6th October, 2010
Dr Abba Abubakar, a lecturer in the department of Adult Education, Bayero University, Kano, has attributed the mass failure of students in national examinations to the Universal Primary Education programme (UPE) introduced in 1976.
Abubakar made the statement in a paper he presented at a stakeholders’ forum in Dutse on Tuesday, adding that the government was not prepared for the programme.
He said for the government to get it right, it would take another 34 years before the sector would have a foothold.
The lecturer said that when the UPE was launched in Sokoto State in 1976 there was no proper planning for the training and recruitment of teachers, leading to the engagement of primary school leavers as teachers at the time.
Abubakar explained that at that time, the classrooms were shabbily constructed and inadequate to accommodate the large number of pupils in schools.
“Because of the large number of those enrolled, government could not provide enough teaching and learning materials.
“Consequently, it affected the quality of the input and the output of the education system.
“Initially, the Federal Government intended to shoulder the entire financial burden of the scheme but following the collapse of the oil price in 1978, the government could no longer cope with that burden.
“The Federal Government then reverted the funding of the primary education to the states and local governments,†he said.