By Sani Surajo Abubakar
Some days ago, Kano Government House was agog with guests from within and outside the country, primarily stakeholders in the education sector who thronged the state to witness the historic declaration of a 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 at 989,234 for both genders. This situation threatens to rob the entire generation of their education rights and a brighter future.
Dilapidated school structures, lack of instructional materials, a severe shortage of qualified teachers, and inadequate teacher training programs coupled with the socio-economic challenges in basic and post-basic schools across the state made learning and teaching challenging, if not impossible.
Statistics at government disposal indicate that out of the 42516 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 school level, less than 30% of classrooms can be deemed habitable, leaving significant students of such schools grappling with inadequate facilities that impede their intellectual growth and development.
Looking at the science and technical schools, the pathetic story is the same, with less than 20% of classes meeting the essential 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 rescuing the education sector from total collapse, on Saturday, 8th of June, 2024, the Kano State Government declared a 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 a 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 the 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 robust commitments are put in place that include;
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 financial resource allocation will address underfunding problems bedevilling 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 in conducive teaching and learning processes.
Third, plans have been made to build an additional 300 state-of-the-art laboratories across 100 schools in the state. The provision of such needed facilities will go a long 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 endeavours. The provision of laboratories is another 300 earmarked for overhauling 100 secondary schools.
Four boarding secondary schools that were hitherto closed by the immediate past administration are to be reopened and re-boarded within the next academic year. Such schools provide a supportive environment for students, particularly those from remote areas or economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Five, to consolidate the drive to improve the education sector, approval has been granted for a comprehensive renovation of all primary and secondary schools in the nooks and crannies of the state in the subsequent two academic sessions. In this regard, the 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 engage learners with utmost attention in their classrooms, arrangements are made to distribute free one-meal per pupil per day in all primary schools. The CRC, assiduously working as preparations, has hired cooks for the home-grown feeding program. This is in addition to the plan to re-introduce the distribution of free uniforms to all primary I pupils in all primary schools in the state.
Eight, to show a solid commitment to tackling teacher shortage and positively adjusting the students/teacher ratio, 5632 BESDA (Better Education Service Delivery for All) teachers were fully employed. Also, the governor has approved hiring an additional 10,000 teachers to go ahead with SUBEB to chart a training roaster for all teachers in the state government’s employment.
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 Municipal, Gezawa, Kabo, Gwarzo, Dambatta and Bichi local governments respectively.
Similarly, in his second tenure, 44 schools for Islamic Studies and 44 Technical Colleges initiated by Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso 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 a revolving soft loan to primary school teachers in the state.
Eleven, as a government with a resolve to project Girl-Child-Education and reduce pressure on parents to transport their girls’ children to schools daily, 70 high-capacity buses are shuttling in the Kano metropolis for such purpose.
All the commitments stated above are in addition to other feats achieved that range 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 and concerted efforts of all the relevant stakeholders, one can optimistically conclude that Kano State has begun a journey of education transformations.
Sani is an Assistant Chief Information Officer at Government House, Kano