Dutse, Oct. 10, 2025
A baaseline assessment on learning outcomes conducted by Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL -Jigawa 2024-25 Baseline Assessment), has exposed the poor learning outcomes in some schools in Jigawa state.
During the presentation of the assessment in Dutse on Thursday, Mr Philip Adigun, Technical Lead, Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL Africa), said the assessment was conducted in 10 local government areas of the state.
He explained that the assessment was conducted in Hausa and English languages as well as in numeracy, where 34,613 Grade 4-6 children were assessed.
According to him, “Only three per cent of the children assessed, could read a paragraph in Hausa language while 93 per cent struggled with reading a word in Hausa,” Adigun said.
In English language assessment he said, only one per cent of the pupils could read a sentence, while 95 per cent of them struggled to read a word.
In numeracy, Adigun revealed that only two per cent of the pupils could solve subtraction problems while 84 percent of them could not identify two digits in mathematics.
He noted that 1,423 school teachers, 284 female and 1139 males conducted the assessment conducted in the 10 local governments.
“The local governments are Babura, Binin Kudu, Garki, Hadejia, Jahun, Kafin Hausa, Kazaure, Kirikasamma, Kiyawa and Maigatari respectively,” he said.
Jigawa state Commissioner, Ministry of Basic Education, Dr Lawan Danzomo, while responding, said that the government has invested a lot of resources to improve learning outcomes.
He said that the report of the assessment was alarming and has attracted the attention of the government to expand its commitment.
According to him, “The Ministry will mobilize all stakeholders to address the situation and to create better learning outcomes, to boost basic education in Jigawa.”
In his remarks, the Executive Chairman of the Jigawa state Universal Basic Education Board, Prof. Haruna Musa, expressed concern over the outcome of the assessment.
He tasked Education Secretaries on working towards solving the causes of the learning problems in their basic schools.
Prof. said, the state Governor Umar Namadi, has given priority to the education sector thus all stakeholders must play their part well.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Education Secretaries’ Forum, Mr Ibrahim Abdussalam, said the ES Forum has picked up the challenge and will do their best to improve the situation.
He also decried the poor motivation and lack of welfare package to Executive Seceratries, noting that a lot of them aren’t mobile and couldn’t properly monitor schools under their zones effectively.
On her part, the Technical Adviser to the state Governor on Basic Education, Dr Hauwa Babura expressed concern over the situation of the Education Secretaries.
He pledged to provide space for dialogue between them and the authorities concerned so that their pleas would be addressed.
Dr Babura however, urged them to be God-fearing and discharge their duties diligently for the benefit of the children and the society at large.
Teaching at the right level is a tool developed by an Indian organisation to enable children acquire foundational reading and arithmetic skills quickly.
The baseline assessment in Jigawa was conducted as part of the Educational and Youth Empowerment Project (EYE), initiated by UNICEF and funded by the European Union (EU).
Aisha Ahmed ✍ from Dutse
