Miserable condition of education in Bauchi rural areas
As the governor of Bauchi State Bala Muhammad Abdulkadir spent nearly four months since he took the mantle of leadership of the state, numerous sectors have started seen changes. I am not a political singer neither a politicians which will make me to praise or criticize the governor but from all indications the government has […]
As the governor of Bauchi State Bala Muhammad Abdulkadir spent nearly four months since he took the mantle of leadership of the state, numerous sectors have started seen changes. I am not a political singer neither a politicians which will make me to praise or criticize the governor but from all indications the government has propitious start.
Within these days the people of the state can bear witness how the government quickly flagged off the construction of roads and renovating the existing ones in the state capital and other senatorial zones in the state.
These include the construction and rehabilitation of four roads worth about N5 billion which include Ibrahim Bako to Maiduguri road Bye-Pass, Sabon Kaura to Jos road while those of Muda Lawal Market and Yakubun Bauchi Quarters would be rehabilitated.
Other road projects awarded by the governor within the period were the 58 kilometers road linking 9 communities of Tafawa Balewa and Alkaleri local governments, Sade to Akuyam in Misau local government, GRA Azare to old Kano road in Katagum local government.
This is really commendable as it is the reason people of Bauchi voted for the new entrant government and displaced the past administration from the government house.
While commending the start of the government, it seems it turned deaf ear and use blind eyes in facing the falcrum of development especially from disadvantaged rural areas where most people live.
It will be recalled that far back when Bauchi State was reputed as one of the stronghold of all categories of educated manpower in Nigeria.
Regrettably, that good reputation has since vanished and the state has become a byword for educational backwardness; a repugnant of its former self.
The report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) showed that there are 1.3 million out-of-school children in the state – the highest in Nigeria.
This is alarming and unbearable, although the people living in urban centers in the state can be motivated to enroll their children to schools, that should not happen in Bauchi rural areas.
There is need for me to proof my above claim, parents in Bauchi rural areas can not enroll their children because of the inhumane nature of the learning environment.
To attest all I have said I visited Katsinawa Primary School in Tafawa Balewa Local Government where I screamed to found out that pupils learn under life-threatening environment.
The attached pictures show some buildings are on the verge of collapsing while some turn to swimming pools during raining season. There is inadequate care and renovations are not done. The working condition is bad, classrooms are small, broken chairs and tables litter the floor. Walls are now used as chalkboards.
A school that was established 41 years ago and have more than 1,000 pupils, it’s now seem to be neglected, abandoned and forgotten. As you can see the building have broken down, some part even as far as to the chairs, some of the pupils sit on bare floor to learn. The roofs of the existing building are all in a bad shape.
If you look at the primary school, there is no toilet, teachers and the pupils have to go inside the bush to defecate and you know the risk involved in that; they could either be injured by snakes or other wild animals.
Like the cracked building where the pupils are learning under, we do not know when there will be heavy wind and you cannot pass the corner of the building because of the threat it poses to human life.
This is the exact situation in most rural areas in the state, government should look into that. Government can help to drill a boreholes in the schools to prevent the pupils from going home to drink water when classes are going on.
The state government should come to our aid by renovating the school to meet up the standard in the country.
Mu’awiya Katsinawa is a serving corps member from Albarka Radio 97.5 Bauchi