In what appears to show the poor quality of education in public primary schools in Bauchi state, some primary 6 pupils today (Monday) failed to write 1-10 in numerals correctly, let alone writing same in words.
This came to the fore, in the ongoing visit to public primary and junior secondary schools by the executive chairman of the state Universal Basic Education Board Dr Abubakar Surunbai Sheik Dahiru Bauchi.
Also read; Harvest Season: Bauchi rural kids abandon schools, labour in farms on school days
During such visits, Dr Abubakar Surunbai personally go into classes to interact with pupils, by randomly asking them questions on simple arithmetic, spelling of their names and sometimes bring pupils out before the blackboard to write words and numbers.
This was the case when the executive chairman today (Monday) visited Mallam Babban Mutum Primary School Shekal (said to have been attended by prominent Bauchi indigenes like Senator Salisu Matori), where the poor quality of education at the basic level shocked him.
On arrival the chairman, went class by class, but the situation in primary 6 was said to be ‘pathetic’.
Of the about fifteen pupils called before blackboard, almost half of them could not write 1-10 correctly.
The chairman therefore pointed out the need for collaborative effort between government and other stakeholders in providing teaching and learning materials in schools.
Dr Abubakar Surnbai claimed that majority of the schools have no furniture and promised to forward a comprehensive report on the condition of the schools to the state governor for necessary action.
He said UBEC intervention alone cannot solve the challenges in the basic education sub-sector.
