Education: Sardauna Foundation urges innovative projects in North

The Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation has urged decision-makers to solve the educational issues that northern Nigeria is currently facing.

Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau, secretary of the foundation’s board of trustees, said this on Friday while briefing journalists in Abuja.

He said that the region would reach the ideal educational level set forth by its founding fathers, including Sir Ahmadu Bello, with the full backing of important stakeholders.

“We have been putting a lot of effort into a number of measures to examine, modernise, and come up with long-lasting answers to the problems of educational backwardness in the north.

“Critical stakeholders like governors, members of the national legislature, members of the federal executive council, and academicians in order to map out a new direction for education in both the north and Nigeria as a whole.

“During the course of this project, we dove into researching this difficulty in great detail. On Tuesday in Abuja, a stakeholder gathering, a report would be made available.

Shekarau stated that the study’s findings “have illuminated a rather depressing situation and also provided invaluable insights into how we can revamp the educational landscape in the Northern region.”

Prof. Rukayyah Rufai, a former minister of education who also spoke, claimed that the research’s conclusions would help to resolve the myriad issues that hinder education in the north.

She claimed that the research involved several years of communication with officials from all three tiers of government, academicians, and others.

According to Rufai, the goal of the study was to produce a draught for outlining a new course for education in the north.

The foundation’s board member and former information commissioner in Niger, Prof. Yahaya Kuta, stated that education issues affect the entire nation.

According to him, statistics on the nation’s educational attainment have demonstrated comparable trends, and occasionally even reversals.

He claimed that once-forerunner states are now experiencing conditions akin to those in the north.

“The north used to be without a doubt the top region for kids who weren’t in school. But as a result of carelessness and a lack of application of popular technologies and concepts, a like pattern has now been observed in other states.

“This report to be presented on Tuesday will open a new fiesta not only for the northern region but for advancement of education in the country as a whole,” he declared.(NAN)