Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has declared a State of Emergency in education in Kano State.

This is as the governor announced the hiring of 5,632 educators through the Better Education Service Delivery For All (BESDA) program, a project funded by the World Bank.

This program is designed to enhance equal access to education for children out of school in Nigeria and improve literacy in key states.

In his address at the ceremony, Yusuf stated that as the Governor elected to guide the state towards advancement and prosperity, he cannot overlook the alarming issues in the education sector, especially considering that education is his administration’s top priority.

He stressed that education is seen as a public service and the most valuable resource a society can pass on to future generations. Therefore, it is believed that no society can progress above the level of its education system.

The governor reiterates the need to implement bold but feasible strategies to improve the delivery of education services in the state.

“Our beloved State is witnessing an alarming proliferation of out-of-school children, (with the current figure standing at 989,234 children of both genders), a situation that threatens to rob an entire generation of their right to education and a brighter future. The statistics are grim, and the faces of these children, devoid of the promise of learning, haunt us as a collective failure.

“Our schools, which should be sanctuaries of knowledge, discipline and growth, are in a deplorable state. Dilapidated infrastructure is a common sight – roofs caving in walls crumbling, and classrooms that can no longer provide a safe and conducive learning environment.

“The lack of instructional materials further compounds the problem, leaving our teachers and students to struggle with outdated and insufficient resources. Above 4.7 million pupils are sitting on bare floors to take lessons while about 400 schools have only one teacher for all classes, subjects and all pupils. Rather than building more classrooms and providing basic furniture in the schools, as well as hiring more teachers, the administration we took over from chose to butcher the land belonging to those schools, in some places demolishing classrooms to create space for shops. Those schools that they could not sell, they closed them down and got them vandalized,” The governor said.

Speaking further on the infrastructure condition, the governor lamented the level of decay of the facilities.

He said, “Imagine, the vast expanse of educational facilities that dotted our landscape: 7,057 primary schools, 1,148 junior secondary schools, 813 senior secondary schools, and 49 science and technical schools. These numbers, while ostensibly impressive, belie the grim reality that lies beneath the surface.

“Let us delve deeper, and you will discover disheartening statistics: out of the 42,516 total classrooms available in our basic schools, a mere 22% meet the most basic standards of habitability.

“Nearly four out of every five classrooms in our primary and junior secondary schools are marred by dilapidation and disrepair, rendering them unsuitable for the noble pursuit of knowledge. Today, I stand before you to announce the declaration of a STATE OF EMERGENCY in the education sector. A state of emergency, as declared today, is an extraordinary legal measure that allows us to take some bold steps to address these critical challenges swiftly and effectively.”

The governor announced that all public boarding schools throughout the state that were shut down by the previous administration of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje will reopen.