Northern governors and education

The recent UN findings on educational development in the country is, to say the least, very unfortunate. More worrisome is that Nigeria has one of the highest percentages of out of school children, and that the North contributes more than 60% of this ugly trend. However, the findings should not be a surprise to any […]

The recent UN findings on educational development in the country is, to say the least, very unfortunate. More worrisome is that Nigeria has one of the highest percentages of out of school children, and that the North contributes more than 60% of this ugly trend. However, the findings should not be a surprise to any discerning mind, considering how our children roam the streets of our major towns and cities in the name of ‘almajirci’.There are many things that need to be done by the political class, especially Northern governors and the legislature to remedy the ugly situation.

First and foremost, is to make education compulsory to any northern child at least up to junior secondary level. Thus failure to send a child to the school should be criminalized. This will force parents to take their children to school. However, this aspect needs a strong political will to be executed considering how the almajiri system is well embedded into our culture. And of course some of our clerics also directly or indirectly support the almajiri system.

Secondly, more schools should be established to accommodate the ever increasing enrollment. Since more children will be forced to go the schools there will be a need for building more schools and classrooms need to be build. It is disheartening to see that in some rural areas, at this modern age, children trek for several kilometers to attend schools. In the cities, however, one will find more than one hundred pupils crowded in a classroom. I am sure building additional schools and classrooms will remedy this.

Thirdly, more teachers need to be employed in the primary and secondary schools. Honestly most schools in the rural areas across the North are grossly inadequate. It very common to find a primary school that has only two staff or a junior secondary school that has a principal and three teachers, in the rural areas. Ironically there is overstaffing in most of the schools in the urban centers. This disparity should be corrected to ensure equal opportunity to teeming children that want to go to school. Governments in the North should find a way of encouraging teachers to take up appointments in the villages. This can, effectively, be achieved by rolling out some incentives to teachers in the rural areas as well as by building accommodations for them, so as to make their stay comfortable. In line with this, also, the welfare of the teachers should be well taken care of. 

In addition, Northern governors need to provide enough teaching materials to the schools. Mere building and renovating schools will not be enough. It is disheartening, when schools in the modern world are using computers and projectors for teaching primary schools pupils while we are still stuck with blackboard facilities. Textbooks, especially in the major subjects, should be made available in all the primary and secondary schools.

The most important aspect is adequate funding of education sector. But nearly all state governments in the north have failed to meet the UN requirement of 26% percent of the budget allocation to education.  Most of them for political reasons prefer to put their monies into ventures that serve the eyes. 

Yunus Ahmed Kabo, Kano.