UBEC Drives Basic Education Reforms, Delivers 4,000 Classrooms In Kano
By Alice Etuka, Abuja
The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) is accelerating basic education reforms in Kano State through the delivery of nearly 4,000 classrooms and strategic collaboration that is strengthening the teaching workforce.
This was contained in a statement issued by the agency on Wednesday.
According to the statement, Executive Secretary of UBEC, Aisha Garba announced the development during a series of education engagements in Kano State, where she joined the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Ahmad, and the Executive Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Abba Yusuf, to inspect UBEC-supported projects and witness the presentation of appointment letters to newly recruited teachers.
Garba informed that the day’s activities commenced with the inspection of classrooms constructed through UBEC interventions under the Renewed Hope Agenda. She disclosed that nearly 4,000 classrooms had been delivered across Kano State to provide safer, more conducive learning environments for pupils and create greater opportunities for children to enrol, remain in school and succeed.
According to her, expanding access to quality education goes beyond constructing classrooms. She stressed that while improved infrastructure provides children with better places to learn, qualified and motivated teachers remain the foundation of meaningful learning outcomes.
She described the teacher recruitment exercise by the Kano State Government as one of the most significant investments in education in the country, noting that the state has continued to demonstrate remarkable commitment to improving basic education through sustained recruitment of teachers.
Garba observed that more than 16,000 teachers have been recruited by the present administration in Kano State, including the latest batch of newly employed teachers, a development she said was helping to bridge the teacher gap, particularly in underserved communities, while ensuring that more children have access to quality teaching.
She noted that Nigeria, like many countries around the world, continues to face a shortage of teachers, especially in rural communities, making sustained investment in the teaching workforce critical to achieving improved learning outcomes.
Addressing the gathering, the Executive Secretary described every appointment letter presented to the newly recruited teachers as a symbol of renewed hope for classrooms, communities and, most importantly, the thousands of children whose future depends on quality teaching.
She further noted that the recruitment comes at a time when UNESCO estimates that more than 44 million teachers are needed globally to bridge the existing teacher shortage, adding that Kano State’s sustained investment in teachers places it among governments providing practical solutions to one of education’s greatest global challenges.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Kano State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Malam Yusuf Kabir, said the recruitment exercise followed a transparent and merit-based process to ensure that only qualified, competent and committed teachers were employed into the state’s basic and secondary schools.
He explained that the exercise was strengthened by the Kano State Teacher Policy, which introduced aptitude tests and other assessment procedures for prospective teachers, describing the policy as a major milestone in improving teacher quality and raising standards across the education sector.
Kabir stressed that recruitment alone would not deliver the desired impact unless the teachers are effectively deployed, supervised, mentored and continuously evaluated. He assured that education authorities across the state would ensure that the newly recruited teachers are posted to schools where they are most needed while maintaining robust monitoring systems to improve teaching quality and learning outcomes.
