The Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, has lamented the dismal condition of the state’s educational sector. He noted that upon assuming office, over 4.7 million pupils in primary schools were seated on bare floors across the state.
He disclosed that more than 400 schools in Kano state had only one teacher responsible for teaching all classes and subjects, utilising outdated and inadequate resources.
Declaring a state of emergency on education, the governor announced plans to employ 5,000 new teachers to rejuvenate the education sector. He condemned the neglect and exploitation of school facilities for commercial purposes, terming it an assault on public education.
He assured that the era of pupils enduring harsh conditions while learning was over, pledging to ensure comprehensive rehabilitation and provision of furniture.
“More than 4.7 million pupils were sitting on bare floors to take lessons while about 400 schools have only one teacher for all classes and all pupils.
“Rather than building more classrooms and providing basic furniture in the schools, as well as hiring more teachers, the administration we took over from chose to butcher the land belonging to those schools, in some places, demolishing classrooms to create space for shops.
“Those schools that they could not sell, they closed them down and got them vandalised. The encroachment of public school lands and the conversion of these vital institutions into private business premises is an affront to our communal values and a direct assault on our commitment to public education.
“This reckless appropriation of educational spaces for commercial use is unacceptable and must be stopped immediately,” he said.
Reaffirming the commitment of his administration to revamping the educational sector in the state he said, “As your elected governor, entrusted with the solemn responsibility of steering our state towards prosperity and progress, I cannot ignore the glaring reality that confronts us in the realm of education.
“And with education being our number one priority, and believing that education is not only a public good but also the greatest asset that any people can bequeath to its upcoming generation because no people can grow beyond the quality and standard of their education system, we must, therefore, take radical but practical measures to reposition education provisioning in our state,” he said.
He also promised to address the increasing number of out-of-school children in the state assuring that several steps are being made to this effect.