The Universal Basic Education Commission said 73 per cent of public Junior Secondary School pupils do not have furniture.
This was part of a presentation by UBEC Executive Secretary, Dr Hamid Bobboyi, at the one-day meeting with the organised private sector on the implementation of the UBE programme in Nigeria held in Lagos.
The report added that 45 per cent of private Junior Secondary School schools also lacked school furniture.
The event was organised by UBEC in collaboration with Private Sector Advisory Group.
Bobboyi explained that there exists a high deficit in physical infrastructure provision in schools.
He said, “Teaching takes place in a poor learning environment. 40 per cent of classrooms are in bad condition in the basic education subsector, the poor condition of classrooms cut across all geo-political zones.
“As of 2022, 907,769 additional classrooms were required in primary schools, and 200,085 were required in junior secondary schools. All geo-political zones are above the standard ratios (learner/classroom and learner/teacher) as specified by the National Policy on Education.
“Generally, a high percentage of learners do not have furniture in both public and private schools. The percentage of schools without toilets is worse in public schools (especially ECCDE and primary) compared to private schools. States are overwhelmed with the scale of dilapidation and scarcity.”
Bobboyi also revealed that public primary schools in the country lacked qualified teachers.
According to him, of the 694,078 teachers required at the level, only 499,202 are available, leaving a gap of 194,876.
He said UBEC envisaged that greater determination and collaboration between the Commission and key stakeholders in the following areas would provide an effective response to the identified gaps.
Bobboyi suggested that the private sector should invest more in basic education delivery towards complementing the efforts of the Federal
-Punchng