Photo credit: The guardian
Teachers and pupils at Alkaleri Central Primary School, one of Bauchi State’s oldest schools, are now forced to share classrooms with traders as market activities overrun the school premises.
Established over 84 years ago, the school has become a shadow of itself as the Alkaleri Sunday market now takes place within the school grounds, including its classrooms and administrative blocks — all because the school has no perimeter fence.
Classrooms or Storage Units?
Investigations revealed that traders arrive as early as two days before market day, break into classrooms, and store farm produce. On market day, buyers leave heaps of grains scattered across the premises, including in front of the principal’s office.
A teacher at the school recounted, “We have to clean up the mess every Monday morning. Traders have even broken into the staff room to pick our marker pens. Toilet facilities are damaged, pupils’ playing fields are vandalised, and children now sit on the floor due to missing furniture.”
To make matters worse, the school compound has reportedly become an open defecation zone, with foul odours seeping into classrooms.
Grave Consequences for Education
Alkaleri Local Council already has the highest number of out-of-school children in Bauchi State, according to UNICEF and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Education experts fear that without urgent intervention, the situation could worsen.
Education advocate Abubakar Usman emphasized, “There’s no way proper learning can happen in this kind of polluted environment. It’s like we’re pretending to be offering education. The school is not a market.”
Government Response Still Pending
When contacted, the Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) confirmed that a contract for a perimeter fence had been awarded but failed to explain the delay in execution.
As of press time, no further updates were provided on when the fencing would begin or how the authorities plan to restore the school’s learning environment.
