With numerous challenges facing education in the country, including inadequate funding, poor infrastructure, lack of qualified teachers and efforts to redeem the situation by governments, some people are still diverting requisite facilities like chairs and desks to private homes in Nasarawa State, LINUS OOTA reports
In the past, public primary schools were the schools of choice. They had good classrooms with good chairs and desks as well as trained teachers. Above all, they were affordable, but today, the story has changed. Most of the public schools are in shambles, some with leaking roofs, no chairs and desks.
The recent report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealing that a staggering 75 percent of primary school age pupils in the country are unable to read with understanding or solve simple mathematics problems ought to be seen by governments at all levels as a wake-up call.
In addition to the aforementioned information, a report conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in collaboration with the Global Education Monitoring Report, has revealed that the number of out-of-school children has escalated to 20 million in 2024, compared to the approximately 12.5 million recorded in 2023.
The data shows that the dire state of education demands urgent attention and concerted efforts, especially the basic education, which is the foundation to every child.
Dire state of education in Nasarawa
Based on these statistics, Nasarawa State cannot be an exception and it’s owing to the situation that Governor Abdullahi Sule appointed Dr. Kassim Muh’d Kassim, a former member of the state Assembly as executive chairman, the State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB) and charged him to revive and make basic education functional, especially in the rural areas.
There are reports of how pupils study on bare floors and under the trees with rural schools being worst hit. But Governor Sule is determined to change the story by embarking on rehabilitation work in the schools.
Sordid discoveries
On assumption of office over a month ago, Dr. Kassim hit the ground running immediately by making unscheduled visits to primary schools across the state a top priority to ascertain first-hand information about the true state of affairs of primary schools structures, furniture and the quality of teaching and learning.
After visiting about 17 primary schools in different locations across the state, he discovered that most furniture provided by government to primary schools across the state were being diverted to private homes and schools by the various education secretaries and headmasters for monetary gains.
The new NSUBEB chairman equally discovered lack of access to quality learning opportunities as most schools in rural areas are dilapidated while teachers posted to rural schools and even urban primary schools hardly come to work, even as their salaries and allowances are being paid as and when due.
Dr. Kassim equally observed that despite huge amount of money expended by Governor Sule through payments of regular counterparts funding to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for provision of chairs and tables for the comfort of the pupils, the Education Secretaries and headmasters diverted and sold them to private schools and homes, thereby depriving students the opportunity to learn in comfort as they sit on the bare floors.
The unscheduled visits availed the chairman the opportunity to see things for himself where most primary schools are in dire states, suffering decrepit facilities, unhealthy learning environment and lack of teachers.
He said that while schools in rural communities are crumbling, those in urban areas are falling below the standard of basic schools. This development led to parents to increasingly withdraw their children from public schools to private ones.
The new NSUBEB boss was shocked when he recently discovered some furniture of the board in the private residence of late Anthony Bala Jibrin, a messenger in the office of the Executive Chairman of Akwanga Local Government Area.
Though the said Anthony is late, the NSUBEB boss has ordered investigation into the matter on how the board’s furniture found their way into his private residence.
The SUBEB boss equally wondered why the Executive Chairman of Akwanga Local Government kept mum when he was offered a SUBEB Chair to sit on in the residence of his late messenger.
Education secretaries, police to probe allegation
The angry SUBEB chairman on getting the tips with pictorial evidence ordered the education secretary of local government area to immediately investigate how those chairs were found in a private residence, vowing to ensure that the culprits are brought to book to face the law.
Dr. Kassim said: “Primary education is foundational to every formal education system. At this level, every child within age six should be admitted to primary school, which has six years duration.
“Primary education does not only lay the foundation for other levels of education, but also the fulcrum of the socio-political and economic advancement of a state.
“It is meant to provide the learner with opportunities to acquire literacy, numeracy, creativity, and communication skills. Besides, children are to enjoy learning and develop a desire to continue learning and harness the ability for critical thinking and logical judgment.”
Speaking to education secretaries of the state’s 13 local government and 18 development areas recently in his office, Dr. Kassim accused the education secretaries and headmasters of the schools of diverting the board’s furniture to sell to private individuals and schools, vowing that the board under his leadership will address the situation of the public schools in ruins in rural communities.
He revealed that he would partner with the assistant commissioner of police in charge of operations to go round suspected private schools and homes using SUBEB furniture with a view of arresting those responsible for selling the furniture to them.
1,300 administrative workers to return to class
The chairman also directed the immediate redeployment of 1,300 administrative workers out of 3,422 administrative workers across the 13 local government and 18 development areas.
The NSUBEB boss had earlier gathered from the various education secretaries that the total number of their administrative workers, including supervisors totalled 3,422 in the state. He, therefore, directed administrative workers with teaching qualifications to return to the classrooms with immediate effects.
The chairman explained that there is no need for government to be running short of teachers while the administrative departments will have enough qualified teachers as administrative workers and supervisors.
He said the board would not tolerate a situation where there are large numbers of supervisors while the rural schools have no single teacher, questioning what they are supervising, and directed the education secretaries to post the 1,300 administrative staff with teaching qualifications to be deployed to rural schools with immediate effects.
4,800 qualified teachers to be recruited
On recruitment, the chairman explained that he has received approval from the governor to recruit 4,800 qualified teachers in the primary schools, and revealed that his recruitment is tagged: “Recruitment of teachers in rural areas”.
He said those applying should be prepared to go to the rural areas, adding that no single teacher to be recruited will be posted to urban areas, noting that his agenda is to revive rural schools and make it attractive to parents of both communities to send their children.
Dr. Kassim told the secretaries that it’s not going to be business as usual, and that the board under him will focus on rural schools to ensure that they are well-equipped.
He explained further that no education secretary should make illegal deductions of their teachers’ salaries, except on disciplinary grounds, which the board must be informed about.
The NSUBEB boss said he was appointed by the governor to change the narrative in the education sub-sector and he is more than determined to achieve his mandate, even if it means stepping on people’s toes.
Dr. Kassim also directed the education secretaries not to allocate any school land to small business ventures, except with the permission of the board, adding that some people have started claiming school lands on that basis.
He promised to create maintenance units in each local government to protect and safeguard SUBEB properties, vowing to revoke any contract poorly done or have that contractors’ money withheld until a standard work is done.
“We can’t renovate a particular school this year and get same structures renovated next year. It means something is wrong with the work done by the first contractor. We can’t pay any contractor until we are fully satisfied with the quality of work done,” he said.
