Ngelshengele Primary School in Fune Local Government Area of Yobe State has only two permanent teachers attending to 544 pupils who take lessons inside dilapidating classrooms.
Malam Sa’idu Wakili, the headmaster of the two blocks of six classrooms school, disclosed this to newsmen in Ngelshengele village. He said as a result of dearth of teachers in the school, some pupils usually return home without receiving a single lesson.
“I have been the headmaster of this school for eight years,” Wakili said. “An Arabic teacher and I are the only permanent teachers in this school with a population of 544 pupils.”
“I teach all the subjects apart from Arabic. In all I teach about 11 to 12 subjects,” Wakili added.
The headmaster noted that a temporary teacher was posted to the school under the Federal Teachers Scheme (FTS), but would soon round up his programme and leave.
“As soon as he leaves we will continue to be only two in the school,” he said.
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According to Wakili, the school is in deterioration as its roofing and other structures were partly blown off by rainstorms. He added that the access road to the school was also washed off by flood.
The headmaster added that there was no single piece of furniture for pupils in the classrooms since he assumed duty in 2014.
On his part, Mallam Muhammad Umara, the FTS teacher, said there are over 80 pupils in a primary one class he handles. Muhammad who said he would complete his programme in less than two months noted that the terrible state of the school was a matter of concern.
“Since I reported, about two years ago, pupils take lessons on the floor because there are no desks for them to sit on,” he said. “Whenever it is raining, we suspend lessons and allow them to go home.”
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When contacted, Professor Musa Alabi, the Executive Chairman, Yobe State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) assured that the board would rehabilitate the school soon.
He noted that the school is one of the 1,000 schools in terrible condition across the state, adding the affected schools were either torched by insurgents or neglected by successive administrations.
“This administration inherited about 1,300 schools that needed urgent rehabilitation. Most of them are in terrible condition,” he said. “So far we renovated over 300 schools, which means there are about 1,000 schools waiting to be attended. It is a gradual process. We are coming to it.”
