The Executive Chairman of Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr. Kassim Muhammed-Kassim, has warned that parents who do not enrol their children in school will face prosecution.
The SUBEB Chairman made this statement on Thursday during the opening ceremony of a one-day Education Summit organised by the Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB), held at the Late Aliyu Akwe Doma Banquet Hall in Lafia, Nasarawa State.
Dr. Muhammed-Kassim explained that the purpose of the Summit was to brainstorm on how Education can be revitalised to shape the future of basic education across the 13 local government areas of the state, criticising the shortage of qualified teachers and the illegal promotion of teachers without due process in the state.
His words, “Overstaffing in local government education offices and. overcharge and illegal deductions of loans by banks through Education Secretaries will no longer be tolerated in the state,” he warned.
He, however, emphasised that basic education is a fundamental right of every child in the state, not a privilege, and vowed to enforce it to ensure that no child is left behind.
The Chairman explained that the board had decided to undertake a major enlightenment campaign through town hall meetings and the mass media, adding that the board has purchased seven buses for sensitisation to reach all the corners of the 13 Local Government Areas (LGAs) to educate parents and guardians on the importance of enrolling their children and wards in school.
He continued, “We discovered about 3,000 professional and trained teachers who worked their postings illegally to local government education offices across the state. To address out-of-school concerns and implement the compulsory aspects of our law, with the support of His Excellency, we procured seven minibuses for sensitisation across the state; these will be commissioned today alongside the tables and chairs.
“And after supervision, corrections, and warnings, some contractors remained adamant and delivered poor-quality work. We therefore revoked nine contracts, including the contract for the construction of staff quarters at SMART School, Lafia. As a result, we have saved N 101,000,000 (One Hundred and One Million Naira) for the State, pending further directive from the governor.”
He further said that meetings would be organised in every LGA for herders, other community leaders and parents whose children and wards were mostly out of school.
“We will let them realise that they must compulsorily enrol their children and wards in schools, or face sanctions.
“Any parents who fail to send their children to school will face legal action in line with the existing law,” he added.
He explained that the board under his leadership had identified numerous challenges that were hampering the quality of education in the state.
He listed some of the challenges, including substandard school structures, a lack of chairs, inadequate teachers, staff truancy, and improper teacher placement, among others.
“Already, we have taken a lot of steps towards addressing the identified problems to reposition and improve the standard of basic education in the state.
“We have redeployed 1,900 teachers who were hitherto working as administrative staff back to the classroom, and about 1000 would soon be deployed to fill in the shortage of teachers in our schools,” he said.
Meanwhile, Governor Abdullahi Sule, who declared the summit open, said arrangements have been concluded to perform the groundbreaking for the construction of a USD 90 million paper mill in the Keffi Local Government Area of the state on Friday.
Sule revealed this while speaking at the one-day Education Summit organised by the Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB) in Lafia, the state capital.
The governor also disclosed that plans have been finalised to flag off the construction of twin flyovers in Mararaba, Karu Local Government Area of the state.
Sule appreciated President Ahmed Bola Tinubu for his fiscal reforms, which are making it possible for states like Nasarawa to have sufficient funds to undertake such capital projects, utilising both the federal subvention and their internally generated revenue.
According to him, but for the economic reforms initiated by President Tinubu, his administration would not have been able to consider executing such capital-intensive projects as the Mararaba twin flyovers, aimed at alleviating the traffic gridlock on the Abuja-Keffi expressway.
The governor, however, commended the Executive Chairman of the NSUBEB, Dr. Kassim Muhammad Kassim, for initiating the summit geared towards addressing manifest challenges in the basic education sector of the state.
He particularly commended the Executive Chairman for his dedication and personal commitment towards improving basic education in the state.
The governor was optimistic that with the calibre of persons attending the summit, particularly stakeholders from the education sector, the lapses observed by the board would be addressed.
He further pledged his continued support to the executive chairman and the board to improve basic education in the state.
During the opening ceremony, Governor Sule commissioned chairs to be distributed to schools across Nasarawa State, as well as mini buses for sensitisation activities in the 13 local government areas of the state.
