Shahuchi Primary School 1919-

Muhammadu Mustapha Gwadabe

Shahuchi Primary School 1919-

Muhammadu Mustapha Gwadabe

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Relevance of Education to the Society By Muhammdu Mustapha Gwadabe SOPA Class of 1976 Paper for Presentation at the Centenary Celebration of Shahuchi Primary School Kano, 19192019, Premises of Shahuchi Primary School, Kano Municipal, 28th December 2019 Relevance of Education to the Society By Muhammadu Mustapha Gwadabe1 Class of 1976 Those who treat education as trash, eventually find themselves getting absorbed with thoughts of violence, and jealously against those who are better off than them. It is people such as these that turn towards drug addiction, unnecessary rebellion, crime, and plain inactivity. Such people lack the self-esteem that education often provides to its followers. (My Emphasis) Introduction: I am highly honored to be invited to speak at the centenary celebration of Shahuchi Special Primary School. One hundred years of life is truly worthy of a celebration. Established in 1919, Shahuchi Primary School gave the Kano community its earliest set of educated elite. This immeasurable contribution is what made Kano what it is today as a member of the global economic community, as a Centre of Commerce and indeed as the most Politically Conscious state, among the states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Relevance of Education: Ordinarily one can say that there is nothing worthy of a celebration, considering our educational failures today. My attempt here is to speak on education as an institution, and as a means of socialization. I am aware that seated before me in this venue are people that tasted the pains and joys of education. Men and women present here have seen how education transforms lives of the individuals, of the collectives, as well as that of the social system. It is my conviction that education gives people of all age something substantial and challenging. It helps them think and use their idle hours, doing something productive and worthwhile. Education therefore needs 1 Muhammadu Mustapha Gwadabe is a Professor of Political History with the Department of History, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He is also a Research Fellow with Centre for Democratic Development Research and Training (CEDDERT), A Non-Governmental Research Oriented Centre, Sokoto Road, Zaria, a long Ahmadu Bello University, Road. Phone number 08037033104,08092684189; Email: [email protected] not be purely academic and may include reading for leisure or as a passion for literature, philosophy, art, politics, economics, or even scientific research. I decided to begin this discussion this way because of my working definition which sees education as a social institution through which society provides its members with important knowledge, including knowledge about basic facts and figures, jobs, skills, and cultural norms and values. This definition sees education as an important institution that improves personal lives of humanity, thereby help society to live as human society, where set rules and regulations are obeyed and respected for the good of all. Education can therefore said to be the vehicle through which civilization is nurtured, transmitted and spread for the sustenance of better life. As a vehicle that sustains civilization, education ensures career advancement. This is specifically where an individual acquire skills and become a professional in a particular field of endeavor. Even though experience is vital in most cases, nothing compares to having an advanced education in a certain field. Regardless, however, education does not mean just time spent in school. It essentially means a set of skills, motivation, and self-discipline. Self-discipline breeds sound character. Education is the main factor that allows people to grow and develop as individuals. It teaches people important life values; it opens their mind to varying and interesting aspects of life. Education encourages people to develop their social skills, problem-solving skills, and creative skills. In order to become a genuine individual one has to pick the right education system. Right education is therefore the backbone to a virile society. Therefore all developing countries (Nigeria inclusive) must have a good education system. Education plays one of the most important roles in the development of nations. Modern society is led by educated people; people with have high standards and knowledge that allows them to implement the best policies, the right solutions for different problems. This is because education means innovation. Innovation and creativity can only occur when people are skilled enough to know how to manipulate different technologies and machines. It is indeed relevant, if I proceed to say that, if looked beyond its conventional boundaries, education forms the very essence of all our actions. What we do is what we know and have learned, either through instructions or through observation and assimilation. Thus the relevance of education to society is indispensable, which is why society and knowledge cannot be separated. Education is self empowerment. Receiving a good education helps empower the individual, thus making him strong enough to look after himself in any given situation. It keeps the individual aware of his surrounding as well as the rules and regulations governing his society. It's only through knowledge that an individual can question the authority for its negligence or discrepancies. It is only then that he can exercise his rights as a citizen and seek improvement in the structural functioning of governance and the economy. It's only when a citizen is aware about the policies of government can he be in a position to support or seek for change. People can only bring about development when they know where improvement is necessary for the greater good of mankind. Education helps to poster this understanding better; it helps to make an individual realize his potentialities and qualities as a human being. It helps an individual to tap into his latent talent, so that he may sharpen his skills and come up with new ideas, for the betterment of the society. It enhances growth in personal aspiration and efficiency, and helps planning ahead. Those who have amassed enough education, steer the path of development and progress for their country. It is these individuals who become teachers, scientists, inventors, welfare activists, soldiers, and politicians who work together to form the very backbone of the society. Without this pool of intellect, the economic and social framework would crush and fall, paving the way for anarchy, degradation, and violence. We thus must be exceptionally prudent about the decisions we make and the actions we take in the present. History of Western Education in Northern Region It is not just enough to sound nice before you, appraising education without taking us through how this form of education came to us. Beside, this celebration will serve no purpose if we finish without challenging ourselves on the state of education in our state today. Western education came to us with British colonization of the 20th century. This is one of the most painful facts of our past that we cannot close our eyes to. Western education was therefore introduced to meet an objective, part of which was a colonial objective. Importantly to note also, is the fact that we had our own form of education before the introduction of Western education. PreBritish education taught us about civic responsibilities, ethics, and personal virtue that cut across distinct requirements of families, elders, age grades, and traditional religion. Under this outlook, individuals and groups of individuals in the various pre-British settings knew their place in society. They knew what was good or bad for them within the idiom of their environment. Indeed they worked or organize their lives and affairs in the context of a world view, neither too small nor wide for all practical purpose. They knew what, in their view, was enough for their self-improvement and the well-being of their respective communities. This form of education was replaced by Islamic education, when Islam was introduced from about the 15th century. Islam is a way of life, thus Islamic education transformed Hausaland, Kano inclusive, and established new tradition of formal teaching and learning. Islamic education is about general social etiquettes as well as basis for interpersonal relations and guide for proper conduct. In 1913, the Protectorate government convened a conference (Imperial Education Conference) with the objective of harmonizing a program that will lead to the establishment of a national system of education. In addition, this initiative also led to the setting up of an Inspectorate unit headed by an Inspector, whose duty was to ensure the funding and running of the established schools. 2 The success achieved from the 1913 conference kick started the commencement of elementary vernacular schools in every part of northern region. It started with the opening of some Mission schools in 1901, in some of the non-Muslim areas. By 1913 Mission had about 29 schools, 4 at primary levels and 25 at Elementary. Totaling up to 604 pupils the missions penetrated the North up to Zaria where Dr. Walter Miller of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) established a school as far back as 1901. In Kano efforts at formalizing the establishment of Western Education by government started in 1909 with the establishment of the Nassarawa School in Kano. At first the emirs were not in full support as they could not see any need for Western Education, which they considered a challenge to their tradition and therefore unsafe. The Nasarawa School was placed under Mr. Hans Vischer.3 Similar school was started by Resident Major Burdon (Mai farin kai) in Sokoto, and by Resident Palmer in Katsina.4 The aim was to train cadre of teachers; it was also for the purposes of educating the sons of chiefs so that they could fit into the new setting. It has another objective of training artisans so that the government workshop could be staffed with Northern Nigerians. This was also with a view to meet the needs of the colonial infrastructure which introduced new economic farms that required new crops to be produced, labor to be hired, and educated men to work in the new administrative and economic establishments that colonialism had brought about. To achieve these aim the government encouraged the establishment of elementary, secondary, craft school and school farm. As earlier noted, part of the package was also to set up one or two schools for the sons of chiefs to support Lugards Indirect Rule System in the region and other commercial needs of the time. The intension was to produce a ruling class literate in vernacular to carry out the new administration with its rules, regulations and associated office routine. As the directive goes, majority of them were sons of Emirs, District and Village Heads, 2 The follow up to these developments in Southern Nigeria was the establishment of the first government school in Lagos for the Muslim population. For details refer to Colonial Annual Report, 1911. 3 Hans Vischer was a Swiss national who studied in Britain and came to Nigeria as a Christian missionary. He later took appointment with the Colonial Office and was posted to the Education Department. He was a well travelled person and indeed fluent in Arabic, in addition to English, Italian, German and French languages. Vischer also mastered the Hausa language which qualified him to administer the school (Makarantar Dan Hausa). 4 The school in Sokoto never received any assistance from the government and there is yet no record about its state of development over time. For details refer to Williams, D. H. Op. Cit. p. 7. Emirate Councilors and some others close to the Royalty.5 Such a welcomed response encouraged the enlargement of the curriculum to cover teaching of courses that includes General knowledge, Hygiene, Drawing, Arithmetic, Religion, English and Geography. Agriculture was later introduced where emphasis was on training pupils on the production of cash crops (groundnuts and Cotton), which was the basic crop of concern to the British. From 1910 Elementary schools were established and extended to various Districts of the northern region Provinces, and the graduates of the Makarantar Dan Hausa were those responsible for the teaching. To further facilitate the provision of manpower to be in charge of colonial administration at Provincial, District and Village levels, Provincial Primary Schools were introduced. Within six years from 1912 Provincial Primary Schools were established in Sokoto, Katsina, Kano, Bida, Zaria and Birnin Kebbi. Still teachers in most of these Provincial schools were sourced from the graduates of Makarantar Dan Hausa. It was in response to these developments that in 1919 Shahuchi Primary School was established. Conclusion: Finally, there is no doubt that education is not only relevant but necessary. We are a living witness of what education has turned to in Nigeria today. Some of us enjoyed free education through all the levels, and they are in a position to do same, but have failed the society. This celebration should not end in festivities. The celebration, if it is to achieve its objective, must bail Shahuchi Primary School of all its challenges. Indeed it should kick start a genuine effort at salvaging the education sector in Kano state and Nigeria at large. We should stop deceiving ourselves by reducing the problem and solution to our persons. It is a collective problem that demands collective solution. Thank you. 5 Adamu, H. A. The North and Nigerian Unity: Some Reflections on the Political, Social and Educational Problems of Northern Nigeria, A. B. U. Zaria Press, 2000, p. 41

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