Kano Has 131 Pupils Per Teacher – Report

A group, the Partnership for Learning for All Nigeria (PLANE) has said that 131 pupils representing 25 percent of primary schools in Kano State have only one teacher for all grades of the primary school.
This was contained in its 2024 Learning Outcome Assessment Report of some primary schools in the state which was presented at a dissemination workshop for stakeholders on Thursday in Kano.

Presenting the report, the lead coordinator, Monitoring and Evaluation, Frank Oniya, explained that PLANE worked with Kano State government to implement Accelerated Learning (AL) in seven local governments of Bichi, Bunkure, Dawakintofa, Rimingado, Ungogo, Warawa and Wudil.

PLANE reached out to 113,641 pupils in primary 4, 5 and 6 in 580 schools where the programming focused on teacher training, coaching and book distribution.

Part of the report however reveals that there is improvement in the level of literacy in the 2023-2024 school year.

“In October 2023 and July 2024, PLANE and government partners collected learning outcomes data in Primary 4 and 6, using the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grade Math Assessment (EGMA), with 7 LGAs and 30 schools sampled.
“This is an additional layer of external data collection that complements AL’s internal data. Both P4 and P6 learners demonstrated improvement during the 2023-2024 school year, with 48 percent of P4 learners and 44 percent of P6 learners improving a level in literacy.

“In math, around the same percentage of P4 learners improved a level, although outcomes were lower (36 percent) for P6 students. This progress, though promising, falls short of the targeted improvement of 50 percent of learners,” the report indicated.

The report concluded that lack of teachers, low attendance and lack of materials made the children receive only a fraction of their intended lessons.

The report added that the issue was compounded by overcrowded classes and teachers who lack the skills to teach literacy and numeracy.

It however advised on addressing the problem of low learning outcomes by stating some requirements that include sufficient trained teachers, improved school monitoring and support, and more learning materials.

PLANE however praised the efforts of the Kano State government in recruiting 5,634 permanent teachers and 4,300 BESDA teachers, describing it as an important step in alleviating the teacher shortage which its report says is on a ratio of 131:1 for pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) in the state.