Sokoto village with 200,000 inhabitants lacks education facilities

Darambar Dan Tudu village in Gada Local Government area of Sokoto State with a population of over 200, 000 people has no public schools, the village head, Magaji Abdul Dan Karami, has said. Karami said the absence of educational facilities has left tens of thousands of children out of school. He told Daily Trust exclusively […]

Darambar Dan Tudu village in Gada Local Government area of Sokoto State with a population of over 200, 000 people has no public schools, the village head, Magaji Abdul Dan Karami, has said.
Karami said the absence of educational facilities has left tens of thousands of children out of school.
He told Daily Trust exclusively that poverty and diseases have increased in the village following the lack of access to schools, hospital and other utilities.
He said villagers have resorted to sending their children to schools in a neighbouring village but trekking long distances daily had discouraged a number of pupils, and most would not go beyond primary education.
The village head said thousands of kids who abscond from classes either help their parents on the farms or roam the streets.
“Initially, our children went to neighbouring Unguwa village for school but as time went by, they remained at home to rear animals or go to farm to assist their parents,” 60-year-old Dan Karami revealed.
The villagers, who were predominantly farmers, said they have never enjoyed any developmental project from government, as they continue to live without basic social amenities.
“We are cut off from the real world since we don’t enjoy any facility. Our children engage in animal rearing while some just wander about due to lack  of school in the village. We don’t have any medical facility and no road,” one Malam Isa said.
The village head recalled that  since 1999, they had individually and collectively complained to Gada Local Council about the lack of schools and hospitals but nothing has been done to remedy the situation.
Recently, an enrolment exercise for children in the village commenced with a make-shift structure to serve as class rooms for would-be pupils.
Eight-year- old Shafa’atu, one of those registered for enrolment told Daily Trust she was eager to go to school to learn. She said punctuality and excellence would be her watchword.
Deputy Education Secretary Gada Local Government Education Authority, Abdul’Rauf Yusuf Kyadawa, who said government was working to address the plight of the community, noted that they have already set aside a date for the commencement of accreditation, formalization of the proposed site for the school, formation of School Based Management Committee before the case is presented to Sokoto State Universal Basic Education Board  for approval.
Governor Aminu Tambuwal had declared a state of emergency on education.