By Auwal Yusuf Birnin Kudu
Daura – The Daura Local Education Authority in Katsina State, said students enrolment into primary schools in the area has increased by 78 per cent in the last two years.
Alhaji Nuruddeen Lawan, the Education Secretary of the area made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Daura on Thursday.
He said the upward increment in pupils enrolment was sequel to the activities of the local school-based management committees, which helped in enlightening parents on the importance of education.
Lawal disclosed that the state government has commenced the renovation of 50 primary schools and construction of additional classrooms in the area, to accommodate more pupils.
He said the State Universal Education Board [SUBEB] and the local education authority have approved further training for 312 teachers, apart from those already pursuing various programmes in higher institutions.
The scribe explained that 78 teachers were undergoing degree programmes in the universities while 240 others were in colleges of education and other institutions for their National Certificate in Education [NCE].
He said that the emphasis on the retraining was to enhance the quality of the workforce and ensure that every teacher in the local government is a professional.
On staff welfare, the scribe said 600 teachers were recently promoted as part of the authority’s capacity building programme.
He called for timely implementation of the promotions to enable the beneficiaries “enjoy the dividend of their efforts”, and urged the teachers to support efforts of the state government to reposition the education sector.
Lawal urged SUBEB to provide functional vehicles to the local education authority for effective monitoring and supervision of schools, stressing that quality assurance was very vital in teaching and learning.
He also appealed to the Katsina state government to recruit 300 additional teachers to adequately man existing 1, 050 primary schools in the area.