Gombe State governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has described education as the bedrock on which all progress and development rest, observing that any society or nation that seeks transformation, growth, prosperity, and stability must ensure quality and affordable education at all levels.
The governor stated this at the official symbolic presentation of appointment letters to one thousand secondary school teachers, recently recruited by his administration to bolster the manpower needs in the education sector
Governor Inuwa Yahaya explained that the presentation of the appointment letters to 1,000 newly recruited teachers and the 288 that were transferred from Local Government Education Authority to the Ministry of Education, followed a painstaking and rigorous exercise by the Teachers Service Commission, TSC.
To this end, the governor commended the TSC for organising an induction event, which aims to prepare the minds of and familiarise the new appointees with the enormous task of repositioning the state’s education sector in order to keep pace with the 21st century challenges and realities, in accordance with the promise made to the people.
He congratulated the newly appointed teachers on their success throughout the recruitment process, which include online registration, Data-Based Examination and Physical Interview conducted by the TSC.
“As we are all aware, education is the bedrock on which all progress and development rest. Therefore, any society or nation that seeks transformation, growth, development, and stability must ensure quality and affordable education at all levels. Because of this, I pledged that if elected, I would holistically confront the numerous challenges facing the education sector,” he said.
Governor Inuwa said following his election in 2019 his administration conducted a Needs Assessment study that revealed a number of shocking issues affecting the education sector.
He said findings by the needs assessment team revealed that most schools, especially in rural areas, lacked trained teachers, as over 32% of teachers in primary schools did not have the minimum teaching qualification (NCE), so also many schools in the state were without essential teaching and learning facilities.
He continued: “Another challenge we inherited is 48% out-of-school children, one of the highest in the country.
A rapid decline in primary school net attendance rates from 55.5% in 2008 to 40.5% in 2018 is one indicator of this worrying trend. Similarly, the enrolment rate in secondary schools was below the national average.
“Consequently, our students consistently ranked among the bottom 3 in the federation in WAEC, NECO, and JAMB national examinations. Also, among all the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, we had one of the lowest enrolment rates into higher education”.
The governor remarked that in order to fulfil his campaign promise to the people of the state, his administration took unprecedented and aggressive measures to revamp the sector through the declaration of a state-of-emergency followed by a 60% increase in capital allocation in the 2020 and 2021 budgets.
He revealed that as a result of these interventions over 1,327 classrooms were built or renovated, furnished and equipped, in addition to computer and science laboratories, sporting and wash facilities were provided in hundreds of schools throughout the state.
“Moreover, five secondary schools are being completely renovated, equipped and upgraded to Mega Colleges. This is adjudged as the biggest infrastructural renewal in primary and secondary schools in the history of Gombe State”.
“We also tackled the menace of out-of-school children by mopping up hundreds of thousands of children from the streets through the BESDA programme. We also established hundreds of girl-child learning centres and commenced the construction of modern tsangaya schools across the state, one of which is the recently commissioned Gwani Sani Modern Tsangaya School. Another five similar modern tsangaya schools in the state will be established soon”.
Governor Inuwa explained that in view of the importance of teaching and learning to educational development, the present administration in the state made strenuous efforts to upgrade the quality of the teaching profession with the establishment of a modern Teacher Resource Centre in Kwami where hundreds of teachers have so far received training.
“In order to maintain our teachers’ expertise for quality education, we also approved the promotion of 1578 teachers as well as the transfer of 288 graduate teachers from LGEAs (SUBEB) to the Ministry of Education. Efforts are also being made to approve the posting of more teachers to our secondary schools”.
The governor explained that his administration is proud to report that much progress have been in the education sector due to the bold reforms and massive investments so far made.
“For instance, among the candidates who sat for WASSCE (WAEC) in our public schools in 2019, only 31% received above five credits, including Mathematics and English. Our aggressive policies and interventions, which includes the reintroduction of Mock Examination, helped increase the percentage of candidates in our public schools who passed WASSCE with above 5 credits including Maths and English from 31% in 2019 to 73 percent in 2021”.
The Governor said that North-East Governor’s Forum report on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions for the year 2022 shows that Gombe has over 6,112 indigenes who got admitted into tertiary institutions, the highest enrolment among the 6 states of the subregion.
“All these successes did not happen by accident. They are outcomes of careful planning, diligent execution, and consistent efforts to achieve our goals. Even in the face of the disruptions of Covid-19 pandemic and global economic turmoil, we did not fail in delivering good governance to our people”.
He said the impressive achievements in education and other key sectors demonstrate the importance of purposeful leadership, especially at this critical moment in the history of the State.
“Leaders are problem solvers, not rabble rousers. Clearly, the political bandits parading as opposition candidates have nothing to offer the good people of Gombe State. As our state benefits from effective leadership, we must not let those indecent, unstable, incompetent and inexperienced power mongers deceive us with rhetorical fantasies and lies. As the saying goes, talk is cheap, doing is what counts. We are doers, not talkers”.
Governor Inuwa Yahaya assured the people of the state that his administration will continue to provide the enabling environment for teachers to meaningfully contribute to the development of education in the State.
“This will be achieved through periodic workshops and seminars, provision of ICT facilities and other requirements for improved learning. This noble goal will not be abandoned. We will not compromise on our commitment. In turn, I urge our educators to work diligently towards consolidating and sustaining our transformational agenda in the education sector in order to enhance the State’s socioeconomic development”.
He reminded the new recruits that as they carry out your responsibilities, they should keep in mind that, under his leadership, public service is a serious matter which has zero-tolerance policy to indolence, lateness, corruption, indiscipline and inefficiency.
He said to ensure that the newly recruited teachers are fully inducted on the ethics and responsibilities of teachers in the State, he has instructed the Ministry of Education to provide them with immediate fresher training and continuous on-the-job trainings.
Earlier, the state commissioner of education Dr Aishatu Umar Maigari paid special tribute to Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya for displaying uncommon leadership trait towards repositioning the education sector in the state once considered to be at its lowest ebb.
She said the provision of infrastructure and instructional materials in primary and secondary schools in the state, the establishment of Mega schools and the mopping up of out of school children through the BESDA programme are some laudable initiatives that have since boosted the crave for knowledge by both parents, guardians and their wards.
The Chairperson of the State Teachers’ Service Commission, Mrs Na’omi Maiguwa described the presentation of the appointment letters to the newly recruited teachers as the climax of the bold step so far taken by the administration of Governor Inuwa Yahaya to rewrite the fundamental history of education in the state.
“It is the first time since the creation of Gombe State that a government is recruiting such a large number of teachers at a go; citizens of this state may wish to recall that prior to this exercise the Governor approved the transfer of 288 teachers from SUBEB to the Ministry of Education”.
In a vote of thanks, one of the newly recruited teachers, Sunday Alex from Billiri local government area described the event as a turning point in their quest to become professional teachers.
He expressed gratitude to Governor Inuwa Yahaya for going the all hall of repositioning of education sector in the interest of the social, economic and mental well-being of the people.
