By Bilal Ibrahim Mahmoud
Established to cater for the basic educational needs of children of the nomads in the State, nomadic basic schools in Bauchi have been abandoned to wallow in disrepair, lack of teachers and absence of instructional materials, Xchange Hama Media can report.
The nomadic education schools are foundational schools primarily established to cater for the educational needs of nomads’ children in a deliberate attempt to integrate them into the mainstream Nigerian society so that their rearing and management of livestock can be improved there by contributing greatly to the society.
Starting from 1989 but especially after 2000, the FG established nomadic schools for the benefit of the children of the nomads who are largely Fulani especially in the North. This is to contribute to broadening literacy and improving the wellbeing and livelihood of the kids for the overall interest of Nigeria considering that farmer-herder conflict is getting worse with attendant devastation.
In this report, Xchange Hama Media, presents the deplorable conditions of some nomadic schools in Bauchi and the challenges that render them ineffective while their relevance and significance are needed the most currently to check growing waywardness among the pastoralists’ offspring in Nigeria.
According to National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE), there are 477 nomadic schools scattered across the 20 local governments of the State with 414,504 pupils and 1529 teachers, making the ratio of pupil-teacher to 271/1.
“But the pupil-teacher ratio can be even much worse because many teachers are retiring while new ones are not employed,” said Dr Muhammad Sani of Aminu Saleh College of Education, Azare in a chat with Hama Media.
In Giade local government, the two nomadic schools visited by this medium, Margiri Nomadic Primary School and Sabau Primary School, with a cumulative 700 pupils have only 12 teachers for the kids including the head teachers who run instructional and administrative affairs of the schools.
“This school has a modest population of 300 pupils with male having 120 while the female population stands at 80. But the challenges in this school are overwhelming, I must admit. Only six teachers take care of the school: to teach and run the administrative duties”, the school head teacher, Malam Adamu Yahaya disclosed.
A block of classroom in Margiri Nomadic School, Giade LGA
Malam Yahaya further noted that the school has three blocks of classrooms comprising six classes but only one block of two classrooms is in better habitable condition suitable for learning.
“The other 4 classes are dilapidated; they need repairs because students can’t even learn there. Again, we have 32 seats that are good with just 2 tables and chairs for the teachers,” he said.
According to the head teacher, the school has only one functional borehole and a single toilet for the entire population, adding that “don’t even talk about library, books, register and other learning materials.”
In Sabau Nomadic Primary School, according to the head teacher, Muhammad Lawan, disclosed that only six teachers including the headmaster carter for 400 pupils that include 320 males and 20 females.
According to Lawan, among the multiple challenges in the school are shortage of classrooms, chairs, restroom and water supply.
A block of classroom in Sabau Nomadic School, Giade
He told Xchange Hama Media that “we only have four classrooms that are good and the remaining two are in ruins. During the rainy season, we disperse students when it is cloudy and keep only those that can be accommodated in the good classes.”
He added that “There are 40 chairs for students; 3 chairs and tables for teachers. We don’t have a toilet and there is no borehole and library in the school.”
In Mararaba Liman Katagum Nomadic Primary School, established in 2003, only six teachers are carrying out administrative and instructional duties for about 1000 pupils of the school.
According to Malam Nura Saleh, a teacher in the school, the nomadic school is bedevilled by a lot of problems that hamper teaching and learning which is affecting attaining the desired objective of the school.
A Picture of part of Liman Katagum Nomadic School, Bauchi LGA
He disclosed that many pupils receive lessons while sitting on bare floors due to non-availability of chairs while classes destroyed by windstorm remained abandoned by the authorities.
“I can not exhaustively tell you the problems of this school. From teachers, learning and teaching materials, to other facilities. We are just trying to do our best amidst the numerous problems,” he said.
Visits to other nomadic schools in Warji local government revealed a similar despicable situation in the schools that were designed to facilitate the mainstreaming of the pastoralist community into the larger Nigerian society to contribute meaningfully for nation building.
According to Abdullahi Ibrahim, the head teacher of Digawan Dahiru Nomadic Primary School, only two teachers are taking care of the school that has 280 pupils’ enrolment.
Malam Ibrahim said “There are 280 pupils in the school but we have only 2 teachers, myself and another one that teaches Arabic language. So, it is really a big challenge here for us.”
He explained that the entire four classes in the school needs total renovation amidst multiple other issues that school needs, adding that “the school has no toilet and water for the students. Don’t even talk about other instructional materials, they are in short supply or even completely absent”.
Functional and dilapidated buildings in Digawa Nomadic School, Warji LGA
He noted that the school has no seats for pupils to sit while receiving lessons, adding that “even the classes need renovation or reconstruction.”
“I think to say this school has problems is an understatement, to say the least. Nothing works and there is nothing that can qualify it as a school with the exception of pupils and the teachers
In Hardo Hassan Nomadic Primary School, the head teacher, Mustapha Haruna, appreciated that his students are proceeding to secondary schools but frowned that the school is derailing from that path and purpose it is supposed to follow.
Malam Haruna explained that with current enrolment of over 300 pupils in the school three teachers and the headteacher are the only human resources taking custody of the school.
He noted that the six classrooms in the school are in ruinous condition with no library, no water, no toilet and no chairs for pupils conducive learning.
“As I told you we have many challenges ranging from lack of chairs/seats, teaching staff, teaching aids and even a watchman we don’t have. That is why some remaining movable properties like chairs were stolen from the school. There is also a lack of water in the school for pupil and staff use and that is adding to our problems. We need a borehole or even a well because some students escape in the name of going to the neighbourhood to drink water or have water to ease themselves,” he explained.
Dilapidated and functional buildings in Hardo Hassan Nomadic School, Warji LGA
Although the schools were conceptualised with the best intention to address lack of education among the nomads’ kids to better their lives and facilitate informed dialogue with other citizens in Nigeria amidst constant conflict between pastoralists and farmers over resources, the multitudes of problems facing the schools deny them the chance to achieving their goals.
An advocate for Fulani kids’ education, Malam Muhammad Ado observed that plethora of challenges prove difficult for the nomadic schools to achieve their goals “The challenges bedevilling nomadic schools are enormous ranging from lack of, or decayed infrastructure, lack of teaching staff, absence or inadequate instructional materials which deny them to achieve their purpose or goals of empowering children of Fulani communities.”
Malam Ado further disclosed that the schools are swimming in oceans of numerous problems and a whole commission (NCNE) that was eventually created did not solve the problem because it is incapable of addressing the issues.
He argued that the failure of the oversight function of NCNE and the implications of failures of the schools in relation to farmer-herder interactions in the state and the wider repercussions on the Nigerian society is already manifesting through ravaging conflicts across the country.
The Chairman Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in Bauchi, Comr. Sadiq Ibrahim, bemoaned that the negligence of nomadic schools continues to relegate the Fulani community to outside scheme of things in Nigeria amidst crisis affecting their community.
According to him, the nomadic community needs more investment in education and total empowerment particularly now that they are facing serious challenges.
“You would agree with me that we are at a difficult moment as Fulani and that are sometimes victims or accused in crisis. We need all nomadic schools to be supported and more to be built, the need is more important now than ever,” Comr. Ibrahim said.
The challenges faced by nomadic schools in Bauchi occasioned by neglect has led to a decline in their ability to provide quality education to nomadic children.
According to the Bauchi State Agency for Nomadic Education (BASANE), a body that is responsible for overseeing nomadic education in the State, thousands of pupils are being educated across nomadic schools in the State.
BASANE Secretary, Alh. Ibrahim Ardo, explained that the agency is working alongside Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to address some of the challenges bedevilling the schools despite the limited resources at their disposal.
Earlier, a permanent commissioner in BASANE, Alh. Iliyasu Zwall, admitted that 245 out of existing nomadic schools are in dire need of renovation and reconstruction in the State to be fit for learning.
He further noted that 233 learning centres are operating in temporary locations while 45 are in mud structures all donated by the hosting communities.
According to him, the nomadic schoo1s in the State are educating thousands of school children from the herding community of the state.
Malam Ado, however, contended that, “the staff strengthen in the schools is not enough as many of the teachers are retiring with no current employment to fill in the gap.”
However, the State commissioner of education, Dr Jamila Muhammad Dahiru, disclosed recently that the State government is set to recruit 3000 teachers to be deployed across primary and secondary schools in the State.
Efforts to ascertain of the planned teachers to be recruited how many will be specifically deployed to the nomadic schools prove futile as both Bauchi State Ministry of Education and BASANE said that can only be provided when the recruitment process has been completed.
This publication is produced with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development Inclusivity and Accountability Project (CMEDIA) funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
