The Nasarawa State Government had held an education summit aimed at tackling key challenges facing Basic Education and improving learning outcomes in the state.
The summit organised by Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), brought together stakeholders comprising educationists, government officials, traditional rulers, policy makers, parents, teachers, among others from the International, National and Local scenes.
The stakeholders provided solutions to education-related challenges to help improve quality and shared best practices and innovations to enhance teaching and learning outcomes in the state.
Speaking at the event on Thursday in Lafia, Gov. Abdullahi Sule said that the administration was committed to ensuring total transformation of the education sector in the state.
The governor added that he would support every effort and commit the necessary resources to improve the sector because of its importance to the development of the state.
“I am ready to commit resources to the transformation of the education sector, even if that is the only legacy my administration would leave after leaving office in 2027.
“That is why the sector continued to have the highest budgetary allocation since my assumption into office in 2019.
We have implemented more than 10 years of outstanding promotions of Secondary and Primary School teachers as well as other civil servants, and have renovated and constructed structures in many schools across the state.
“We have also recruited teachers to fill vacancies created by retirements, deaths and transfer of service as well as creation of more schools and introduction of new subjects to strengthen the system,” Sule added.
Sule therefore, commended Kassim Mohamed-Kassim, Executive Chairman of SUBEB and his team for the initiative to hold the summit and the wonderful work they are doing since their appointments.
In his remarks, Dr Kassim Mohamed-Kassim, Chairman of SUBEB, said that the summit was necessitated due to the challenges and gaps the board discovered with basic education, with a view to addressing them.
The board under him had constituted two committees on assumption, and they discovered numerous operational and administrative gaps.
“The gaps included: poor infrastructure, shortage of chairs, inadequate teachers, truancy, improper teacher placement, theft of the school’s furniture in conjunction with staff, transfer of qualified teachers to offices as administrative staff, among others.
“To address these issues, the governor has approved the procurement of 30,000 chairs to improve classroom comfort and approved the employment of more teachers.
“We have also deployed 1,900 administrative staff back to classrooms, and we are planning to deploy an additional 1,000 to address shortages of teachers,” Mohamed-Kassim added.
The board chairman also appealed to parents, especially Fulanis and others whose children are out of school, to enrol them in school to avoid sanctions.
He reiterated that the board would soon commence the arrest of any child not in school and arrest and prosecute their parents for not enrolling their children in school in line with the existing laws in the country.
In his presentation, Dr Tonnie Iredia, a veteran broadcaster, stressed the need for strict sanctions against officials diverting school facilities and teachers who fail in their duties as measures to strengthen the system for optimal performance.
He also emphasised the need to reward hardworking teachers and sanction those who fail in their duties to ensure improvement in the standard of education in the state. (NAN).