Providing quality education for masses: The Jigawa example

A critic and a writer, Alhaji Mahmoud Malam-Madori, once called on other states in the country to emulate Jigawa in providing quality education for the citizens.

Another observer in Osun, Mr Sunday Lanre, who had lived in Dutse, the capital of Jigawa, noted that the state achieved so much in the development of education because the state government gave attention to education through the appropriate agencies.

He recalled that the number of primary schools in the state had risen from 2, 012 to 2, 145 between 2015 and 2018 respectively.

Corroborating these views, Alhaji Salisu Zakar, Chairman of Jigawa State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) said that Gov. Muhammad Badaru of Jigawa had even intensified efforts at improving the level of education across the state.

According to him, the governor is committed to providing quality education at the grassroots from primary schools to junior secondary school level because it is the foundation.

Reviewing the achievements of the board since inception of the present administration in education, Zakar said that the governor had promised to take education level in the state to an enviable position.

He said that the past administration had 424 junior secondary schools while the present administration had increased the schools to 538.

“The enrolment of pupils in primary one to primary six in the past government was 555,395 but the present administration has increased it from that to 671,903.

“The number of teachers then in the whole primary schools in the state before the present administration was 12,213 but now we have 12,983,’’ he explained.

He also said that before the present administration, 3,670 teachers were in the pay-roll; the number that had increased from that to 4,559 teachers.

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“The governor is implementing what the law says that about the provisions of SUBEB to provide free education to pupils from primary education to secondary education.

“This means that the responsibility of providing basic free education for pupils from primary one to junior school secondary lies with SUBEB

“The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) an agency of the Federal Government is responsible for coordinating and monitoring SUBEB activities in states of the federation towards achieving the desired goals and objectives.

“It is acclaimed by supervisory and collaborating agencies that came to the state that Jigawa SUBEB is rated as one the best in the country in terms execution and implementation of policies and programmes.

“The feat recorded in this regard is not because of anything but is in view of the commitment and the tremendous support and cooperation the SUBEB sub-sector of education is receiving from Badaru,’’ he stated.

The chairman also announced that from the inception of the present administration spent more than N11 billion on critical infrastructure and capacity building for teachers.

“With part of this amount of money, 1,412 classrooms blocks were constructed with 3,108 renovated for both primary and junior secondary schools in the state.

“The administration has procured 97,659 sets of furniture for pupils from primary one to six and from Junior Secondary School I to Junior Secondary School III, while 1,002 pieces of the furniture were renovated and put to use,’’ he said.

Similarly, he said that the administration constructed 188 houses for teachers in the hard-to reach areas to create enabling environment for teachers to remain in the rural area and teach efficiently.

“More than 79 water hand-pumps were provided in schools with challenges of water shortage to prevent pupils and students from contaminated sources of water.

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“SUBEB in collaboration with the Jigawa State Rural Water and Sanitation Agency has also constructed 1,644 toilets in primary and junior secondary schools across the state to maintain good health and hygiene.

“We renovated most of administrative blocks in schools; fully furnished to make them decent where teachers will sit down to prepare their lesson plans.

“In an effort to improve and boost teaching and learning, the present administration has spent so much in procurement of instructional materials, text books, charts as well as other consumables such as chalks, crayons and dusters, among others,’’ he said.

According to him, the state also recruits 1,393 science teachers on merit to strengthen the learning of mathematics and other science subjects in all schools across the state.

He observed that the present administration had also taken seriously the training and re-training of teachers, noting that the strategy had given boost to education in the state.

For sustainability of programmes in primary education sector, he announced that SUBEB in the state formed partnership with some international agencies to support education, especially the girl-child education.

Further to this, Zakar noted that the board had directed the primary school management committees to ensure strict supervision of good teaching and learning.

Perceptible observers, therefore, note that if other states across the country emulate the development in Jigawa, including prompt payment of teachers’ salary as in its case, literacy level in Nigeria will go higher

NAN Features

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