Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf has sternly prohibited the practice of assigning manual labour to schoolchildren after he uncovered an alarming incident at the School for Arabic Studies.
During an unannounced visit to the institution, the governor discovered that students were being forced to dig a trench for the installation of a toilet pipeline, an assignment wholly unrelated to their academic development.
The governor’s face reflected clear disapproval as he confronted the headmaster of the school over the exploitative practice.
Speaking to the press later, Governor Yusuf emphasised the primary role of schools as institutions for learning, urging that “schools should serve as grounds for education and moral guidance, not for manual labour.”
The headmaster, in his defense, explained that the task had been allotted after school hours. However, this explanation failed to mollify the governor, who immediately ordered the cessation of the practice.
In the wake of this incident, Governor Yusuf also pledged a comprehensive renovation of the school’s dilapidated infrastructure, including the attached mosque, which had fallen into disrepair.
He instructed the school management to submit any future projects for approval either to the state’s Ministry of Education or directly to his office to ensure proper oversight.
The governor’s swift intervention is part of his broader commitment to improving educational standards in Kano, a state that has faced criticism for the neglect of its schools in recent years.
Governor Yusuf’s promise to rebuild dilapidated structures comes on the heels of his inspection of ongoing repairs at the Kano Printing Press, which had been damaged during the #EndBadGovernance protests.
