Gov Yusuf flags off Kano Education Recovery Conference {SPEECH}

BEING A SPEECH DELIVERED BY HIS EXCELLENCY, GOV. ABBA K. YUSUF
OF KANO STATE, AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE KANO STATE
EDUCATION RECOVERY CONFERENCE THIS DAY OF WEDNESDAY, 10TH
JULY, 2024 AT THE CONVOCATION ARENA, BAYERO UNIVERSITY, KANO

Protocol

Distinguished delegates and esteemed participants,

It is with great pleasure and a profound sense of responsibility that I welcome you all to the opening ceremony of the Education Recovery Conference, holding in the ancient city of Kano.

The conference, organized jointly by PLANE Nigeria, Arewa Consultative Forum and the Kano State Government marks a historic moment in our struggle toward revitalizing and repositioning education in our beloved State.

It is gratifying to inform this august gathering that, just a while ago the present administration in the State under my leadership declared a State of Emergency on the Education Sector in the State, recognizing the urgent and profound
need for a comprehensive and aggressive
reform and strategic intervention to salvage the sector.

This conference which is a gathering of experts, education technocrats, policy makers and other critical stakeholders in the education sector is quite timely. I believe in every effort that is geared towards critically appraising and repositioning the education system and leading the path to the educational excellence in our dear State.

The theme of this conference, “Repositioning Education in Kano State: Navigating the path to Excellence” encapsulates our shared vision and commitment to transforming our educational system in the State. Education is not merely a path way to individual success but a collective societal progress and economic development & prosperity.

It is our duty as a custodian of public trust, to
ensure that every child in Kano receives a
quality education that prepare them for the
challenges and opportunities of the 21st
century.

Throughout this conference we will engage in rigorous discussion, exchanges of innovative ideas and initiate partnerships that will subsequently shape the future of education in the State and beyond.

Our goal here is clear: to Identify Actionable
Strategies and Policies that will enable us to
overcome existing challenges and build a
synergistic, inclusive and responsive education system.

As I stated during the declaration of emergency on the education sector, our vision is crystal clear, and we are deeply committed to the attainment of the objectives of the declaration.

At the end of the emergency period, we intend to achieve the following:
Every school, a good school;
Every child, enrolled in school;
Every student, an engaged learner;
Every teacher, a caring educator;
Every parent, a dedicated partner;

Every community, a committed stakeholder;
and Your government, a committed investor in human capital development
Kano State education system has experience
serious dilapidation with decaying
infrastructures in school and a very low learning outcomes and performance.
Our government met schools and indeed the
entire education system in a state of utter and unacceptable neglect – we inherited a
collapsed system (deliberately destroyed and
vandalized). Schools without upkeeps, no
instructional materials yet, we were running a
free and compulsory education with a bill that has been passed as a law, then.

We must navigate as a government to provide all essential materials needed to reinvigorate the system. Hence, the declaration of State of Emergency and the convocation of education recovery conference.

In the last 12 months since our coming into
office and, because of our sincere commitment to turning around the fortunes of education in our state, we have made some strategic and implemented some deliberate policies to reawaken and reinvigorate the education system, some of these actions including:

– Allocating unprecedented 29.95% of 2024
budget to education, the highest in the
country and highest even in the history of
Kano;

– Invested over N2bn to acquire and distribute instructional materials to basic and postbasic schools across the state;

– We have approved and released N2.7bn for
the construction of first phase of 176
classrooms and 88 offices across 44 Local
Government;

– We have also approved and released N1.9bn for the renovation and upgrade of 220 schools by CRC;

– We have completed the construction of 336
new classrooms;

– From May 29th to date, we have settled over N2.5bn for the feeding of students in our boarding schools;

– We have also commenced the renovation of
deboarded girls schools with a view to
reopening them and reboarding them;

– We invested over N1.3bn in 2023 to register
Kano State students to write NECO and
NBAIS;

– We intervened and supported Kano state
students studying in Federal Tertiary
Education Institutions in Kano and other
states by offsetting their registration
liabilities amounting to over N1bn;

– We invested N2.9bn to pay for NECO
examination registration in 2024;

– We recruited 10,000 BESDA teachers for
cohorts 3 and 4;

– We recruited and employed 5,623 BESDA
teachers from across the 44 LGAs;

– We have reintroduced the Girl-Child School
Bus Initiative;

– We have sponsored the first batch of 1,001
first class graduate to study for their higher
degrees in foreign universities.

We are equally working to see the reopening of the 32 boarding schools closed by the previous administration.

We intend to provide chairs and desks to every school as well as equip same with with quality and qualified teachers. We intend to ensure that every pupil will have a chair and desk in all classes and in all schools.

We have recently recruited over 5,623 teachers through BESDA initiative and are looking towards recruiting additional 4,000 others to boasts the primary school sector.

I urge all participants at this conference to
actively participate in the deliberations, to share your expertise and insights freely, and to challenge conventional thinking where
necessary. Let us collectively benefit from the wisdom and determination present in this room to chart a course that ensures no child in Kano State is left behind.

Let me emphasize that education for All is the responsibility of All. We therefore need to build on the already existing political will of the present administration and midwife a collective community will so that the entire stakeholder spectrum – students, teachers, parents, communities, investors, partners, government – will roll up their sleeves and cooperate together to make the radical changes needed to make our education system strong, accessible and qualitative. Together, we can do it. On our part,
we believe it is doable and achievable task.

There is no investment on our children and
youth that is better than investing in their
education and in their future. Their future, I
must reiterate is our collective future.

As I declare this conference open, let all of us remain steadfast in our commitment to
excellence, equity and access to quality
education. Let us seize this opportunity to make a lasting impact in the lives of our children, our communities, our state and our nation in general.

Finally, in the name of Allah SWT and in the
overall interest of our State, I declare this
conference open for the benefit of our state and our children.

Thank you very much for your attention!
God bless Kano State

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.