‘We’re improving girl-child education in Gwagwalada’

What efforts are being done to improve basic education in Gwagwalada Area Council? First and foremost, let me give thanks to God for choosing me to be education secretary under the committed chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council, Alhaji Adamu Mustapha Danze. I also want to thank my people for their support and the confidence they […]

What efforts are being done to improve basic education in Gwagwalada Area Council?

First and foremost, let me give thanks to God for choosing me to be education secretary under the committed chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council, Alhaji Adamu Mustapha Danze. I also want to thank my people for their support and the confidence they have in me. For that, I am ready to serve my people wholeheartedly. 

When I assumed office, transfers were pending, which were prepared by the former LEA secretary, I have done that successfully. And right now, many communities have come here to thank me; that I have brought change; that they have started receiving positive change. 

Secondly, staff welfare has been adequately taken care of. And believe you me, you can buy all teaching implements, buy the audio/visual resources, but if the welfare of both the teachers and staff of LEA is not accorded priority, no tangible thing would be achieved. I thank God that Gwagwalada Area Council has taken the welfare of teachers seriously. The chairman ensures that salaries are paid promptly and we have implemented the 2015 promotions. 

Again, we sincerely thank the area council for the development of primary and junior secondary schools across the council. The area council has also donated over 1,000 biros and pencils and over 13,000 exercise books to be shared among all the primary schools across the 10 wards of the council, including teachers’ lesson notes. 

Presently, we have started arrangement to commence the rehabilitation of a section of the LEA staff office that got burnt in 2013 as some of our staff have no place to stay.  

Primary schools, especially those in the rural areas face challenges of inadequate teachers and the near absence of infrastructure. What are you doing at the LEA level to address the challenges?     

Well, it is obvious that rural schools are facing challenges of inadequate teachers but we have been working hard since I assumed office to embark on a tour of all primary schools across the council to get teachers and pupils data. When we get that, it will help me to see how we can reshuffle the teachers, especially at schools with the highest number of teachers so that we deploy some of them to the rural areas. The civil service rules and regulations give us the power to administer the transfer of teachers. 

I have also put in application to the area council to give us approval to recruit more teachers, and as soon as approval is given, we are going to recruit and post teachers to rural schools. So these are the measures we are trying to put in place.

Why is it difficult to fill the existing vacancies for teachers? 

The answer is simple and is already known to every person. It is lack of funds. Now, if teachers were employed and at the end they leave a vacuum either as a result of death or retirement, that vacuum could not be filled unless there is a financial backup. So it is very  difficult to recruit teachers until things improve.

Why is it that some teachers posted to rural primary schools hardly stay at their posts?

Well, you see in employment, there is no specific rule that says when an individual is employed, he should remain in the city. So, those teachers that are rejecting their postings to rural schools or those teachers who are posted to rural schools but are not serious are not helping the system.

Fortunately, we in Gwagwalada Area Council don’t have such issues. Our teachers stay at their places of posting and do their job diligently.  The quality assurance team, inspectors and heads of department as well as social mobilization officials go round rural schools to ensure that standards are kept even in the hinterland. 

In fact, those who are directly under quality assurance monitor implementation of our policies. And since I came in, they have been doing well because we have vehicles that convey us to rural areas within the council, especially on Monday, Tuesday to Wednesday. The social mobilisation team ensures they mobilise parents to enlighten them on the importance of education.

As a female LEA secretary, what have you been doing to encourage girl-child education in Gwagwalada?    

In fact,  I know very well the importance of education which I think every girl-child in the society should have. When I assumed office, I put in place social mobilisation officials charged with the responsibility of ensuring that parents are enlightened on why girl-child education is very important in our society. Today, here I am as the secretary of the LEA, if I had not gone to acquire education, I will not be sitting here to even grant you an interview. 

So I can say that we are making progress in terms of encouraging girl-child education. We have been trying to let parents know that early marriage or hawking on the streets is detrimental to the overall development of a girl. We have made them understand that when girls acquire education, they too contribute to the development of the society.