Primary education and N100bn spent in Katsina

The amount, according to the Director, Finance in the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Alhaji Yahuza Abdullahi, covers teachers’ salaries, training and workshop for teachers as well as execution of infrastructural projects.Giving the breakdown of the funds, Abdullahi said the state government is spending not less than N13 billion on teachers’ salaries annually with […]

The amount, according to the Director, Finance in the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Alhaji Yahuza Abdullahi, covers teachers’ salaries, training and workshop for teachers as well as execution of infrastructural projects.
Giving the breakdown of the funds, Abdullahi said the state government is spending not less than N13 billion on teachers’ salaries annually with a minimum of N1.1 billion spent every month.
He said the state is spending N422 million annually as overhead cost for the 34 local government education authorities while N410 million for the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
The sum of over N11 billion was spent between 2007 to date as matching grants and counterpart funds for the execution of infrastructural development projects in the sector.
The projects executed include construction of new classrooms, toilets and administrative offices for primary and secondary schools; general rehabilitation of dilapidated school structures and purchase of teaching materials comprising textbooks, desks and chairs among others.
Daily Trust gathered that 59 blocks of one storey-building of classrooms have been constructed in the state from 1999 to 2013. Late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, who initiated the concept while he was governor of the state, constructed 21 blocks, while the incumbent governor, Ibrahim Shehu Shema, has built 38 block of classrooms so far.
Each local government in the state got at least one storey building of such school, Daily Trust learnt. In addition to this, the present administration has between 2007 and 2013 constructed 4,728 classrooms and distributed 67,677 pieces of 3-seater furniture to various primary schools in the state.
Furthermore, the N600m and N350m good performance awards won by the Katsina State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) under the present administration were spent on the construction of additional 146 classrooms, 14 computer halls and provision of 3,486 pieces of 3-seater chairs.
The Commissioner for Education, Professor Aminu Kado Kurfi, who spoke on the achievements of the Shema-led administration on education, said the state has over 400 primary schools with over 27, 000 teachers manning them.  
Kurfi added that in an effort to provide qualitative education at the primary level, government has employed additional 1,500 teachers this year and sent 2,000 others on service training.
However, despite the huge amount of money spent by the government in boosting primary education, it was learnt that most of the primary schools renovated or upgraded to storey buildings were largely located in the urban areas, those along major roads and in major towns.
It was observed that most of the primary schools in the rural areas are still in bad shape and with no enough teachers and teaching facilities and furniture such as chairs and tables among others.  
In Musawa and Malumfashi local government areas for instance, Dangana and Dayi primary schools are in dire need for general renovation but because they are located in remote areas, government has not paid attention to them.
Also in Funtua Local Government Area, it was reported that the wall of a newly constructed classroom block in Goya Primary School had collapsed killing a pupil (girl). According to one of the teachers in the school, who pleaded for anonymity, the building was sub-standard.
Another primary school teacher in the state, who does not want his name in print, said although government is sponsoring teachers for workshops, seminars and in-service programmes, the exercise has been politicized.  He said unless a teacher knows someone at the top, he/she will not be selected for the programmes.
“A teacher can spend 10 years without being sponsored for a workshop, seminar or in-service programme,” he lamented.
On the issue of salary, he said they get their salaries in time but teachers in the state are still waiting for the government to settle their outstanding one year salary increment. On promotion, he added, even those that have been promoted some years back have not been paid their promotion arrears.
The teacher also said that the structures built by the government were largely located in the urban areas and the quality of such buildings was sub-standard, noting that “in the rural areas most of the schools are in bad condition and even where government constructed new schools the quality is sub-standard and you could hardly see furniture in the classes; pupils are taking their lessons on the floor.
“In the school where I am teaching, government has constructed new classroom block but to be honest with you up till this time we have restricted pupils from entering the classes because they can collapse anytime, any moment. They are sub-standard with cracks all over the building. The contractor has completed his work and handed it over to government and nobody cares to go and inspect the project,” he noted.
He said: “I commend the present government for what it does on the ratio of students per class. Previously, we were having up to120 pupils in a class but now we have between 60 and 80 pupils which is fair enough for a teacher to teach comfortably.”
At  Zango Local Government Area of the state, a contract awarded for the construction of classroom blocks, laboratory, a store, library and an administrative block at Yargoje Junior Secondary School was abandoned at almost 80 per cent level of completion.
According to the chairman, Parent Teachers Association of the school, Alhaji Muhammad Liman Yargoje, the contract was awarded since 2008. He said the school which has over 600 students has been battling for shortage of classrooms and teachers.
Yargoje explained that, “We have only 10 teachers for both the junior and senior sections. The state government sent three teachers to the school, the local government four and the three volunteers.”
“Presently we don’t have a single teacher for science subjects in the whole sections.