By: Ibrahim Mohammed Funsho
“You cannot make people learn. You can only provide the right conditions for learning to happen.”
– Vince Gowmon
But what happens if education is provided under environment that is not conducive to learning at all?
Gaa-Alaanu Nomadic LGEA Primary School before its collapse
The above question takes us to Gaa Alaanu Nomadic LGEA Primary School, a public school situated in a not-too-distant Fulani dominated community of Malete in Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State. According to the Head Mistress of the school, Hajiya Aishat Balogun Segilola who spoke to The City Gazette, the school was established by the Department of Education, Kwara State University, Malete some years ago in furtherance of its Community Service Programme and as away of giving back to the host community.
So, along the line, it was taken over by the State Universal Primary Education Board (SUBEB), hence making it a public school since 2018.
Some of the pupils sit on bare floor during lessons
The school often serves as a training ground for students from the Department of Education of Kwara State University during their Teaching Practice stints.
The school’s Head Mistress who was accosted by this medium highlighted some of the major challenges facing the school, she noted, “For about four years, I was the only teacher in this school, teaching over 50 pupils until last year when two teachers were deployed to this school as a result of the last Teaching Service Commission’s employment, taking our number to three teachers. I did come from Ilorin every day until when I decided to move permanently to Malete because it was no longer easy for me – considering the stress and and financial burdens.
This collapsed shade used to serve as classroom
“We used shade as our classroom, but it was destroyed by breeze sometime ago and that is why we brought our classroom under the tree. We face a lot of challenges here, we teach under poor academic environment. We, the teachers too are not left out, most especially during Harmattan period. My other two colleagues are down with cold because the breeze blowing from the tree is unbearable – in fact one of them even called me that her baby was receiving treatment as a result of the cold. I do go through a lot in the midnight because of excessive cold leading to severe cough. That was the reason we move the classrooms from under the tree to inside the sun to receive some heat.
“This environment is very harsh, I always force the pupils to wear sweaters, even at that some parents still scold us for wanting to protect their children against this harsh weather.
“During Dry Season too, we experience the worst. Scorching sun also dealt with us because there is no classroom to shelter us from it. Come rain, come shine we are under the tree.
Pupils receiving lesson under the tree
“Sometime last year a Nongovernmental organization, OneAfricanChild built a block of two classrooms for the school last year. It has yet to be completed but parents of the pupils promised to complete it by fixing the windows, filling the floor and plastering it, but unfortunately, nothing has been done till date. As teachers we don’t have our own office, we stay under the tree as well.
“As you can see, the pupils want to move into the classrooms as soon as possible but it is not ready and they can’t be sitting on bare ground even the parents are not helping matters as they didn’t contribute anything to the growth of the school. We don’t even have a chalkboard and other teaching aids or learning materials.
“About 2 years ago, I reported our ordeal to the Education Secretary at Bode Saadu that we don’t have classrooms but the villagers without listening to my own side of the story nearly beat me, accusing me that I went to report to the education authority that there was no school on ground.
A block of two classrooms donated by an NGO, OneAfricanChild
“They don’t even have uniform. Though students of Kwara State University donated uniforms to two pupils – a boy and a girl. As I speak presently the two pupils are no more in school. The parents are very hostile to the school but we, the teachers exercise patience in dealing with them.
“They don’t encourage their children or wards, they send them on unnecessary errands when they are supposed to be in school.”
“As I said earlier, we are just three teachers here, one does come from Shao every day while the other lady comes from Ilorin. It drained us financially. I have been the only teacher here since 2018 with about 50 pupils with no single classroom. Some of the pupils eventually stopped coming to school.
Pupils of Gaa Alaanu Nomadic LGEA Primary School, Malete
On his way to the school, our reporter approached one Yusuf Taiye who identified herself as a Primary five pupil of the school, it was appaling as the young girl who should between the age of 12 and 14 was found drying yam peels during school hours.
A primary four pupil of the school, Ahmadu Abdulazeez, appealed to the state government to turn its attention to the school, noting that it would be of extreme joy for him and other fellow pupils to see the school developed into a standard facility, where they would be able to learn under conducive environment.
Also, speaking to our reporter, a parent, Mrs. Fatimah Ishaq, charged the government to provide more buildings and furniture to aid quality learning and teaching in the school.
When contacted, the Chairman, Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KWSUBEB), Professor Shehu Abdulraheem Adaramaja in a WhatsApp message forwarded to this reporter via the office of Chief Press Secretary to the State Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, said: “This administration has embarked on aggressive infrastructural renewals of schools across Kwara. We have provided classrooms, furniture, computers, and sanitation facilities across some 605 schools over the last two years alone. There are 2,686 basic schools under the State Universal Basic Education Board.
“The gap we met is so huge that we can only fix the deficits in phases. Gaa Alaanu, Nomadic Primary School, like many others, is on our radar, and we will definitely get there.
“We are aware of the ongoing construction of a block of two classrooms in the school by a nonprofit organisation, and we really welcome such partnership to rebuild our schools for the benefit of all. On our part, we have recently posted three teachers to the school to support learning. The school has also been captured in the next phase of KwaraLEARN enrollment to further support our children for better learning outcomes.”
