Gombe Gov’t Commences School Census To Revamp Education

By Najib Sani, Gombe

Gombe State government through the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) is poised to commence annual schools census in order to revamp education in the state.

The board disclosed the plan during the opening ceremony of the training of enumerators that would conduct exercise at Teachers Resource Centre (TRC), Kwami, Gombe State on Tuesday.

Speaking, the executive chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Babaji Babadidi, represented by a full-time member of the board, Gambo Aliyu, commended the state governor, Inuwa Yahaya, for his many education reforms including building of new schools, renovation of existing ones and recruitment of teachers.

He also lauded him for the allocation of adequate funds to the education sector saying the funds committed to this year’s schools census have tripled compared to the previous year, adding that the aim was to obtain accurate data on the number of pupils and students.

According to him, this year’s annual school census differs significantly from the previous ones, due to the influx of people from across the country into Gombe State which has overstretched school facilities.

“This year’s census will provide more comprehensive information than before. The exercise goes beyond a simple headcount; it will include data on enrolment, infrastructure, furniture, and teachers”, he explained.

In his remarks, the director of planning of the state ministry of education, Abdulmuminu Umar, explained that the exercise would last for 14-days and it is aimed at gathering crucial data on public schools across the state with a view to addressing educational problems.

He emphasised the importance of the census, stating that it would serve as a guide for effective planning and identifying number of out of school children and gaps in the education sector.

According to him, the ministry would deploy 360 enumerators to conduct the census, which would be monitored digitally using unique identification codes for each school.

He added that there are 669 public primary, junior and senior secondary schools in the state, noting that the census would be done in all the schools where pupils, students, teachers and infrastructure there would be counted.

“This will enable the Ministry to plan effectively, project instructional materials and infrastructure needs, and ensure fair allocation and improve teacher-to-student ratios deployment”, he stated.