Governor Mohammed restates commitment to education sector development

Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has restated his administration’s commitment to education sector development.

Mohammed stated this at a ceremony to commence the distribution of learning materials to Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) learning centres, in Bauchi, on Thursday.

He said that the state government had implemented several policies and programmes to enhance learning and promote the overall development of the education sector.

“Our government has recorded tremendous achievements in the basic education sub-sector, we are prepared to do more for our people,” he said.

The governor commended the Federal Government for its support to the state under the Universal Basic Education programme.

Mohammed said that the BESDA programme had led to the procurement of about N900m worth of learning and teaching materials in the state.

“The items procured under this initiative are for distribution to people in the learning centres, to provide them an enabling environment for learning,” he said.

In his speech, Mr Abubakar Sirimbai, Chairman, Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board, urged the state government to recruit more teachers to enhance learning.

Sirimbai said that recruiting more teachers would make the education system more efficient and rewarding, while lamenting that the state had not recruited teachers since 2015, saying, “ we need more teachers to ensure efficiency”

“Teachers leave the service everyday by way of retirement, death or resignation, the system requires more teachers. The current administration has done very well in the education sector but the system still has some challenges that require attention.

“ There is need to reintroduce the state government’s special project on education, as a way of responding to communities’ demand for good schools,” he said.

The chairman said it was worrisome that Wunti and Shadawanka Primary schools were still operating in leased facilities.

“These schools are among the foremost primary schools in Bauchi metropolis, we need to provide permanent structures for them to operate in.