Kano State Government has reiterated its total commitment to work closely with the Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) to revitalize the state education sector.
The State Commissioner of Education, Umar Haruna Doguwa, gave the assurance on Tuesday while receiving a team from the PLANE (FCDO) head office, Abuja that paid him a courtesy visit to his office.
Umar Doguwa explained that so far, Kano benefited a lot from the intervention projects of PLANE which according to him, yielded positive impacts on the present administration’s commitment in ensuring quality education in the state.
The Commissioner said it is obvious the present administration had inherited the state education sector in a stage of total dilapidation and decay of school infrastructures and lack of instructional materials resulting in a non-conducive learning environment.
He said: “We have produced a documentary program portraying total neglect and decay of the education sector meaning that we have a lot to do to address all the challenges of the education sector.”
The Commissioner therefore maintained that the administration is fully determined to work with relevant stakeholders like PLANE to ensure that all the problems inherited from the immediate past administration in the education sector are critically addressed.
He explained that there are three basic components that the present administration focuses on to improve the education sector which bordered around access, quality, and infrastructure development in schools.
“Presently, the administration is more concerned on the issue of access to education by the out-of-school children we have in the state and the quality of the education being given to students.
“So, as we thank and appreciate your intervention programs on education in Kano, we are still urging PLANE to fully engage with the present administration in providing access opportunity and quality education to our children,” he disclosed.
Earlier, the Deputy National Team Lead, FCDO, Sam Achimugu, said the team was at the Commissioner’s office to inform him of the intervention programs executed in Kano by PLANE specifically in the education sector.
He explained that under the project, over 8000 primary school teachers were trained in Kano and the program was conducted with the full collaboration of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
Other intervention programs according to the team leader, include coordination of book distribution and other learning materials at the classroom level across the 532 schools in Kano, supporting 35 school-based management committees that sensitized stakeholders on book care and maintenance among others.
He said to restore the quality of education in the state, the Kano Government in conjunction with PLANE had recently formed a 19-member Committee to organize a Conference on Education Recovery, stressing that preparations had gone far for the commencement of the conference.
“This conference is aimed at facilitating technical deliberations on education access, including topical issues like out-of-school children, Almajiri school system, Qur’anic and Tsangaya education, teacher professional development, girls education, and female teacher shortage especially in rural areas among others,” he disclosed.
While appreciating the immense support and cooperation given to the project by the administration, Sam explained that to achieve better results of the intervention program, the ministry should try as much as possible to provide essential documents, and indicators and ensure the sustainability of any development project embark upon with PLANE.
Credit: Balarabe Abdullahi Kiru
