By Abubakar Musa Umar
Kano state government recently lunches its giant policy in the education sector with the support of international donors and other organizations.
The Free and compulsory education for all was one of the biggest ever attempt to reduce the level of illiteracy in Kano and improve the standard of basic education.
Kano as one of the fastest-growing city deserved the desired attention in all sectors including the education sector.
Free, Compulsory Education: Gov Ganduje Receives Roadmap For Implementation
It’s necessary for the government to design and redesign educational policies whenever the need arises.
The issue and cases of out of school and drop out as a result of poverty and ignorance and lack of interest in some communities was never new to us.
Government willingness and strong policy in place will significantly help to reduce illiteracy in the state.
Free and compulsory education is one of such policies implemented by the present administration.
The policy program was sent to the state house of assembly for considerations, amendments, and approval.
The policy contains among others the needs for every child in Kano to be educated including the Almajiri, enrollment, and completion of at least the basic education which is nine years of primary and junior secondary education.
Free Uniforms for children and other learning materials. A clear punishment for those that will go against the policy be it, parents or caregivers.
It’s fascinating that the government stated in this year’s budget, the focus on the integration of Almajiri system of education, from allocated 37 billion Naira to the education sector which is 25% of the total budget. The efforts is commendable although necessary.
The program is blessed with experts in the sector through the office of Special Advisor on Educational Matters Dr. Kabiru Shehu who will lead a committee of 54 members partitioned into 14 subcommittees to design the program.
The objectives of the committee include among others; drastically reduced the number of out-of-school children, integration of Islamiyya and Tsangaya system into a conventional system of education.
The committee after consultation and thorough investigation suggested a phase for the program.
According to the committee phase, one should be initiation, planning, and reviewing all relevant education policies.
It could be recalled that the government recruited thousands of teachers for the program.
These teachers were selected across the entire local government to help in the implementation of free and compulsory education.
The Basic education teachers alias called BESDA teachers were sent to Primary and Tsangaya schools to teach with a remuneration of #15,000 monthly.
The biggest concern is that these teachers were hired for 2 years and no hope for a permanent job for them, which will make them divide their attention to other opportunities.
If their contract ended where will they go?. I am sure the government will not think of recruiting fresh graduates in place of the experienced ones.
One of the expected key results according to the ministry of education is consistency in standard (policy and planning). A good policy should have the best planning for proper implementation.
