In a clear example of how education has been neglected by the governments across all levels, over 3,000 pupils learn under a deplorable condition at the Baba Saura Government Primary school in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The deplorable nature of the school that has since been exposed by Tracka, a public accountability organization, shows how pupils were seen sitting on the floor in a classroom that has a leaking roof that is about to collapse on them.
This is the situation in Baba Saura Government Primary school, Chikun, even as the Kaduna State Government in the last decades had expended billions of naira on education.
Funds that are yet to manifest in the standard of education in the state.
This is even as Chikun is located in the urban area of Kaduna, a few kilometres away from the government house.
Miss. Ada Obi Nwane, a community resident, who spoke to MAWA via a telephone conversation on the condition of the school, narrated how it has been in a deplorable condition for years without the government making efforts to fix it.
“I have lived in this community for over five years, and two of my children attend the school, it has been this deplorable for years, we have made several efforts to reach out to the government to help fix it, but nothing has been done”, Nwane told MAWA.
Mr. Nicholas Ndita, a community resident, while speaking to MAWA regarding the deplorable nature of the school, blamed the government for not investing money in education.
“Baba Saura Government Primary school, is not the only terrible deplorable in Chikun, I would want you to come so I take you around, that way, you will see many deplorable schools, and be convinced how the government had neglected education for years,” Ndita told MAWA via the telephone.
A top government official in the Kaduna State Ministry of Education, who did not want his name mentioned, condemned the deplorable nature of the school. He, however, said the seemingly collapsed in education in the state cannot be attributed to the current administration. Pointing out that it is a challenge that has been in existence for years.
Mr. Zacharia, a teacher in one of the public schools in Chikun, who prefers only his first name mentioned, while speaking to MAWA, accused the state government of refusing to fund education.
“I challenge you to visit public schools in Kaduna, virtually all the teachers are underpaid, and many of them are in the job because they have no other alternative,” Zacharia told MAWA.
Tracka, who exposed the school’s deplorable nature, has since appealed to the Kaduna State government to help fix the school.
MAWA Foundation could not immediately reach out to the Kaduna State government for an official response.