Infrastructural decay in secondary schools in Zamfara state has put authorities on edge as they begun moves towards addressing the challenges. The problems include dilapidated students’ dormitories, classrooms and many other facilities that aid teaching and learning in the schools.
Our correspondent, who visited Government Science Secondary School, Gusau, found that the students’ hostels were eyesores. Some of them are without roofs and windows thereby exposing the students to harsh weather conditions and possible diseases.
Some of the staff of the school told our reporter that during the rainy season the students used to take shelter or sleep in the classrooms or laboratories to avoid the heavily leaking roofs in the hostels.
“There have been complaints by the students about trespass and thefts in the hostels because the rooms are without doors and windows. Whenever it is raining we pity the students. They would relocate to classrooms for shelter,” a staff of the school said.
However, the state commissioner for education Dr Ibrahim Abdullahi Gusau, told our correspondent that he had gone round the schools across the state to see for himself what they took over from the previous government.
“I visited Government Science Secondary School,Gusau, Government Girls’ Secondary School Kotorkoshi , GSS Kaura Namoda and many other schools and it is the same horrible story to tell.
“This is how Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle’s administration met education in Zamfara state. That is why he appropriated 20 percent of the state’s annual budget to education sector. We are working round the clock to revive ailing sector.
“We are trying hard to confront the challenges and address them head on. Part of our action plans are reconstruction and renovations of dilapidated structures in our schools. These include classrooms, hostels and laboratories.
“We are also planning to recruit more teachers and train and retrain the existing ones. This is apart from our aim to equip the schools with adequate working materials more especially in the field of science. We are also proposing to construct female only science secondary school in the state,” the commissioner said.
Caliphate Trust recalled that there was a mild drama last week when Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle asked school principals to eat the unpalatable food cooked for students at Government Science Secondary school, Gusau and Government Girls Secondary School, Gusau.
The governor also directed all schools principals and officers in charge of school feeding in the state to provide better food for students or face disciplinary action.
Matawalle, who supervised the compulsory eating of the meal by Principal and staff of Goverment Science Secondary School Gusau and Government Girls Secondary School Gusau, said he was dismayed after meeting the students eating sub- standard food.
“Henceforth, the principals and the feeding officers throughout the state must eat the same food they cook for their students or be dismissed.”
He noted that the state government has been providing all necessary food items for the students and must, therefore, be delivered to them appropriately or face the wrath of his administration.
Culled from: Daily Trust
