Education fundamental to lasting poverty reduction, says Gov Yusuf
Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State, has reaffirmed his administration commitment to enhance access to free quality education for all.
Kabir Yusuf stated this at the inauguration of the Education Recovery Conference on Wednesday in Kano.
The conference was being organised by the state government in collaboration with the PLANE Nigeria and Arewa Consultative Forum.
The conference themed: “Repositioning education in Kano state: Navigating the path to excellence,” aimed to reposition education sector in the state.
The governor said the outcome of the conference would transform the state’s education, adding that, “it aims to identify actionable strategies and policies to overcome existing challenges and build a synergistic, inclusive, and responsive education system.
“Our goal is to ensure every child in Kano receives quality education, preparing them for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century”.
Kabir-Yusuf said that his administration had allocated 29 per cent of the 2024 budget to the education sector, and initiated viable projects including construction of classroom blocks, renovation of schools, and recruitment of teachers.
According to him, education is a collective responsibility which requires a community-wide effort to make a lasting impact.
He tasked the participants to actively engage in discussions, share expertise, and challenge conventional thinking.
The Minister of education, Dr Tahir Mamman, said that President Bola Tinubu has approved a system-wide policies to comprehensively overhaul the education sector towards improving learning and skill development.
Represented by Folake Olatunji-David, the Director, Basic Education in the Federal Ministry of Education, Mamman said the policies would also increase enrolment and ensure academic security of children.
He said the policies are captured as DOTS, an acronym representing: “Data Repository, Out-of-School Children Education, Teacher Training and Development, and Skills Development.
“Already, there are about two million beneficiaries. The system-wide policy will further enhance the education and training of the nation’s out-of-school children.
“Under this programme, the Federal Ministry of Education will support and train teachers in digital skills to facilitate the use of technology in classrooms.
“This is expected to bring technology and digitisation to teachers and learners at all levels of education.
“It is expected that once fully implemented, these programmes will succeed in resetting learning to significantly improve the overall education system in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu”.
Also speaking, Prof. Rukaiyat Rufai, said that Kano State has about one million out-of-school children, adding that most of them were girls.
She advised the state government to take radical steps to revive the education sector.
Rufai, a former Minister of Education, said that poor political will affected the education, and commended the governor for ensuring highest budgetary allocation to the sector.
Ms.Cynthia Rowe, Development Director, FCDO, British High Commission, pledged support to the government to address challenges bedevilling the education sector in the state.
She said that enhancing access to quality education for girls and boys has been the UK Government overriding education objective in Nigeria.
“Education is fundamental to lasting poverty reduction, building prosperous, resilient economies and peaceful, stable societies,” she said. (NAN)
