About
Taraba Schools Overcrowded, Classrooms Collapsing, Students Sit on Bare Floors as Governor Kefas’ Free Education Policy Falters
Two years after Governor Agbu Kefas introduced a free and compulsory education policy in Taraba State, many public schools are struggling with severe infrastructural decay, overcrowding, and lack of basic learning facilities. While the policy initially boosted school enrollment and was celebrated as a major social intervention, the necessary support systems—classrooms, furniture, teachers, learning materials, and adequate funding—failed to keep pace.
Across the state, classrooms designed for about 30 pupils now accommodate more than 70, forcing many students to sit on bare floors. Laboratories are largely non-functional due to lack of equipment, teachers are overstretched, discipline is deteriorating, and school safety has become a growing concern, highlighted by the killing of a teacher, Mr. Bassey Sardauna. Parents and educators describe the situation as “organised suffering,” arguing that children attend school but gain little meaningful learning.
The government’s promise to build 60 model schools has largely stalled, with many projects abandoned at early construction stages. Compounding the crisis, schools have lost internally generated revenue from fees under the free education policy and now depend on government subventions widely described as inadequate. As a result, head teachers ration basic items like chalk, cancel science practicals, and lower academic expectations just to keep schools operating.
Despite the policy’s lofty rhetoric, the reality in Taraba classrooms paints a grim picture of neglect and poor planning, raising serious questions about the sustainability and effectiveness of the state’s free education programme.
Two years after Governor Agbu Kefas introduced a free and compulsory education policy in Taraba State, many public schools are struggling with severe infrastructural decay, overcrowding, and lack of basic learning facilities. While the policy initially boosted school enrollment and was celebrated as a major social intervention, the necessary support systems—classrooms, furniture, teachers, learning materials, and adequate funding—failed to keep pace.
Across the state, classrooms designed for about 30 pupils now accommodate more than 70, forcing many students to sit on bare floors. Laboratories are largely non-functional due to lack of equipment, teachers are overstretched, discipline is deteriorating, and school safety has become a growing concern, highlighted by the killing of a teacher, Mr. Bassey Sardauna. Parents and educators describe the situation as “organised suffering,” arguing that children attend school but gain little meaningful learning.
The government’s promise to build 60 model schools has largely stalled, with many projects abandoned at early construction stages. Compounding the crisis, schools have lost internally generated revenue from fees under the free education policy and now depend on government subventions widely described as inadequate. As a result, head teachers ration basic items like chalk, cancel science practicals, and lower academic expectations just to keep schools operating.
Despite the policy’s lofty rhetoric, the reality in Taraba classrooms paints a grim picture of neglect and poor planning, raising serious questions about the sustainability and effectiveness of the state’s free education programme.
Taraba Schools Overcrowded, Classrooms Collapsing, Students Sit on Bare Floors as Governor Kefas’ Free Education Policy Falters
Two years after Governor Agbu Kefas introduced a free and compulsory education policy in Taraba State, many public schools are struggling with severe infrastructural decay, overcrowding, and lack of basic learning facilities. While the policy initially boosted school enrollment and was celebrated as a major social intervention, the necessary support systems—classrooms, furniture, teachers, learning materials, and adequate funding—failed to keep pace.
Across the state, classrooms designed for about 30 pupils now accommodate more than 70, forcing many students to sit on bare floors. Laboratories are largely non-functional due to lack of equipment, teachers are overstretched, discipline is deteriorating, and school safety has become a growing concern, highlighted by the killing of a teacher, Mr. Bassey Sardauna. Parents and educators describe the situation as “organised suffering,” arguing that children attend school but gain little meaningful learning.
The government’s promise to build 60 model schools has largely stalled, with many projects abandoned at early construction stages. Compounding the crisis, schools have lost internally generated revenue from fees under the free education policy and now depend on government subventions widely described as inadequate. As a result, head teachers ration basic items like chalk, cancel science practicals, and lower academic expectations just to keep schools operating.
Despite the policy’s lofty rhetoric, the reality in Taraba classrooms paints a grim picture of neglect and poor planning, raising serious questions about the sustainability and effectiveness of the state’s free education programme.
