Kaduna: Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) has donated 317 882 Mathematics and English language textbooks to the Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
The books, written in Hausa language, are aimed at enhancing literacy and numeracy among primary five and six pupils in the six intervention Local Government Areas (LGA) of PLANE, promising a brighter future for these students.
PLANE is a programme funded by the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. This funding is part of the UK government’s commitment to supporting inclusive education and improving learning outcomes in Nigeria.
The LGAs in Kaduna that are under its intervention are: Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Jaba, Sanga, Soba, and Sabon Gari.
The distribution of the books was inaugurated on Wednesday in Kaduna by the acting Executive Chairman of SUBEB, Mr Mubarak Muhammad.
Muhammad said that the textbooks were in the modern language of Hausa, saying, “This is because of the policy of learning in the mother tongue, which was very effective.”
This, he said, was the reason SUBEB has been exploring various avenues of ensuring that it gets textbooks for its pupils in schools, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to improving education.
“We had in the past few months distributed thousands of copies for primaries one to four.
“Now we are seeing the distribution of primaries five to six,” Muhammad said.
Apart from the distribution of textbooks, the SUBEB boss said the board had ensured continuous quality of teaching by training over 26,000 teachers in various aspects of school leadership, ICT, science, mathematics, among others.
“Now, more than ever, we are pursuing teacher professional development rigorously; very soon, we will commence another round of teacher training.
“Also, we are ensuring that all teachers in primary schools are being equipped and given the technical know-how and knowledge on how to impart knowledge to our kids in schools,” he said.
On issues of instructional materials and teaching/learning materials, Muhammad said the distribution of the books was part of the solution.
He disclosed that SUBEB would soon take delivery of over 150,000 copies of core textbooks in literacy and numeracy.
“This is a very deliberate effort at improving education in tandem with Gov. Uba Sani’s poise in making education his priority, “the chairman said.
He assured the teachers of ongoing efforts to enhance their remuneration and other working conditions, to keep up the good work of delivering quality education to the children.
Muhammad thanked PLANE for their continuous support in the state, reassuring the audience of the sustainability of these initiatives.
The State Team Lead of PLANE, Mrs Diana Agabi, thanked the state government for working tirelessly to ensure that all children were in school.
Agabi, represented by Musa Jimoh, PLANE’s Results and Learning Manager, said that their partnership with SUBEB was yielding results as the state had put in place the right learning environment.
He thanked the teachers across the six intervention LGAs for their hard work, urging them to work even harder for their benefits and the future of the children.
On her part, the Education Secretary of Kaduna North LGA, Mrs Fatima Sani, also opined that PLANE was supportive.
Sani recalled that the programme had sometimes donated 1,555 cartons of exercise books to the LGA. She thanked them for the support and pledged to use the books judiciously.
