The government of Borno State has revealed its intention to initiate an afternoon primary and secondary education system as a solution to overcrowding issues and to increase the enrollment of out-of-school children.
In his inaugural address for his second term, the state Governor, Prof Babagana Zulumannounced this development on Monday in Maiduguri. He highlighted the ongoing challenges of classroom congestion and the alarming number of school-aged children who are still not attending school, despite numerous efforts to construct new mega-sized schools and expand existing ones, resulting in around 1,000 additional classrooms.
To tackle these issues, Governor Zulum will appoint an implementation committee responsible for formulating strategies to launch the afternoon school system.
The committee will identify pilot schools from the existing mega schools in Maiduguri that possess sufficient lighting systems.
“Although we have built dozens of new Mega-Size schools and expanded existing schools with about 1000 new classrooms, we are still faced with issues of congestion in classrooms, and with the worse problem of having thousands of out-of-school-children despite being of school-ages,” Gov Zulum said.
He added, “I am appointing an implementation committee to work out modalities for starting the afternoon school system, and it will be identifying pilot schools to be selected from some of our mega schools in Maiduguri which have good lightening systems.”
According to the governor, implementing afternoon schools will necessitate the recruitment of more staff.
The office of the head of service has been directed to identify qualified personnel currently underutilized in government secretariats. These individuals will receive training on school orientation and subsequently be deployed to assume non-teaching positions within the afternoon schools.
Governor Zulum emphasised the importance of ensuring the safety and success of the afternoon schools. Security measures will be implemented to address potential concerns, as classes may occasionally extend into the early hours of the evening.
