Abdulrazaq, during an interactive session organized by the Devex Event/New Globe group at the just concluded United Nations General Assembly held in the United States of America, said that there was an improvement in Kwara Basic Education, adding that the numbers of Kwara out-of-school children soared by 68% between 2019 and 2022.
Speaking on the theme ‘Addressing Africa’s learning crisis and preparing for a young future: finding solutions’, the governor said “We have improved public school enrollment by some 48.7% at the basic level, while the introduction of technology has really empowered our teachers and children alike.”
He, however, added that funding remains a big challenge. “Learning deprivation in Kwara public schools has reduced from 70.8% to 51.6% within a space of 40 weeks of introducing the new programme, KwaraLEARN,” the governor said.
However, the Kwara PDP alleged that the state government lied in the data presented as its achievements in education since it came to power in May 2019.
The PDP said Abdulrazaq in his presentation lied that his administration had improved enrollment of students in public schools in the state.
According to a statement released by its Publicity Secretary, Mr Olusegun Adewara, the party claimed the governor in his presentation at UNGA “tried to cover the failures of his administration by reeling out another round of un-existing data to hoodwink some members of the international community at the UNGA meetings held in New York.”
The PDP alleged that contrary to the presentation of the governor at UNGA, “the numbers of Kwara out-of-school children soared by 68% between 2019 and 2022
“We make bold to say that all the figures and statistics attributed to Mallam Abdulrazaq as representing improvements in Kwara basic education during an interactive session organized by the Devex/Newglobe group are not only misleading but putrid lies and do not represent the current educational status of the state.
“For Governor Abdulrahman to have travelled to far America on a presidential entourage and lied to international envoys that Kwara state has improved school enrolment by 48.7% at the basic school level and that learning deprivation in Kwara public schools was reduced from 70.8% to 51.6% all between the year 2019 and 2023 is not only an attempt to twist reality but an exportation of falsehood to a foreign land to deceive world leaders.
“Governor Abdulrahman now manufactures his data and reels it out at will, thinking there’s no one around to deflate his balloons of lies. It is quite shameful that the governor; not quoting any credible source, resorted to manufacturing unexisting data and reeled the same out to deceive international envoys at that exalted level of conversation.
“In setting the record straight, we want to inform Kwarans and the International community who might have been misled by those claims, that, contrary to those putrid lies, the number of out-of-school children in Kwara state, which stood at 84,247 in 2018 before the PDP administration handed over has now surged to 141,325 as at 2022 representing an increase of 68% in just 2 years of governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
“The first data in 2018 was published by UBEC and reported on different media outlets, including the Premiumtimes publication of 8 September 2021, while that of 2022 was World Bank data also published on national dailies.
“We challenged Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and his media handlers to furnish Kwarans with sources of their data or apologize for misleading the populace.”
However, the APC in a reaction by its Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Tajudeen Folaranmi said that the government under Governor Abdulrazaq had redeemed the education sector which had nearly collapsed under the PDP government before he took over in 2019.
“Without prejudice to any existing gap, the impressive record of this administration in basic education has been celebrated by the House of Representatives, UBEC, and other relevant educational bodies. The data that His Excellency Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq quoted are credible and verifiable, including the one on school enrollment.
“For the avoidance of doubt, public school enrollments have grown by thousands between 2018 and now, thanks majorly to the efforts of the current government, which has restored public confidence in the schools. Under the PDP’s years of the locust, school infrastructure had collapsed and many teachers had abandoned classrooms to seek survival elsewhere because they were not being paid. Not many people wanted to enrol their children in schools with dilapidated structures and without teachers.
“Under our administration, public school enrollment has risen for reasons of improved infrastructure and better teaching quality, including unprecedented access to digital tools and sanitation facilities that encourage more girl children to enrol in schools. For example, whereas public primary school enrollment in 2018 stood at 179,004, it has risen consistently under this administration as follows: 181,306 (2019); 189,090 (2020); 189,237 (2021); and 209,711 (2022.)”
