From Olanrewaju Lawal Birnin Kebbi
Kebbi State Governor, Nasir Idris has insisted that his administration would not tolerate seeing any pupil sitting on the floors when teaching and learning processes are ongoing in various schools.
Idris, also disclosed that to correct some challenges in the education sector, over N19 billion have been expended on construction of mega schools, renovations and provisions of furniture to schools across the 21 local government areas.
The governor stated this while declaring open the second edition of the annual primary school teachers vacation course held at the Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic, Birnin Kebbi.
Government has selected 1,000 Primary school teachers who are undergoing training in English Language, Mathematics and pedagogical skills.
Idris, while addressing the participants, said: “Dear people of Kebbi State,I am also a teacher and the pain of every teacher and every child is also my pain. I would, therefore, not tolerate seeing any school child sitting on the floor. I consider it bad, distasteful, unbearable and therefore, unacceptable.
“As a former national leader of the Nigeria Union of Teacher (NUT), I can’t afford to see my colleagues stranded without chairs and tables to sit on. To arrest this situation, our UBEC/SUBEB projects worth about N19.3 billion were implemented for the construction of IQS mega stations, laboratories, halls, hostels, construction of classrooms, wall, fences, renovation of classrooms, construction of ICT centres, boreholes, toilets, procurement of furniture for teachers and students, drainage and flood control, procurement of books, computers, basic science equipment and laboratories, sports and equipment, agricultural education and other education activities including training of teachers.”
He also disclosed that the report of the screening committee for the recruitment of 2,000 teachers into civil service was being studied and would soon be approved for implementation.
Executive Chairman, SUBEB, Kebbi State, Prof. Suleiman Khalid, disclosed that 789 classrooms have been renovated with 16,582 units of school furniture provided, stressing that by the end of year 2025, about 1,182 classrooms would have been completely renovated.
Rector of the Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic, Birnin Kebbi, Dr. Usman Sani Tunga, commended the government for partnership with the institution’s consultancy services for the continuous retraining of the Primary school teachers in the state
Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Dr. Halima Bande, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Magaji Nayalwa, noted that the training would provided an opportunity for teachers to reshape their knowledge and skills on their duties, stressed that the state government had invested huge amount of money on education sector to create an enabling learning environment for the pupils and teachers.