Poorly-built classrooms collapse in rural areas

Insufficient funding in the education sector, poor structural maintenance culture as well as corruption over the years have affected the quality of teaching and greatly reduced academic integrity of public schools. Most schools need more capital to run classes effectively but the three tiers of government have paid little or no attention to strategies of […]

Insufficient funding in the education sector, poor structural maintenance culture as well as corruption over the years have affected the quality of teaching and greatly reduced academic integrity of public schools.
Most schools need more capital to run classes effectively but the three tiers of government have paid little or no attention to strategies of revamping funding in education.
The academic integrity of public schools has taken a nosedive and millions of school buildings have been left to waste.
More and more parents, particularly the well-to-do prefer to send their wards to private schools, while thousands of business groups continue to set up private schools to make profit.
One parent who patronises public secondary schools said “their teaching method has hardly improved and their character training no longer seems relevant.”
The influx of pupils into public schools and the crumbling infrastructure in the schools necessitated community intervention efforts. A number of classrooms, laboratories and hostels have been built in several schools by communities, old boys associations or wealthy individuals to address the problem of overcrowding and shortages of learning facilities.
But most of the buildings projects carried out by communities have failed to meet stipulated regulations; a number of them have collapsed. However, few of the buildings, such as those in Capital School, Kaduna and Alhudahuda College carried out by the old boys were reported as good.
A senior official with the Kaduna State education ministry said communities and individuals were free to assist the government in constructing classrooms but that “all school buildings done by both government agencies and communities must meet health and safety standards.”
Several classrooms have been poorly-designed especially in the rural areas, executed through community initiatives due to lack of government supervision. There were no required teaching aids, electricity in the classrooms and toilets.
The Director, Quality Assurance, Department of the Education, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ayuba Didam, also said school buildings must conform to civil planning standards, adding that the Department of Development Control in the FCT must ascertain the quality of school buildings and issue permits at various stages of construction.
Also, the Kaduna State Commissioner of Education Dr. Shehu Usman Adamu said, “There are standards in every thing we do. So far, we are taking stock of the briefings on all schools and communities that want to contribute in building classrooms. We have so many requests and people who are willing to donate either a block of classroom or toilet. We are still urging that all hands must be on deck because it is not the responsibility of government alone.”