in 2016, over 689 bursary beneficiaries of the 2011/2012 set were paid along with 60 students from the School of the Blind and 54 others on sport scholarship, while later in the year, the Governor approved the payment of N380 million bursary and local scholarship to the state indigenes in tertiary institutions across the country.

In 2015, the state government also paid N660 million to over 8,567 indigent beneficiaries for bursary, local and foreign scholarships.