By Sani Surajo Abubakar
Penultimate Saturday, Kano Government House was agog with guests from within and outside the country mostly stakeholders in the education sector who thronged the state to witness the historic declaration of state of emergency on education by the state government under the stewardship of governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
The declaration was necessitated by an alarming proliferation of out-of-school children with its figure currently standing at 989,234 of both genders, a situation that threatens to rob the entire generation of their right to education and a brighter future.
Dilapidated schools structures, lack of instructional materials, severe shortage of qualified teachers, in- adequate teacher training programs coupled with the socio-economic challenges in basic and post-basic schools across the state made learning and teaching very difficult if not impossible.
Statistics at government disposal indicates that out of the 42, 516 total classrooms available, a mere 22% meet the basic standard of habitability as nearly four out of every five classrooms in Kano’s primary and secondary schools are marred by dilapidation and disrepair rendering them unsuitable for the noble pursuit of knowledge.
At the secondary schools level, less than 30% of classrooms can be deemed habitable, leaving significant number of students of such schools to grapple with inadequate facilities that impede their intellectual growth and development.
Looking at the science and technical schools, the pathetic story is the same with the less than 20% of classes meeting the most basic criteria for habitability making it difficult to nurture the next generation of scientists, IT experts and engineers when the very environments in which they are meant to learn are ripe with inadequacies and deficiencies.
Passionate and committed to rescue the education sector from the total collapse, on Saturday, 8th of June, 2024 Kano State Government declared state of emergency on education to address the critical challenges facing the sector with a clarion call to all the stakeholders to unite and prioritize the revitalization of the education system for the overall benefit of the society.
The cardinal aim of declaring the state of emergency on education was encapsulated in the overall vision for the education delivery in the state as articulated in a statement viz:
Every school, a good school; every child, enrolled in school; every student, an engaged learner; every teacher, a caring educator; every parent, a supportive partner; and your government, a committed investor in human capital development.
The declaration as envisaged will enable government to mobilize resources, implement urgent reforms, and focus on strategic interventions that will rebuild educational infrastructure, provide necessary materials, and reclaim schools from encroachment.
To ensure effective revitalization of the education sector, restore its lost glory and take Kano State to greater heights educationally, eleven powerful commitments are put in place that include;
One, in the 2024 fiscal year, Kano State has made an unprecedented budgetary allocation of 29.95% to education. This was made based on the fact that significant allocation of financial resources will address problems of under-funding bedeviling the sector
Two, for the smooth operation of basic and post- basic schools, restoration has been made for the payment of upkeep and overhead funds for all secondary schools in the state. The timely release of the funds will allow schools to maintain their infrastructure, procure essential teaching and learning materials and aid conducive teaching and learning process.
Three, plans have been made for building additional 300 state-of-the-art laboratories across 100 schools in the state. The provision of such needed facilities will go along way in providing students with hands-on experience in scientific inquiry, fostering a culture of experimentation and discovery needed for their future and success in their chosen endeavors. The provision of the laboratories is in addition to another of 300 earmarked for overhauling in 100 secondary schools.
Four, boarding secondary schools that were hitherto closed by the immediate past administration are to be reopen and re-boarded within next academic year as such schools play crucial role in providing a supportive environment for students particularly those from remote areas or economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Five, to consolidate on the drive of improving the education sector, approval has been granted for comprehensive renovation of all primary and secondary schools in the nooks and crannies of the state in the next two academic sessions. In this regard, Community Re-orientation Committee (CRC), Kwankwasiyya, Lafiya Jari, and Kano Pro-PA will handle minor repairs, while the Ministry of Education, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) will shoulder all major repairs through competitive bidding.
Six, to achieve the commitment of clearing out of school children roaming the streets, 28,264 additional classrooms will be built across the state within the next three years to accommodate such children through the supervision of the Ministry of Education, SUBEB and to be monitored by the Ministry of Project Monitoring.
Seven, to make pupils engaged learners with utmost attention in their classrooms, arrangements are on to commence the distribution of free one-meal per pupil per day in all primary schools. The CRC in assiduously working as preparations has commenced of hiring cooks for the home-grown feeding program. This is in addition to plan to re-introduce the distribution of free uniforms to all primary I pupils in all primary schools in the state.
Eight, to show strong commitment in tackling shortage of teachers and adjust positively the students/teacher ratio, 5632 BESDA (Better Education Service Delivery for All) teachers were fully employed. Also, the governor has approved the hiring of additional 10,000 teachers with go ahead to SUBEB to chart out a training roaster for all teachers in the employment of the state government.
Nine, arrangements are going on to commence the renovation of schools affected by fire outbreaks in the last eight years in Madobi, Gaya, Ajingi, Kiru ,Dawakin Tofa,Kano Munincipal,Gezawa,Kabo,Gwarzo,Dambatta and Bichi local governments respectively.
In the same vein, 44 schools for Islamic Studies and 44 Technical Colleges initiated by Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso in his second tenure, would be completed and put to use in earnest.
Ten, to boost the morale of teachers and prioritize their welfare for quality service delivery, approval has been granted for the disbursement of the sum of three hundred million naira as revolving soft loan to primary school teachers in the state.
Eleven, as a government with resolve to project Girl-Child-Education and reduced pressure on parents of transporting their girls children to schools on daily basis, 70 high capacity buses are shuttling in Kano metropolis for such purpose.
All the commitments stated above are in addition to other feats achieved that ranges from sponsoring 1001 first class degree graduates for foreign post-graduate studies; settlement of registration fees for Kano indigenes studying in various higher institutions of learning across the nation; payment of NECO and NBAIS fess; renovation and upgrade of two bilingual academies of French and Chinese located at Kwankwaso town and Niamey, capital of Niger Republic to mention but a few.
With the above stated commitments, concerted efforts of all the relevant stakeholders, one can optimistically concluded that has Kano state has begun a journey of educational.
transformations.
Sani, is an Assistant Chief Information Officer, Government House, Kano
