Kaduna shifts basic education drive from infrastructure to learning outcomes

From Sola Ojo, Kaduna

Kaduna State Government is shifting its basic education reforms from simply providing infrastructure to ensuring that children can read, write, reason and acquire skills for the future.

Governor Uba Sani said the new focus on learning outcomes was aimed at strengthening foundational education, with classrooms, teachers, learning materials and technology deployed to improve what pupils actually learn.

Sani spoke yesterday at Sultan Bello Primary School, Unguwan Sarki, Kaduna, during the commissioning of basic education infrastructure and other interventions across the state.

Some of the projects were supported by the Islamic Development Bank through UNICEF under the Reaching Out-of-School Children (ROOSC) Project.

Represented by his deputy, Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, the governor said the administration’s education policy was anchored on the belief that the quality of education provided to children ultimately determines the quality of society.

“Every society is shaped by the quality of education it gives its children.

“The classroom where a child learns today may well be the place where tomorrow’s doctor, teacher, engineer, entrepreneur, or leader begins to discover his or her potential.”

Balarabe said the government was prioritising primary education because it provided the foundation for children’s future learning and development.

“Primary education is where the foundations are laid. It is where a child learns to read, write, count, reason, and relate with others.

“It is also where discipline, curiosity, and confidence begin to take shape. If the foundation is weak, the structures of learning become fragile,” she said.

Balarabe said the interventions therefore went beyond constructing and rehabilitating classrooms to providing teachers, learning materials and practical opportunities for pupils.

She listed the facilities to include classrooms, toilets, water facilities, science laboratories, computer centres, furniture and teaching and learning materials, as well as infrastructure intended to expose pupils to science, technology and innovation.

The deputy governor said the administration was also targeting children outside the formal education system through partnerships with the Universal Basic Education Commission and the Islamic Development Bank.

“Our responsibility is not simply to improve schools for children who are already enrolled; it is also to bring more children into the education system.

“Every child kept in school today is a child given a better chance to move,” she said.

Commissioner for Education, Prof. Abubakar Sani Bello, said the interventions represented the translation of the administration’s education policies into tangible improvements in schools.

He said government policy would remain an aspiration unless reflected in “a classroom a child sits in, a borehole a school can access water from, and a laboratory a pupil can understand practical concepts in.”

Chairman of the Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board, Mubarak Muhammad, said the success of the interventions should ultimately be measured by their impact on children’s learning rather than the number of projects completed.

He said the state was strengthening foundational learning through the Teaching at the Right Level approach and improving quality assurance mechanisms to monitor activities inside classrooms.

Muhammad said the interventions were deliberately spread across urban, rural and hard-to-reach communities to ensure that children’s access to quality education was not determined by where they lived.

An old student of Sultan Bello Primary School, Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi, who graduated from the school in 1969, commended the government for upgrading the school and other primary schools across the state.

Gumi urged the government to complement the new facilities with solar power to enable pupils to fully utilise smart boards and other digital learning equipment.

He said a strong foundation in education was essential to building a stronger society.

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