Kaduna School Census Unveils over 5,705 Unusable Classrooms

Kaduna State‘s education system is under mounting pressure, despite recording an enrolment of 2,950,049 learners, with no fewer than 5,705 public school classrooms requiring major repairs or rehabilitation, according to the 2025/2026 Annual School Census (ASC) Report.

The report also showed that more than half of public primary schools in the state lack access to safe water, while 94 per cent have no electricity, exposing millions of learners to poor learning conditions.

The report, presented at the weekend, further revealed severe overcrowding in classrooms and acute teacher shortages in several local government areas, with some schools recording pupil- teacher ratios of more than 200 to one.

The census, conducted across all 23 local government areas, achieved near-complete response rates across public schools and 100 per cent coverage of private schools and IQS non-formal centres, making it one of the most comprehensive education data exercises undertaken in the state.

According to the report, Kaduna’s total school enrolment stands at 2,950,049 learners across pre-primary, primary, junior and senior secondary schools, reflecting sustained growth in access to education.

Primary education accounts for the largest share of enrolment, with 2,012,201,342 pupils in both public and private schools, while pre-primary schools recorded a combined enrolment of 368,368,689 learners.

However, the report noted a consistent decline in enrolment from Primary One to Primary Six and from SS 1 to SS 3, signalling persistent dropout and non- progression among learners at critical stages of their education.

The report identified Kubau, Birnin Gwari and Makarfi local government areas as facing some of the most severe infrastructure and teacher deficits, with classroom overcrowding and teacher shortages posing significant challenges to effective teaching and learning.

At the primary school level, Birnin Gwari recorded a pupil-teacher ratio of 227: 1 and a pupil-classroom ratio of 235: 1, while Kubau posted ratios of 214: 1 and 222: 1, respectively, underscoring the urgent need for intervention.

The situation is more alarming at the junior secondary level, where Kubau has only seven teachers serving 7,569 pupils, translating to a staggering pupil-teacher ratio of 398:1.

Teacher qualification remains another major concern. Of the 22,22,720 public pre-primary and primary school teachers in Kaduna State, only 17,17,497, representing 77 per cent, are professionally qualified, while female teachers remain significantly underrepresented in several rural local government areas.

The report further highlighted glaring gaps in technical and vocational education, noting that Kaduna has only 16 science and technical institutions, spread across nine of the state’s 23 local government areas, leaving 14 LGAs without any TVET facilities.

Similarly, non-formal education remains severely limited, with only three IQS centres in Kubau LGA serving 810 learners, thereby limiting alternative education pathways for out-of-school children across the state.

The report recommended urgent teacher deployment to underserved LGAs, accelerated teacher qualification programmes, the rehabilitation of unusable classrooms, the expansion of technical and vocational education facilities, and sustained investments in water, sanitation and other critical infrastructure to improve access to inclusive and quality education across Kaduna State.