Kano Commissioner decries teachers shortage, says govt committed to education reforms

The Kano State commissioner of Education, Alhaji Umar Haruna Doguwa, has decried shortage of teachers in schools across the state, assuring of the state government’s commitment to reposition the education sector.

He however disclosed that the state government has therefore set aside 49 percent of its 2023 budget allocation on education as part of its commitment to reposition the sector.

The Commissioner stated this during a meeting with staff of five agencies under the ministry held at Rumfa College, Kano.

“As part of this measure, we noticed that most of our Zonal Offices are filled up with competent staff who are supposed to teach in the classroom but are there doing nothing

“As from now, no Zonal office under any agency should get more than 22 staff while the rest must be reposted to classrooms based on merit and profession,” he declared.

According to him, recently, the administration of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf had paid over N1.3 billion for the settlement of 57,000 Students who sat for the NECO, WAEC and NBAIS examinations.

He added that the present administration attaches more priority to the education sector considering its position as the backbone of human developments.

Doguwa said Governor Yusuf is fully aware about the total collapse of the education sector which he associated with lack of concern and commitment by the previous government.

He explained that from the investigation made so far, there are over four million students across the state sitting on the floor while some schools are having only one teacher, a situation he described as pathetic.

According to the Commissioner, the state is taking serious measures to bring all the possible changes in both the primary and secondary education system of the state.

On the issue of Principal Directorship, the Commissioner said the ministry is going to pass a circular that bans using Principal Director, stressing that “you either be a Principal or Director because the position of Principal is equally very important.”

He however reaffirmed the government’s commitment to sanitise private schools operation in the state, pointing out that the administration would no longer allow posting of public schools teachers to private schools, ading that any officer found wanting would be furnished accordingly.

“We are changing the entire registration system of private schools to be online. So from now on, no person shall use his personal account to register any private school and doing that violates our rules and regulations,” Doguwa further disclosed.

He said the ministry would provide a new improved timebook which indicates ‘time in and time out’ to ensure punctuality among the teaching and non teaching staff.

According to a statement signed by director public enlightenment ministry of education Alhaji Balarabe Abdullahi Kiru hinted that every class, a sign sheet will be provided for a teacher to sign at the end of every lesson and that sheet will be collected monthly and sent to the ministry for checking.

The Commissioner assured the staff of the government’s commitment to improve their working condition, urging them to make use of their vast experiences in ensuring that the education sector achieves greater success.

Speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor on vocational and education, Alh. Habib Hassan El-Yakub, implored wealthy individuals in the state to complement the effort of the present administration of improving the education sector.  

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Education, Hajiya Kubra Imam, explained that the meeting was organized to discuss several issues regarding the state education sector and how to improve the system.

In his closing remarks, the Executive Secretary Kano State Senior Secondary Schools Management Board, Dr Kabiru Ado Zakirai, urged the staff to join hands together in actualizing the new policies and programmes introduced by the present administration to revitalize the sector. 

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