Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has declared a state of emergency on education, revealing alarming conditions in the state’s primary schools upon his assumption of office on May 29, 2023. He disclosed that over 4.7 million pupils are forced to sit on bare floors during lessons due to lacking basic furniture and classrooms. Approximately 400 schools have only one teacher handling all subjects and pupils.
Yusuf criticized the previous administration for mismanaging school lands by selling them for commercial purposes or closing down schools, leading to vandalism. He condemned the conversion of public school spaces into private business premises as an affront to communal values and a direct assault on the commitment to public education.
Addressing the urgent need for reform, Yusuf emphasized the importance of education as the greatest asset a society can provide to its future generations. He highlighted the severe neglect and decay within the education sector, noting that Kano State, once a model for other states, now faces an alarming number of out-of-school children, totaling 989,234.
Yusuf called for radical and practical measures to reposition education in Kano State, underscoring education’s critical role in the state’s prosperity and progress.
