From Mika’il Tsoho, Dutse
The Kano State Government, with the support of the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) in Nigeria and Arewa Consultative Forum, is set to convene an education recovery conference on 10th and 11th of July, 2024.
This was contained in a statement signed by the special adviser to the governor on education Alhaji Tajuddeen Gambo and made it available to news men.
The conference with a theme “Repositioning Education in Kano State: Navigating the Path to Excellence” will feature thought leaders, political actors, diplomats, educators, private sector players, advocates and policymakers, will focus on addressing significant education sector challenges in Kano State.
According to the statement, the conference is designed to address critical challenges on education access and equity, chart a reform pathway and foster partnerships in transforming education in the state.
During the two-day event, stakeholders will work together to identify sustainable and scalable solutions that will reposition and improve the education sector in Kano State, ensuring sustainable access to quality education for all. The education sector in Kano State, like many parts of Nigeria, faces critical issues that hinder its progress.
The statement maintained that, Currently, there are over 9 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, and Kano State contributes significantly to this figure as the most populous northern state of Nigeria, hence, tackling challenges in Kano is essential to the ‘Education for Renewed Hope Agenda’.
The effort is inline with the Kano State Government willingness to tackle educational challenges head on as in June, the Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, declared a state of emergency in the education sector due to the significant decay in both educational quality and infrastructure.
“Our administration has commenced a total overhaul, focusing on academic and infrastructure development”, he said, outlining plans for the extensive renovation of all primary and junior secondary schools in the state, soft loans for teachers, initiatives to promote girl-child education and many other interventions. Soon after, his statements were followed by the approval of funds to the 44 local government areas in Kano for the renovation of classrooms and construction of new ones across the state.