Stephen Enoch
From 2019 to 2022, the Kano state government, through the Ministry of Education allocated over N95m for the provision of teaching and learning equipment in Special Education Schools in Kano.
In this report, Stephen Enoch discovered that despite the huge annual allocation, pupils study in poor conditions with no basic teaching and learning equipment in four Special Education Schools in Kano Metropolitan areas.
The dearth of teaching and learning equipment as uncovered by Stallion Times in Special Education schools in Kano has caused Students’ and Pupils’ education to be handicapped.
Special Education Schools, otherwise known as special needs schools are centers with individually planned and systematically monitored arrangements of educational techniques, adapted equipment and materials, and accessible environments for PWDs.
These interventions are aimed at aiding children with special needs to achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school.
Stallion Times visited four of these special type schools; Sani Mainagge Special Education School, Gwale LGA, Brigade Special Needs School in Nassarawa LGA, Special Education School, Kuka Bulukiya, Dala LGA, and Government Junior Secondary Special Education School, Gawuna to check out the real situation of the schools.
Sani Mainagge Special Education School, Gwale
Sani Mainagge Special Education School is in Gwale LGA. The school was designed for a capacity of 160 pupils in four classrooms.
The school is located in an open space at Filin Mushe a few meters away from the local secretariat of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Office.
It is a special school that caters to the needs of PWDs such as intellectual disability, hearing impairment, visual impairment, and autism.
The outside view of the school gives a picture of a modest learning environment for children.
But Stallion Times observed that the school has a head teacher, one assistant teacher, two other male teachers, and one female volunteer teacher catering to the 154 pupils who are presently in the school.
By standards, a school of this nature should have sound discrimination toys (loud to refine), charts slide on sign language, a model of speech and hearing mechanism, adequate braille, group hearing aids, magnifying glasses, and enough learning tables and chairs. But as it is, all of these special learning equipment are absent in the school.
A tour round the classrooms during school hours revealed that a large portion of the chalkboards in all four classrooms were worn-off.
Three of the four classrooms do not have a single study desk or a support system specifically designed for physically challenged pupils.
A majority of the pupils sit on a bare cement floor that is dilapidated, while others are seen lying down on the shattered floor. No thanks to the non-availability of furniture in the school.
An interaction with the female volunteer teacher who wished to remain anonymous revealed there has been no form of financial motivation by the government in the last two years. And added that she now performs the duty of a nanny for the pupils, since the school lacks caregivers.
Other teachers in the school who also wished to remain anonymous disclosed that the absence of critical teaching and learning equipment has slackened the educational attainment of pupils in the school.
One such pupil is 17–year–old Yakubu Adamu, who is popularly called Yakubu Gomna by his schoolmates.
He is called Gomna by his friends because he promised them that when he becomes governor of the state, he will provide learning and teaching materials for his colleagues in school.
“I have promised my friends that when I become governor, I will make provision for chalkboard, books, conducive classes, sports equipment, and equipment that can facilitate the education of people with special needs.”
But as fate has it, Adamu started school late and after spending four years of learning in poor condition, he is still in primary 3.
His normal age mates are either in their first level in the university or rounding up their secondary school education. This is so because he lives with a disorder classified as ‘Intellectual Disability’ (ID).
ID Intellectual disability refers to limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior that have an onset in childhood.
According to research, students with ID do best in learning environments where visual aids are used. This might include charts, pictures, and graphs.
In Adamu’s class, there are no forms of visual aids, pictures, or graphs to support his learning and that of his colleagues. The only equipment in his class that this reporter saw was a makeshift chalkboard where he struggled to identify letters A, B, C, and D.
Adamu’s class is barely a section carved out from a class that accommodates two other categories of people with hearing and visual impairment.
In an interaction with Adamu, Stallion Times observed that he could hold a basic conversation but could not answer elementary education questions.
In a participatory investigation, Adamu cannot relate to basic addition and multiplication, or recitation of Nigeria’s states and capitals. His responses to questions in Hausa are often “I don’t know’ or ‘I have not been taught.”
He said: “Sometimes when teaching is going on, I cannot fully pay attention to the teacher because this class accommodates two other classes and it is too noisy.
“If I have a class and another class is going on, my attention usually gets diverted.
“Since I do not have enough learning materials in my school, I would like to be trained in vocational skills like tailoring so that I can become someone in the future and later pursue my dream of becoming a Governor of Kano state.”
Garba Ibrahim is the Assistant Head Teacher at Sani Mainaggge Special Education School, Gwale.
He disclosed that the center has witnessed a decrease in the number of pupils over time.
He said the school used to have more than 154 students but now, they barely have less than 100 students that have resumed.
“Most parents have stopped bringing their wards to this school because of their concern about the poor state of this school, coupled with the rising cost of transportation.
“This is the only special education school in Gwale LGA and it is now witnessing a decline in the number of pupils.
“You know why? Because the school’s lack of learning equipment is a concern, and leaving those children who want to go to school without education can be dangerous,” he said.
“This term alone, more than five pupils stopped coming to school, their reason is related to the absence of basic learning materials.
“If you take a stroll round this school, you will discover that there is no toilet for the pupils.
“This a burden on us because when the children need to use the restroom, they have to go to the open field or sometimes we use the toilet of Mai Tasa Primary School or Gwale Model Primary School in the same environment,” Ibrahim said.
According to Ibrahim, he is eager to learn tailoring to support himself independently to achieve his future ambition of becoming a governor.
“If education does not work out for me, entrepreneurship can pave the way for a better future for me,” he sluggishly said.
His parent who is supportive of his education is hopeful that one day, he can stand on his own and be useful to society.
Brigade Special Needs School
Brigade Special Needs School Gawuna in Nassarawa LGA has four classrooms with a capacity of 412 pupils.
The School runs a morning and afternoon session with four teachers and 412 pupils; it is located in Gawuna Ward, Nassarawa LGA.
It caters to the visually and hearing impaired, physically challenged, and autistic children.
The school has no special education facilities. From the outside, the school is well-painted and looks beautiful but inside the classes, the paint is beginning to fade away, and some windows are broken.
By normal standards, each class should accommodate 25 pupils but in this school, a classroom has 32 pupils. And it does not have special education teaching and learning equipment.
This school relies on the support of the Mai-ungwa (A Hausa word meaning community Head).
Just like Adamu in Sani Mainagge Special Education School, Gwale, the pupils of Brigade Special Needs School said they are denied basic learning facilities.
Sadiq Musa is 8-years old. He is a visually impaired primary 3 pupil.
Stallion Times met him sitting idle and surrounded by other children with different forms of disabilities cracking jokes with each other.
He narrates his poor learning experience: “Whenever I am taught something in class I always use my mind to imagine what it looks like in reality because I am blind.
“I cannot write down what I have learned in school because I was told that I need what is called a braille machine or a text-to-speech device to enable me to read and write properly.
“Most times, I cannot revise what I have been taught. If I have a device or machine that will enable me to read and write, I do better and be very happy.
“Each time my parent ask me what I learned in school and I am not able to remember, I am not happy because they feel like I am not learning in school, and this is not true.
“I have gotten used to it, but I wish that someone would help the blind children of this school.”
4 Classrooms for 412 pupils
During a visit by Stallion Times, it was observed that a section of 6 blocks of 2 classrooms have been abandoned, while the school has inadequate classrooms. They were abandoned due to their dilapidated condition.
The head teacher, Mallam Muhammed Babbale, says the young Musa’s passion for education is quite striking because he is eager to ask questions in class and always attentive.
“This young boy is passionate about education and as you can see the lack of aids to facilitate his education is really sad.
“I pray that help comes for him and other visually impaired pupils in this school.” He added
“His siblings usually bring him to school daily and they also have faith that coming to school for the pursuit of knowledge will not be in vain, despite the lack of essential equipment the school needs which is the brail machine,” he added.
Government Junior Secondary Special Education School, Gawuna, Nassarwa LGA
This school is located in Gawuna ward, Nassarawa LGA. It is a school for the visually and hearing impaired, physically challenged, and autistic students.
The school has no special education facilities and background checks revealed that students are often left idle as a result of a shortage of teachers.
Investigations reveal that the school has lost nine teachers in less than three years.
Currently, the school has only four teachers with 174 students.
The Government Junior Secondary Education School Education School in Gawuna relies on the support of the Mai-Luangwa (Ward head)
Dahiru Abdulmalik (not real name) a teacher in the school who spoke anonymously, lamented how the poor learning environment has made the school lose teachers continuously to the extent that the school has only four teachers teaching 174 students.
He disclosed that because of the lack of teaching materials, the school has lost more than nine teachers in less than three years.
He said: “The only reason why I am still teaching in the school is because of the sympathy I have for the students.
“I feel that when I leave, hardly will any teacher take my position.
“Most times when a new teacher comes to this school and realizes the situation of this school, he only spends few weeks and stops coming, or seeks transfer elsewhere.
“It is because I have passion for teaching these class of students that is why I am still here.
“Sometimes, I am the one who buys the teaching materials like chalk, teacher’s handbooks, and drugs for the students, and other needs that I can handle.
“If not for the Mai-ungwa of this community who intervenes by providing some necessities for us, most students would have dropped out of school because there is no motivation at all.”
Enter the Mai-ungwa
The Mai-Ungwa of Tudun Wada ward, Mallam Tijjani Ahmed said the lack of teaching and learning equipment keeps frustrating teachers and students.
“The decline in the number of teachers in the school was not far-fetched.”
He explained that before now, parents used to prevent their disabled children from attending school, but he, alongside some teachers in the school carried out a door-to-door campaign to encourage parents to release their disabled children to school.
“We had to use our funds to sew uniforms for the children, all to ensure that they go to school.”
Mallam Ahmed pointed out that after successfully encouraging the majority of parents to release their children to school, they hoped that the government would provide the necessary funding for their education but that never happened for more than five years and counting.
“I don’t understand why the government will establish a school like this and leave it underfunded.
“If the education of PWDs does not mean anything to the government, they should close down the school instead of allowing the pupils and students to learn in this harsh environment.
“Ordinary lesson plans, scheme of work, and lesson notes are not provided for the teachers. I have been the one providing it for the school.
“Tell the world about this and anyone who wants to challenge me should come, I am ready.
“It is the community that has been supporting this school in the little way it can, if not many students and pupils would have dropped out and gone back to the street begging the government isn’t doing anything for this school”, he exclaimed.
According to a 2022 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), fact sheet children with disabilities PWDs are more likely to be out-of-school than children without disabilities, if they don’t have access to requirements to aid their education.
Accordingly, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report says “Many of the children out of school are likely to be in the most marginalized social and economic groups, including people with disabilities.”
Special Education School, Kuka Bulukiya, Dala
The Special Education School in Kuka Bulukiya serves as an educational center for PWDs and also a training center on special education.
The school is located along Kwanar Taya road, in Dala caters to the physically challenged, visually impaired, intellectually disabled, and hearing impaired.
The school which used to have 11 teachers is only left with less than 9 teachers to cater to more than 400 pupils.
The sign language training on how to facilitate a class with the visually impaired and those with intellectual disabilities (ID) is done when the teachers feel they have enough students.
Stallion Times learned that the school has trained 33 teachers in the past 4 years but surprisingly, when teachers get trained, they refuse to teach in the school because of poor teaching and learning conditions.
Most graduands of the school use their acquired skills to get jobs in other organizations.
The only special education facility here is a ramp, one old model braille machine, and two typewriters that are not working. Aside from that, there isn’t text-to-speech equipment, group or individual hearing aids, or chart slides.
A discreet investigation revealed that the school is run on contributions from teachers and the goodwill of some public-spirited individuals, however, these contributions in the form of basic needs include water, writing materials, chalk, uniforms, and toiletries.
A teacher in the school who preferred to be anonymous for obvious reasons said the government has neglected the school which is why the teachers have to contribute certain percentages of their salaries to provide learning materials for the pupils.
Teacher’s contributions are of free will and donations are given at any time feel that they can contribute.
“This week, I bought packets of pencils for the pupils and packets of exercise books. Sometimes, we sew school uniforms for pupils whose uniforms have become tattered.
“The reason why we are doing this is because if we continue to wait for the government to provide these learning materials, it will never come, and the pupils will not learn anything.
“My Joy is that when I teach pupils, they understand and how can they understand without having notes, pencils, and other textbooks?
“I have been in the same spot for 11 years without being promoted, even though I am due for promotion.
“Despite my anger towards the government for not promoting me and for not providing necessary teaching equipment, I still use part of my salary to provide materials for these pupils.
“There is a special allowance that is supposed to be given to teachers because of the peculiarity of our jobs but no teacher has ever received that allowance,” he said.
A background check indicated that the school does not have facilities for inclusive education.
There is also a paucity of teachers, and the available teachers say they need additional training in special education.
11-year-old Jamila Yusif, a hearing-impaired pupil in primary 6 at Dala Special Education School, Kuka Bulukiya narrated that schooling has become so tiring for her, and what she hopes to do after school is to go into any vocational training so she can gain experience to start a petty trade.
Jamila who spoke through a sign language interpreter during break time said she lives in Rijiyar Lemo and sometimes, treks to school because communicating with public transport is extremely difficult.
She revealed that sometimes she only does one subject in a day, out of five subjects that are supposed to be covered. According to her, the stress of trekking the far distance just to learn one subject a day isn’t worth it.
“This is why I want to learn a vocation after school so that after I gain experience and start my business and help my parent in the future,” she divulged.
When Stallion Times visited Jamila’s class, her classmates were happy because they thought he was a new teacher.
“They think you are a new teacher, that is why they are so excited to see you,” the interpreter said.
On explaining to the pupils that the reporter was not a new teacher, their facial expressions depicted that of disappointment.
“Please we need teachers because we just sitting in the class, doing nothing,” Jamila pleaded, on behalf of her classmates.
In 2022, the Kano state government signed the PWD law which provides that a commission for PWDs be established in the state.
Part IV of the law stipulates that the commission shall:
“Formulate and implement policies and guidelines as appropriate for the education and social development of persons with disabilities.
“Ensure the provision of facilities that shall aid the promotion of inclusive education in all schools.”
From 2019-2022 the Kano state government consistently allocated funds amounting to over N113 million to the ministry of education for the provision of teaching and learning equipment in Special Education schools in Kano.
However, this investigation has disclosed that these funds were not released for the upgrade of the schools.
Ministry Snubs FOI Request
A Freedom of Information Request (FoI) was sent to the Ministry of Finance on 5 October 2023. This request was received but not responded to.
A reminder was sent after 7 days to the ministry on 13 October 2023 but was rejected at the open registry of the Ministry.
The FOI specifically requested for the following information;
- How much and when was the release made for the purchase of Braille machines for the blind?
- How much and when was the release made for the purchase of Assertive Technology devices?
- How much and when was the release made for the purchase of Audio and Visual aids to the following schools;
- Brigade Special Needs Primary School in Nassarawa LGA,
- Sani Mai Nagge Special Education School in Gwale LGA,
- Dala Special Education School, Kuka Bulukiya in Dala LGA
The State Emergency of Special Education Schools in Kano – Expert
Professor Mohammed Shittu, a Special Education expert-cum President, Institute of Community Development Practitioners in Nigeria explains that Special Education Schools in Kano are in a state of emergency as a result of neglect and underfunding.
According to him Special Education Schools, pupils, and students have been rightly neglected by the government over the years.
He pointed out that in cases where there are allocations to the schools, there isn’t any release of funds for the functioning of these schools.
“As you have observed in those schools, a class can have different levels. This is not unacceptable but what is unacceptable is the fact that these classes need teachers that are skilled in multi-grading facilitation.
“This is not the case, especially in Brigade Special Needs Primary School which I have visited and seen their learning environment.
“Most of the schools lack teachers and some of the available teachers are poorly trained. This shows that constant training needs to be provided for these teachers,” Prof. Shittu said.
Prof. Shittu pointed out that the government should ensure that the right school managers and support staff from the quality assurance outfit of the governed need to be posted to the Special Schools to deliver the right leadership and output from the pupils and students.
He recommended that the budget should have a line to capture the training of school support officers from the quality assurance outfit of the government.
“There is also a need for regular visits to these schools to evaluate their signs of progress, and setbacks and pave a way forward for their advancement.
“There is also a need for conditional cash transfers to the PWDs and their parents because taking care of them can be quite difficult and expensive.
“There should be a transport system to accommodate the critical requirement of mobility of these PWDs because of their peculiarities,” Prof Shittu recommended.
For Yakubu Adamu in Sani Mainagge, Sadiq Musa in Brigade, Jamila Yusif in Dala, and their teachers, they live in hope year in, and year out that schools will be in better learning conditions for them to achieve their ambition.
The Kano State Coordinator of Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA) Dr Auwal Halilu, agrees with Prof Shittu.
He noted that there is little or no support for the schools and many pupils have dropped out and gone to the street begging.
Dr. Halilu explained that a lot of young PWDs who are on the street begging are dropouts from these special schools because some of the schools cannot cater to their educational needs.
He noted that if the crisis of non-inclusion isn’t solved, a lot of pupils might drop out of school and opt in for street begging.
He said: “For us at CSACEFA, we realize that the government cannot do everything, which is why occasionally, we identify and support some Special Needs Schools with learning materials but they are inadequate.
“Part of our appeals is that the government be specific in its allocation to Special Needs schools in Kano and also make those releases for this trajectory to change.
“If the government is serious about the policy of inclusion, the gender policy and disability law has been signed in Kano where is the position of these children now?
“The PWD commission in Kano should be utilized to save these pupils and students from this condition because it is an eyesore.
“We are hopeful that this administration will take a look at the provision of the Kano state disability law and act on it, to uphold the rights of PWDs and make education inclusive for them.”
This publication was supported by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) through Stallion Times under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development Inclusivity and Accountability Project (CMEDIA) funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
