The Executive Governor of Kano State His Excellency Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje OFR on Monday (6/2/2017) launched the Maiden edition of Kano Basic Education Week held at the Coronation Hall at the government house Kano.
The event which will run through out the week, is also the 1st of its kind in the country where stakeholders will focus their attention on achievements and challenges facing basic education in the State with the view of preferring long lasting solution to improving education in the State.
The Deputy Governor who doubles as the commissioner for education and also a professor, in his welcoming address highlighted many of the achievements recorded in the sector, stating that the theme of the event is Eduction for All; A responsibility for all. The Deputy Governor also commended Governor Ganduje for the establishment of Education Promotion Committee in the 44 local governments of the state.
He informed the gathering that Kano has over 3million pupils and 6,000 schools which is the highest number in any state. Additionally, over 2000 teachers were sponsored for NCE certification by the state government.
He also added that 10,000 chairs and tables for schools will be distributed, along with other procurements to enhance the growth of the sector in the State this week.
In his remarks, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje OFR said the essence of the Basic Education Week is to assess the sector looking at the challenges, and what the government is currently doing to address these challenges and also look onward into the future on what needs to be done for the promotion of the Education in the State.
He went further to say that since the inception of his administration the government has paid over 31Billion naira as salaries and allowances of over 60,000 teachers and staffs at the basic level.
He added that 440 Million was disbursed to the Education Promotion Committees in the 44 local government areas of the state as take off funds for involving the communities and other individuals to assist in helping improve the quality of infrastructure of our schools as the govt alone cannot do it all. These and many more other efforts have been done to uplift the status of the sector in the State.
Governor Ganduje also informed the gathering that one of the most important issue that the teachers have been praying for is that of their promotion which has been put aside for over a decade due to the huge resources involved. But his administration set up a committee and they’ve submitted their report and implementation is currently ongoing which will cost the government over 400 Million and this sum has been budgeted for in this year’s budget.
The event was also an interactive session lead by His Excellency Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje OFR with 1000 selected head teachers and chairmen of parents teachers association, the chairmen of school based management committee and other stakeholders like DFID and the rest who are all here to enumerate issues relating to the sector.
