Kaduna school where 5 pupils share a desk, yet smile

In LGEA Ungwar Shanu/Abakpa, Kaduna, four to five pupils share one desk due to insufficient furniture. Sometime in March, it was reported that both pupils and teachers were using verandas as classrooms while the teachers use the doors and windows as boards, owing to renovations going on in the school. Also, some pupils were seen sitting on the floor because there were inadequate chairs. The development attracted reactions from different quarters, with many condemning the situation of the school children enduring hardship in school.
Commissioner for Works, Engineer Usman Mahmud Hassan, explained then that schools in the state have not been rehabilitated in the past 15 years, so the present government of Malam Nasir El-Rufai had commenced rehabilitation of public schools, LEA U/Shanu inclusive. He said furniture will be delivered. According to him, 400 out of the over 4,000 public schools in the state are undergoing rehabilitation, disclosing that another batch will commence upon conclusion of the ongoing one. After the completion of the renovation, our reporter visited the school and observed that both teachers and pupils have moved back into their classrooms following delivery of furniture by the state government, bringing smiles to the faces of both students and teachers.
Daily Trust gathered that 457 desks were delivered to the school. It was also observed that there are 20 desks in each of the 27 classrooms in the school while the pupils’ population is 3,152. This implies that in each of the classes, there are over 100 students. Because the desks are not sufficient, about four to five pupils sit on one desk while others sit on the floor.
“The sitting arrangement is based on ‘first come first serve’ as those who come early sit on the desk while those who come late sit on the floor,” a pupil said. Apart from the problem of inadequate furniture, our reporter learnt that the school is also in need of additional teachers.
Newly-reassigned Commissioner of Education, Science and Technology, Professor Andrew Nok, during the commissioning of the school, promised to make arrangements for additional furniture. He also promised to provide a computer laboratory for the school.
When contacted, the headmaster of the school, Abubakar Muhammad, commended the state government, and added that there is need for additional classrooms and furniture to accommodate the pupils.