Tag: Education

The Federal Government, through the Accelerated Senior Secondary Education Programme (ASSEP), has provided 30 mobile laboratories and virtual reality headsets to enhance educational development in the North East.

Chairperson of the ASSEP Project Implementation Committee, Mrs. Sa’adatu Shehu, announced this during a Stakeholders’ Engagement Meeting and Programme Assessment on Monday in Yola.

The ASSEP intervention project was launched on May 20, 2024 by Vice President Kashim Shettima in Bauchi.

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Shehu explained that the programme, an initiative of the Office of the Vice President and funded by the North East Development Commission (NEDC), aims to address gaps in the quality of secondary education across Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states.

She said the provision of instructional materials is designed to equip students with the academic knowledge and practical skills required for the modern workforce.

“The region has faced persistent challenges due to conflict, limited infrastructure and gaps in teacher quality and educational resources.

“As part of the Renewed Hope Agenda, ASSEP is transforming education in Northeast Nigeria by focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Agriculture (STEMA).

“This initiative aims to improve student learning, foster healthy competition, and promote excellence in STEMA subjects,” she said.

State governments have unveiled their strategies towards meeting the desired educational needs and targets. The states revealed plans to upgrade schools infrastructure, train and recruit new teachers. Some also outlined plans to improve teaching and learning as well as improve vocational education and school curriculum. However, some of the government officials were not available for interviews on their plans. Victoria Amadi, Fanen Ihyongo, Kano; Kolade Adeyemi, Jos; Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin; Duku Joel, Damaturu; Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi; Ahmed Rufa’i, Dutse; Augustine Okezie, Katsina; Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto and Victor Gai, Jalingo report.

Over the years, Nigeria has made significant strides in  education development. This has been achieved through policy reforms, infrastructure improvements and enhanced access to schooling.

But, many educators have constantly been advocating for more reforms to change the educational agenda from the colonial period. They argued that educational institutions were established primarily to serve the interests of the British Empire.

However, the post-independence efforts to improve the sector have been focused on forging a national identity and fostering socio-economic growth. This has also engendered its own challenges due to a growing population, lack of infrastructure, high school turn-outs, poverty, conflicts and inadequate funding.

The issue of out-of-school children, poor quality and low academic performance as well as increase in conflicts leading to closure of schools and destruction of classrooms and the need for 21st century’s skills are putting more pressures on the education sector.

The three-tier of government must judiciously fund education to improve standards and provide the required soft skills, through capacity building for educators and strengthening technical and management systems.

The Nation correspondents in states spoke with government officials on their agenda to improve education this year.

We plan to invest in vocational studies, infrastructure, says Lagos

The Lagos State Commissioner, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Jamiu Tolani Alli-Balogun, has disclosed that the ministry would venture more into the technical and vocational studies for primary and secondary schools in the state.

He made this known during an interview with The Nation on Tuesday in Lagos.

According to Alli-Balogun, these vocational and technical centres would be made open to pupils once every week. This is to lay the foundation of skills acquisition for the pupils in the state at early stage.

“For this year, there is a lot on ground for us to leverage on. Basically, the focus is on technical education and vocational studies in which the Federal Government has also made an announcement.

“From primary school, we would re-awaken that spirit. We have all the centres across all the primary schools in the state, whereby they go once a week to learn about vocational skills and other technical subjects. They will start going to these centres once they are in primary one to six.

“We are also leveraging on our technical and vocational centres across the state where we produce graduates and give certification every now and then,” he said.

He added that the state government would also employ and deploy more teachers to primary and secondary schools in the state.

He disclosed that the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, would commission not fewer than 12 schools this year.

“We would have more teachers in our school spaces. As some retire, we employ more on board. The state government is not stopping.

“We are improving on our schools infrastructure. The governor has built more schools. He is going to commission about 12 new schools this year. Also, six blocks of class are being donated in Epe, and other places across the state,” he said.

Kano plans to recruit 10,000 teachers, reduce out-of-school population

As part of his unwavering measures to reverse the unfortunate situation in the Kano State education sector, Governor Abba Yusuf allocated 31 per cent of the 2025 N719.7 billion budget to the sector.

He has also just sworn in a new commissioner for education, Gwani Ali Abubakar Makoda, who he feels will deliver better in the implementation of the state of emergency he declared in the sector.

The governor said his cardinal plan for the education this year is to reduce the out-of-school population in the state.

As such, he has approved the employment of over 10,000 teachers to improve the teacher-to-student ratio.

 On Monday, he distributed free school uniforms to 796,092 primary school pupils across 7,092 public schools in the state.

“The free uniforms will promote education and alleviate financial burdens of families struggling to meet their children’s education needs,” he said.

Yusuf said his administration has committed several billions of naira to free uniforms, the construction of 336 new classrooms, the rehabilitation of 119 defective structures, and the distribution of 53,652 three-seater desks catering to 160,956 pupils across 484 wards.

To succeed, the Yusuf administration has paid a backlog of counterpart funding for SUBEB since 2021, and reopened all boarding schools to return students to school.

About 45,000 students are also befitting from the administration’s monthly transfer of N20,000 conditional cash to Kano students.

Kwara announces capacity-building for teachers, inclusive education

Kwara State Government is poised to build capacity of teachers, their training and retraining in 2025, Education and Human Capital Development Commissioner Sa’adat Modibbo Kawu has said.

Mrs. Modibbo Kawu told our correspondent: “Basically, our focus as a ministry in line with Governor AbdulRaman AbdulRazaq’s administration is to increase access and inclusivity and ensure we save the system through capacity building of teachers; to train and retrain of teachers and also ensure that through the Quality Assurance Bureau of the Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, we will continue to monitor both private and public schools to ensure qualitative delivery and access to basic education and senior secondary education.”

She added that part of the focus was the recent employment of no fewer than 1,811 teachers by the State Universal Basic Education Board (KWSUBEB).

This followed the recent interview involving no fewer than 55,713 applicants from across the state.

The breakdown of the successful applicants included 1,500 teachers, mostly from STEM subjects and 311 non-teaching staff comprising drivers, security guards, and office assistants for schools in the 16 local government areas.

Yobe unveils cardinal objectives, others to strengthen education

Yobe State Ministry of Education is divided into two ministries – the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and the Ministry of Higher Education, which deals with the tertiary institutions in the state.

From the Ministry of Basic Education, the Commissioner, Dr. Abba Idris Adam, in an interview with The Nation, disclosed that the state government is focused on four cardinal objectives in the year 2025.

He said: “The cardinal objectives of the Yobe State Basic Education, especially for the year 2025, are focused on four key areas.

“The number one area is out-of-school children. One of the major problems of education in the state is the issue of out-of-school children, which is caused as a result of conflicts. Yobe has suffered so much because of the insecurity, which has resulted in some of the children dropping out of school.

“Because of the insecurity in the state, some parents along with their children were displaced from their schools and this is raising the concern of the administration of Governor Mai Mala Buni for this year.

“Secondly, the issue of enrolment is another area that we intend to tackle in the state. Our approach on enrolment is in three aspects because we believe that enrolment alone does not solve the problem. So, we are looking at boosting enrolment itself, the retention of the pupils in the schools and the completion of the pupils for the school they have enrolled.

 “Our number three focus is children that are lost in transition. After a critical survey, we realised that we are losing students at all levels of education. We found out that some pupils will finish primary schools, but they won’t continue to secondary schools. Some will finish secondary and won’t continue etc. We discovered that this is caused by poverty, insecurity and climate change and as a government, we intend to frontally deal with the situation.

“We also want to have a comprehensive education policy, which will focus basically on the actual education needs of the state without purely depending on the federal policy of education, which is more or less general. So, in Yobe, we are looking at our challenges and peculiarities. It is more or less a home grown solution to strengthening our basic and secondary education in the state,” Dr. Adam disclosed.

 His counterpart in the Ministry of Higher Education, Prof. Bello Kawuwa, disclosed that his ministry in the year 2025 will be introducing three new modules in the curriculum of the higher institutions in the state.

“In the year 2025, Yobe State University will be rolling out 12 new undergraduate courses and 13 post-graduate courses and admissions will commence this academic session in the disciplines at the university. A new department will be established at the Faculty of Law at the university and we are going to make sure that the college of medicine at the university gets full accreditation.

“By way of innovation, this year, we are going to expose all the final year students to three new modules of life skills, employability, entrepreneurship as well as financial literacy. These skills will change their thinking of looking for jobs but rather creating jobs for themselves and others after graduation. They will become self-employed and earn money for themselves.”

Benue to unlock counterpart funding, others

In addressing poor and dilapidated infrastructure in Benue  State basic schools, reducing high teacher-student ratios and stemming high dropout rates in our education sector, Benue State  Governor Hyacinth Alia  has committed N3.2 billion to the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) towards unlocking counterpart funds of the same proportion.

Governor Alia, during his presentation of the 2025 budget estimate to the House of Assembly, said: “The expectation is to efficiently channel these funds to education infrastructure renewal to eliminate these negative ratios. “Additionally, N566,998,322.50 only was provided to cover registration fees for final year students writing the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), National Examinations Council (NECO) and National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) exams in government secondary schools.

According to Alia “this initiative aims to curb student dropout rates and provide financial relief to parents’’.

Jigawa allocates N184b for education

The Jigawa State Governor Malam Umar Namadi has allocated over N184 billion, representing N26.4 percent of the budget, to education. The budget made the sector as one of the administration’s top priorities.

The governor reaffirmed his commitment to improving education outcomes, particularly through programmes like the Partner-Assisted New Globe Education Digital Learning Project to continuously address the infrastructural and human resources deficits bedeviling the education sector.

The Capital Expenditure Allocation to the sector also includes about N19.7 billion.

Katsina yet to roll out plans for education

Plans for Education in Katsina State in 2025 is still on the drawing board, as neither the Commissioner for Education, Zainab Musawa, who is said to be outside the country nor any top ministry official was willing to talk to The Nation as at the time of visit, despite prior request for interview.

This came as primary and secondary school teachers in Katsina State have decried the poor attendance of pupils as schools resumed across the 34 councils. Investigation by The Nation revealed that current economic hardship might have been the major factor responsible for this.

During a visit to Danmasani Bala Saulawa Primary School situated at Gidan-Dawa, a classroom teacher, Malam Umar Lawal, told The Nation that the turnout of teachers was impressive while that of the students was extremely poor.

Sokoto set to turn fortunes of basic, secondary schools

Sokoto State government has rolled out a comprehensive strategic work plan for the transformation of education in 2025 with emphasis on basic and secondary education to make the state a hub for educational excellence.

Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Prof. Ahmed Ladan Ala, who spoke to The Nation in Sokoto, said more and regular recruitment and training of teachers would be encouraged to ensure quality manpower.

Prof. Ala explained that the work plan will focus on areas that would drive the sector to glory through innovative approaches while leveraging on technology and skills acquisition curricular.

“We will also ensure responsive reforms and policies that would boost the system visionary plan for agricultural boost,” Ala disclosed.

He said these would be driven by attractive investment, research and development of strategic partnerships with relevant stakeholders.

Accordingly, the commissioner said it would drive its plan components to project inclusivity, discourage disparities and marginalisation and provide support services.

“We will develop these strategies to align with national goals and our local needs towards meeting the desired targets.

“Schools infrastructure will be upgraded, repaired and renovated including construction of new ones with classroom and other adjourning facilities,” he stated.

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Plateau: improved infrastructure, curriculum, digital literacy our focus

With an allocation of N52 billion in the 2025 budget by the Plateau State government, Governor Caleb Mutfwang has made a deliberate move to turn around education in the state for good.

The higher education sub-sector is expected to spend N8 billion to reposition the institutions, while the balance is reserved for the secondary and primary education sub-sector.

With this allocation, the government hopes to lay solid foundation for the proper education of children and youths in the state within the 2025 fiscal year.

“We said solid foundation because the standard of education generally has been messed up in the state through negligence on the part of previous administration,” Commissioner for Higher Education, Dr. Kachollom Gang, who stated this in a chat with The Nation in Jos.

He added:  “Our focus for 2025 is to improve the infrastructure in the schools, because there are many of the schools that since they were established, nothing has been done to improve their infrastructure.

“So, specifically we want to look at improving the infrastructure, so that we can attract pupils back to the schools. We have observed that many of the students from Plateau State prefer to go to other states for their education, like in Gombe, Bauchi and Nassarawa. At the secondary and primary level, the Commissioner for Secondary Schools, Muhammed Nyalum, said: “What we are focusing on this year is digital literacy, with the capacity building for our teachers and students. We want to empower our teachers with digital knowledge, so that they can train our students in those skills.

“We have plans to also establish some smart schools because we have to catch up with the advanced world to attain global competitiveness. Moreso, very soon, SSCE and NECO will be computer based and we have to equip our teachers and students ahead, so that they could meet up with the test of time.”

Taraba set to begin schools building, distribution of materials

As part of the free education policy and plans for the new year, the Taraba State government would begin the construction of schools and the distribution of school materials, the Commissioner of Basic and Secondary Education, Dr. Augustina Yahaya, said during a phone interview.

According to her, the government also has plans to revitalise technical schools, convene an education summit as well as cater for the welfare of teachers and their training to meet up with the 21st century challenges.

She said: “We will look at rebuilding the schools to start. Our governor has purchased burnt bricks making machine and part of our plan is to start rebuilding the schools and it would be done zone by zone.

“Our government has purchased some school materials from last year. Right now, as I am talking to you, he has set up a committee to get the contractors to take inventory of what has been produced so that we would start distribution. They include: uniforms, shoes, games wears, exercise books, school bags and data capturing machines for primary and secondary schools. “Another plan is to organise an education summit in the state and the purpose is mainly to attract investors, focusing on our technical schools. Our technical schools are a shadow of what they are supposed to be. They have been turned into conventional secondary schools. The technical aspect is not well elaborated. We have plans to revitalise the technical schools to turn them into industrial hubs so as to attract investors and the World Bank. I know that they have funding for technical schools and it is not active in Taraba State.

 “We are starting this year on a good note because the governor has implemented the N70, 000 minimum wage. Our plan is to do up-scaling for our teachers and serious training on 21st century skills. Teachers welfare is very important to us.”

The Proprietor of Thomas Adewumi University, (TAU) Oko-Irese in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Dr. Johnson Bamidele Adewumi, has described quality education as a tool for national development.

 He restated his commitment to ensuring that future generations receive a high quality education that would make them add value to the nation’s economy.

The industrialist turned educationist spoke reporters in Oro, Irepodun Local Government area of the state on the sidelines of the coronation ceremony of Oloro of Oro Kingdom.

Reflecting on his three-decade-long contributions to education, Adewumi noted that his institution had been recognised as one of the best secondary schools in Nigeria many times with lots of laurels.

“The propelling factor of my education programme is to develop our people. Education is life. In the last three decades, I have dedicated myself to creating the best educational facilities in the state. The school I established 37 years ago has been recognised as the best secondary school in Nigeria many times with several awards to its name.

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“The best legacy to give anyone is education. The higher we educate Nigerians, the more we create graduates who can add value to the economic development of our nation. What we are doing is setting the pace for others to follow.

“After the success of Thomas Adewumi Secondary School, we decided to go higher. What we are doing at Thomas Adewumi University is to build graduates that would add value to the country’s economic development.

“You could see the sign from how Thomas Adewumi University emerged as the best in the country out of 20 private universities granted licences by the Federal Government in 2021. What we are trying to do is to set the pace for others,” he noted.

He applauded Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s administration for its equitable development agenda.

Dr. Adewumi revealed that Kwara South was partnering with the state government to establish a tertiary health institution in the region.

 Stakeholders have argued the need for government to revamp basic and secondary education in the country, tackling the numerous problems affecting them rather than leaving them in the hands of private schools, which charge “exorbitant” fees due to rising operational costs. They noted that the onus is on the government to make public schools attractive to people, DAMOLA KOLA-DARE reports

Stakeholders argued the need for government to revamp basic education

It is believed that  the increasing demand for quality education has made private schools to be suitable alternatives to public schools, thus, the former seem to enjoy widespread relevance in the nation’s education space. Observers posited that apart from being  “better” alternatives,  they  offer top- quality education and  surpass public schools in academics. Private schools are believed to be important in areas where public schools are challenged — in terms of poor funding and infrastructure deficit. But another school of thought disagrees that private schools offer the best despite charging high fees.

Nevertheless, many at the lower rung of the ladder cannot afford what has been termed “exploitative” fees charged by private schools. Thus, there is an obstacle getting affordable and quality education. This makes it essential for government to revamp public schools.

The public schools are plagued by myriads of problems, including inadequate funding, poor infrastructure, insufficient qualified teachers, and low student performance.

Acute teacher shortage, infrastructure deficit

Erstwhile Executive Secretary of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Dr. Hamid Bobboyi lamented that the country suffered from acute shortage of qualified teachers.

Bobboyi  said public primary schools in the country lacked qualified teachers.

According to him, of the 694,078 teachers required at the level, only 499,202 are available, leaving a gap of 194,876. He noted that the inadequacy of qualified teachers at primary school level was contributing to learning poverty in basic education. He added that the problem lies with skewed deployment in favour of schools in urban areas.

The erstwhile UBEC executive secretary also said states were neither recruiting new teachers nor replacing those who withdrew from service, resulting in shortage of teachers.

He also  lamented that private schools were more than public schools, saying of the 171,027 basic education institutions in the country, 79,775 are public schools and 91,252 are private schools.

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The former UBEC chief also bemoaned infrastructure deficit in schools, noting that teaching and learning take place in poor environments.

He added: “Forty per cent of classrooms are in bad condition in the basic education sub-sector. The poor condition of classrooms cuts across all geo-political zones. As at 2022, 907,769 additional classrooms were required in primary schools, and 200,085 were required in junior secondary schools. Generally, a high percentage of learners do not have furniture in both public and private schools.

“Percentage of schools without toilets is worse in public schools, especially ECCDE and primary, compared to private schools. States are totally overwhelmed with the scale of dilapidation and scarcity.”

Bobboyi, however, called for more private sector investment in basic education to complement the Federal Government’s efforts.

“Since government alone cannot meet the huge requirements for quality UBE delivery, private entities should commit to taking further responsibility in key aspects of UBE delivery, especially creating opportunities for addressing the out-of-school children phenomenon,” he said.

Representative of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Dr. Bala Yusuf Yinusa, noted that urgent action must be taken to improve basic education because, by 2030, 84 million children will be out of school, while 300 million will not have access to education due to years of under-investment in education.

Accessing  UBEC funds

 Bobboyi had also revealed that states have not accessed  N135,540,905,308.92 in matching grants between 2020 and 2023.

According to him,  many states failed to meet the necessary conditions to access the funds, thus, posing a serious challenge to the growth of education.

He noted that nine states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had not accessed the 2023 UBE Matching Grant.

“In terms of regional performance, the North-West Zone has performed the best, achieving 100 per cent access to the UBE matching grant, while the South-South Zone has accessed 97.92 per cent of its allocated funds,” he added.

Though there is little progress, more states have been urged to access the UBEC grants to ensure  all round quality education. This would also go a long way to address the issue of poor funding which remains a major challenge.

Multi-pronged approach required to revamp education

Vice Chancellor, African School of Economics, (the Pan-African University of Excellence), Prof. Mahfouz Adedimeji, noted that revamping the country’s primary and secondary education for quality delivery and public trust requires a multipronged approach.

The don said the revamp  includes the physical, structural, the systemic, the human, the technological, the financial and the political dimensions.

He said: “Structurally, new classrooms should be built while the existing ones should be renovated. Necessary equipment and facilities like chairs, desks, laboratories, books, among others, should also be put in place to support teaching and learning.

“Systemically, conscious efforts should be made to attract the best brains to the education sub-system. Good graduates should be offered automatic employments to secondary schools with adequate remuneration. The truth of the matter is that many consider teaching as a last resort but deliberate policy can turn it to graduates’ first choice as there are people who are genuinely passionate about imparting knowledge in others but poor conditions of service demobilise them. The system should also be boosted with curriculum review that incorporates total education – the training of the head, the heart and the hands. In this regard, technical and vocational skills with civic and religious education should be part of the training, not just rote learning or studying to pass.

“From the human dimension, teachers should be exposed to training and retraining opportunities while their salaries should be competitive. A situation in which every teacher must look for a side hustle because the salary is grossly inadequate to meet basic needs will have negative impact on education. Then, the inspectorate system should be brought back so that people do what they are expected to do. In private school, proprietors oversee their schools but government officials don’t sufficiently oversee what goes on in schools.

“Technologically, digital literacy programmes should be infused in the training of students. Basic computer skills, digital resources like e-books and blended learning environments should be introduced and sustained in various schools. Online learning platforms should be established with proper monitoring to enrich students’ learning experiences.

“The financial dimension is critical because getting pupils and students to public schools will necessarily entail government investing in the schools. So, increased funding, equitable allocation of resources and good management of the funds are necessary.

“Politically, since politics controls everything, if government mandates every office-holder from the  topmost to the lowest levels to send their children to public schools, every other thing will fall in place. Government policies are sufficient to restore the old glories of public schools such that people won’t feel that attending those schools is inferior to attending private ones.”

Parents and education  stakeholders also urged the  government  to make public schools more attractive to prevent parents and guardians from patronising expensive private schools.

They reckon that if public schools are well equipped with modern facilities, properly renovated and equipped with qualified teachers, many parents will begin to patronise them, instead of taking their children and wards to private schools.

Implementing proper standards for teachers’ recruitment, training

A parent and educationist, Mrs. Suliyat Sanusi, stressed the importance of teachers to education. She urged the government to focus on implementing proper standards for teacher recruitment and ensuring  comprehensive training programmes to expose them to modern teaching methodologies and subject matter know-how.

She said: “Proper training and career advancement opportunities helps teachers stay updated with the latest educational trends and technologies.

Attractive salaries, housing allowances, healthcare benefits, and performance-based incentives will also boost teachers’ morale and motivation.

“Continuous monitoring and evaluation are important for assessing the impact of educational policies and initiatives. The government should create  systems for regular data collection and analysis to track pupils’  progress, teacher efficiency, and school infrastructure.

“There should also be  feedback mechanisms that allow students, parents, and teachers to provide input on pupils. The data from feedback should be used to make decisions to improve educational policies and programmes for proper  improvement.

Enter new UBEC Executive Secretary

In a move aimed at bolstering the country’s education sector, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on  Tuesday, appointed Aisha Garba, a renowned international development specialist, as the new Executive Secretary of UBEC.

The President expects Garba to lead UBEC to  provide quality education for the Nigerian children and enhance their competitiveness in the world.

The appointment underlines Tinubu’s dedication to revitalising Nigeria’s basic education sector as part of the “Renewed Hope Agenda”.

Garba, a Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank, brings her years of experience in advancing educational initiatives across Nigeria, Ghana, Somalia, Kenya, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Her extensive career has been marked by designing and managing impactful education programmes, driving reforms, and fostering human and economic development.

With more than 15 years at the World Bank, Garba has utilised her expertise in leading large-scale education reforms from inception to execution and impact evaluation.

She is reputed for  her work in fragile and conflict-prone environments, utilising her skills and network to deliver sustainable education solutions.

Garba has also contributed  to Nigeria’s achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in education.

She is an  alumna of Petra American University in Jordan, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in English and Computer Studies. She also obtained  a Master’s in International Development from the University of Birmingham in the UK.

Stakeholders believe Garba will bring her international and developmental experience to bear on public education.

Despite the state of emergency declared in the state’s education sector, most schools in Kano State still lack basic infrastructure as pupils take lessons on the bare floor, FANEN IHYONGO reports

AS part of the implementation of the state of emergency declared in education, the Kano State Government has commenced the construction of a new storey-building of four classrooms with two offices in each of the over 4,000 public primary schools across the 44 local government areas and municipalities of the state.

While some schools are undergoing reconstruction, others have witnessed renovations of classrooms, with some having been completed and already in use.

The government’s commitment is also to recruit quality teachers and supply furniture, particularly chairs and tables or desks, in the schools.  Governor Abba Yusuf declared a state of emergency in the education sector when he learnt that a staggering 4.7 million pupils were sitting on bare floors in primary schools across the state. Six months later, while some have been provided with seats, over 2 million others in some of the schools are still sitting on bare floors to take their lessons. The books and other learning materials promised by the government have not been supplied. There are many challenges yet to be tackled, despite the administration’s agenda to reform the education sector.

To speed up the reforms, the governor allocated the lion share of N95.389 billion, representing 29.97 percent of the 2024 total budget of N350 billion to the sector, a move that won him the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Award for “exceptional performance” in education reform.

However, a visit to Sabo Layi Primary School, Bichi council area of the state by this reporter and other journalists revealed that much of the decay has not been attended to, despite the huge resources committed to the cause.

The school, with a total number of 1,764 pupils, has only 18 classrooms. This means 98 pupils are squeezed together per classroom, without desks or chairs and tables, while they sit on the bare floor. Some of them come with empty sacks from home to sit on.

“We have to wash the children’s uniforms daily because they are sitting on the bare floor,” Abdul Idris, who has three kids in the school, lamented.

Another parent, Ladifatu Jibrin, lauded the governor for his efforts but blamed the contractors for their delay in supplying seats and learning materials to the school.

The teachers too have no single furniture in the staff room. At the female staff room, this writer saw the teachers sitting on improvised mats to prepare their lesson notes and mark tests.

Some of the teachers complained that it is difficult to write on blackboards in the school because they are portions of the wall painted black.

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In another classroom, a pupil was lying very sick on an empty sack placed on the floor while the remaining pupils received lessons.

The class teacher explained that the school has no dispensary or a health worker but a first aid box in which they contribute money to fill with drugs.

There are four toilets. Two are for 1,764 pupils, which means 882 pupils share one toilet. The teachers, 39, share the remaining two toilets. It was observed that both the teachers and pupils cannot access clean running or tap water and basic sanitation services.

This means the majority of the school’s pupils may be into open defecation, thereby polluting the air, environment and surface and groundwater resources with faeces.

A team of reporters, who visited the school to assess the implementation of the state of emergency discovered that although one storey building with four classrooms and two offices has been constructed and painted, it has not been put to use. Seats, books and other learning and teaching materials are yet to be supplied.

There is also a severe shortage of qualified teachers in the school as well as inadequate teacher training programmes.

The Head Teacher, Auwal Abubakar Baduku, told reporters that, out of the 39 teachers, only 26 are permanent staff members. 10 are casual while three are temporary teachers.

He lamented that the school was yet to receive books and other learning/teaching materials promised by the governor, apart from the items given during the declaration.

This reporter also visited Zango 1 Primary School, Rimin Gado Local Government Area and Lambu Bank Primary School in Tofa Local Government Area where the sanitary situations were impressive. However, a storey building of four classrooms and two offices has been constructed in some of the schools, while work is still going on in other schools.

The condition at Dawankin Tofa Model Primary School looked better. The model school was recently supplied with 200 3-seater desks.

A storey building of four classrooms, two offices is under construction too.

The Tofa model school has 10 toilets for staff members and the pupils. But it took the school years, with the assistance of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to tackle the challenge.

Here, the male pupils have a block of five toilets while the females have a block of four conveniences. Another single-room toilet has been improvised at the staff room for the female teachers.

According to the Head Teacher of the school, Sabiu Sanusi, the school has 1,012 pupils who share the nine toilets.

Sanusi said the single teachers’ restroom is used only by the female teachers of the 32 staff members.

He added that the male teachers have no choice than to convert one of the toilets meant for the pupils to themselves, literally meaning a ratio of 126.5 pupils to eight toilets.

However, security remains a big challenge.

 “Only one security person and without a perimeter fence, thieves always invade the school to steal our properties,” Sanusi said.

According to him, the school has a computer room but they cannot provide laptops and desktop computers because they would be stolen by local thieves, just as he cannot keep a fan in his office.

How to overhaul the education system

Headmaster of Garindau Primary School, Warawa Local Government Area of Kano, Murtala Aliyu, said his school is prone to annual flooding during rainy seasons. The school also lacks security guards.

“Even today when we arrived in the morning, we noticed that some zinc roofing sheets were stolen, although we have a fence around the school we need it to be raised.  We need four security personnel, two during the day and two at night.

“We have 2,012 pupils in all, so we need more toilets, we need a solar powered borehole to provide water for the school.

“The government should renovate the old classrooms to standard, replace the lost roofs, doors and windows, as it adds one storey building of four classes and two offices.

 “Just recently we received 80 pieces of the three-seater chairs and desks but we need five times more, considering the number of students we have.

“One very important thing is that we need more qualified teachers because there are only 18 teachers to these over 2,000 pupils. We also need a dispensary and a health worker,” Aliyu explained.

Headmaster of Chula Central Primary School, Ajingi, Haruna Ibrahim, disclosed they don’t have enough classrooms for their 1,270 pupils. Also, the school has no sufficient teachers.

Ibrahim said: “It is even now that our teachers have increased to 12. We need additional teachers to meet up with the nine year programme of six years in primary and three years in Junior Secondary School.

“We need more classrooms here because candidates from neighbouring schools come here to write their common entrance examination.

“They come from Tudun Karago, Guzawa and Yan Kinta villages, and all of them are sent here to sit for the JSS III examinations.

“We need to fence the school; we need a staffroom; a dispensary; more toilets, furniture and a library,” he said.

The headmasters called on the state government to expedite action on the complete overhaul of the education sector. They expressed hope that if the schools’ needs are met, as enumerated by them, then the state of emergency will be a success.