The Sokoto State Government has earmarked more than N6 billion for the construction of three mega schools to address overcrowding and improve access to quality basic education.
The Chairman of the Sokoto State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Alhaji Umaru Nagwari Tambuwal, disclosed this in Sokoto at a press briefing marking the third anniversary of Governor Ahmed Aliyu’s administration.
Tambuwal said one mega school would be constructed in each of the state’s three senatorial districts at a cost of N2 billion per school.
He said each facility would have 60 classrooms, residential quarters for the principal, vice-principal and headmaster, a playground, a shopping complex, an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centre and a medical facility.
According to him, the initiative was conceived by Governor Aliyu following study tours of educational facilities in Borno, Yobe and Kaduna states.
He said the project was aimed at decongesting overcrowded schools and moving the state’s education system towards internationally accepted standards.
Tambuwal said the state was assessing existing schools, teacher qualifications and enrolment figures to identify gaps and determine areas requiring intervention.
“The internationally accepted standard is 25 pupils per teacher, whereas we currently have some schools with as many as 85 pupils to one teacher,” he said.
The SUBEB chairman said the board had submitted its report and cost estimates to the governor, who approved the project.
He added that contracts for the schools would be awarded within one or two weeks, after which contractors would mobilise to the sites.
On teacher shortages, Tambuwal said SUBEB was working with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to recruit additional teachers.
He said the governor had earlier approved the recruitment of 3,000 teachers for higher education and the Teachers Service Board, while additional recruitment had now been approved for basic education.
Tambuwal said Sokoto had 2,124 primary schools and 308 junior secondary schools, with a combined teacher population of about 24,000.
On insecurity, he described insurgency and banditry as national challenges but said the state government had continued to support security agencies with operational resources.
He said the government had spent between N16 billion and N17 billion on security support, including the provision of operational and armoured vehicles.
“The governor is not expected to carry a gun and fight terrorists. But all the support he is supposed to give, he gives it on a daily basis,” he said.
The chairman expressed optimism that sustained improvements in security would allow schools closed because of insecurity to reopen soon.
