Education which is supposed to be one of the top priorities of every government for decades has suffered lack of adequate attention despite efforts to reposition the sector. However, different narrations were given by observers on why educational system is weak and backward. Some identified inadequate funding and massive corruption as some of the factors responsible, while others blamed the failing standard on lack of quality and professional teachers. After16 years of democratic governance, the sector is still begging for attention as dilapidated structures, poor manpower among other issues remain the hallmark in the system though billions of naira were yearly budgeted to tackle the solemn state of education. In Kaduna, Governor Nasir El-rufai sensing the poor state of education had first declared state of emergency to fix the sector.
El-rufai took the decision amidst challenge of scale resources due to declining oil revenue. Analysists opined that,El-rufai’s free primary and junior secondary school education coupled with the recently launched free feeding programme, have encouraged streets begging children to abandon their risky daily business on roads to massively enrol in public schools. National Mirror investigations revealed that the school free feeding scheme in the state has attracted many out of school children to rush for admission as many schools have filled to capacity. Whlie launching the free school Feeding Programme for pupils of primary schools held at the Aliyu Makama Road Primary School, Barnawa, Kaduna, Governor El-rufai said the Kaduna State Government will be providing a meal for 1.5m pupils in fulfilling his campaign promises and implementing one of his party, All Progressives Congress,APC, manifestos. El-rufai said the school feeding programme directly created 17,000 jobs for catering vendors, each of whom will need to employ workers to help them deliver.
The governor urged stakeholders involved in the programme to discharge their responsibilities with the utmost sense of commitment, transparency and accountability, adding that monitoring mechanism must be rigorous: “ we invite the school-based management committees and Parent-Teacher- Associations to review and provide us their observations on the implementation of the programme at the school level.” El-rufai said:”Today is a special day in the unfolding of the change agenda the APC was elected to implement. I am moved by the responsibility to implement the school feeding programme for primary school pupils. It marks the beginning of a different phase of the Kaduna State Government’s project to expand access to education” “We launch the programme today as a direct intervention in the health of our children, situating our schools as places to promote education and nutrition.
Every school day from today, the Kaduna State Government will be providing a meal for 1.5m pupils. It is an unprecedented undertaking in this state, but one that we solemnly pledged to do when we were campaigning. It is a challenge in terms of its scale, cost and the logistics required to deliver the meals every day. “But our children deserve this and more. We are conscious that it would save parents break-time money, empower the women within the community who have been selected as the catering vendors and expand the market for farm products. Thus there is something for everyone in the School Feeding Programme. In seeking to take care of our children, we are creating jobs, boosting demand and exposing our people to new skills and hygiene standards and providing extra income. We will not be surprised to hear about teething problems, but we expect these problems to be swiftly addressed within a governing ethos of continuous improvement” El-rufai stressed: “As pragmatic people, we understand that in executing policy we must not let the perfect be a restraint on the doable.
It is in the process of actually feeding our school children that we can refine and perfect the programme. As I noted earlier, school feeding is a separate plank of our initiative to expand access to education, to ensure that every child can have nine years of free, decent basic education, no matter the income level of their parents. “Parents have responded with enthusiasm, and at the beginning of this session enrollment in public schools rose by 64%. We began our education programme with the recruitment of teachers for core subject areas, conducted a needs-assessment to identify how we can strengthen the capacity of current teachers and then announced the removal of all bureaucratic impediments to the career advancement and sense of fulfilment of professional teachers in the public school system. We made it clear that a professional teacher can rise to Grade Level 17, without having to stop being a teacher.”
“There is still so much work ahead. I assure you that we shall never be lacking in the commitment, determination and courage to do as we promised. We will appreciate your feedback and suggestions so that we can do better in serving you, the citizens of Kaduna State”El-rufai said. On his part,Kaduna state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr. Shehu Usman Adamu, called on the parents and school authorities to assist in the satisfactory delivery of the programme. He said: “The past few months have been a busy time for the Kaduna State Ministry of Education. During this time, the government has begun a programme of school rehabilitation, teacher recruitment and training needs assessment for current teachers. Each of these initiatives has recorded tremendous progress, and these priority areas will continue to command the attention of the government in the current session and beyond” “As you are aware, the 2016 Budget makes ample provision for this government’s School Feeding programme.
This intervention in improving the nutrition of our young pupils commences this term, from the very first day that school resumes. This intervention reinforces our thrust to expand access to education” Adamu added: “The school feeding programme is a major undertaking. Through this initiative, the government is enhancing the health of our children while investing in their future by providing decent education. The programme is designed to boost the economy at the grassroots by involving people at the community level as the vendors. It will also expand the market for our farmers even as it brings more of our people into the formal economy” “It is an initiative for which we must have the flexibility for continuous improvement. We expect that every day will surpass the preceding day in terms of delivery. For this reason, we will be announcing more feedback channels to enable our people to provide comments and suggestions, and expose shortcomings or wrongdoing. For us every effort strained for our children is justified. Join us to make it a success,” Adamu noted.