MANDATE AND POWERS

What the Ministry may do, and must do

The Ministry's authority is statutory, not discretionary. It comes from the Kano State Education Law, Cap. 47, the Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act of 2004, the National Policy on Education and the Child Rights Law, and it carries duties as well as powers.

Where the authority comes from

Education in Nigeria sits on the Concurrent Legislative List, which means both the Federal Government and the states may legislate on it. The Federal Government sets national minimum standards and the national curriculum; the State legislates for, funds and administers the schools. In Kano the founding instrument is the Kano State Education Law, Cap. 47, which creates the Ministry, vests the Commissioner with responsibility for the sector, and establishes the boards through which schools are managed.

Two further instruments do most of the day-to-day work. The Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act 2004 makes nine years of basic education free and compulsory, places a duty on every parent to ensure a child of school age is in school, and creates the matching-grant window through which federal money reaches the State. The National Policy on Education fixes the shape of the system — one year of pre-primary, six of primary, three of junior secondary and three of senior secondary — together with the language policy, the minimum standards for a school and the qualifications a teacher must hold.

The Child Rights Law of Kano State supplies the protective frame: a child's right to education, the prohibition of corporal punishment beyond what the law allows, safeguarding duties on every school head, and the reporting obligations that follow an allegation of abuse in a school.

The instruments and what each authorises

The statutory basis for every power exercised by the Ministry and by the boards under it.

Instrument	Year	What it authorises
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Concurrent Legislative List	1999	State legislation on primary, secondary, technical and adult education; State establishment and funding of schools; the duty of government under section 18 to direct policy towards free education at all levels when practicable.
Kano State Education Law, Cap. 47	—	Establishes the Ministry and vests responsibility for the sector in the Commissioner. Creates the boards, provides for the approval and closure of schools, the appointment and discipline of teachers, and the making of regulations by circular.
Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act	2004	Nine years of free, compulsory basic education. A duty on every parent to enrol a child of school age. A prohibition on fees or levies in a public basic school. The Universal Basic Education Commission matching-grant window.
National Policy on Education, 6th edition	2013	The 1-6-3-3-4 structure, the curriculum, the language of instruction, minimum entry qualifications for teachers, class-size norms and the national minimum standards a school must meet to be approved.
Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act, Cap. E3	2004	The standards against which a school is approved and inspected: site, buildings, sanitation, staffing, equipment and records. The power to close an institution that falls below them.
Child Rights Law of Kano State	2011	The right of every child to education; safeguarding duties on school heads; limits on discipline; the obligation to report abuse; provision for children with disabilities in mainstream and special schools.
Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria Act, Cap. T3	2004	Registration and licensing of teachers as a condition of practice; the professional standards a registered teacher is held to; the ground for removing a teacher from the register.
Kano State Universal Basic Education Board Law	2005	Establishes SUBEB, the 44 local government education authorities and the capitation grant. Provides for the State counterpart contribution against the federal matching grant.
Kano State Senior Secondary Schools Management Board Law	2013	Establishes KSSMB and transfers the management of senior secondary schools to it, with power over placement, posting and boarding administration.
Kano State Education Development Trust Fund Law	2019	Creates the trust fund and the Education Development Support Board, fixes the one per cent contribution from the State's consolidated fund and the 60/40 split between educational equipment and structures.

What the Ministry must do

These are duties, not options. Each is assigned to a named directorate and reported on in the annual report.

Prepare and publish the State education sector policy and the medium-term sector plan
Prepare, defend and execute the education budget, and release funds to the boards on schedule
Approve and license every school before it opens, and maintain the public register of approved schools
Inspect schools for quality and enforce the national minimum standards, in public and private schools alike
Conduct the Common Entrance, the Basic Education Certificate Examination and the Qualifying Examination
Issue, verify and replace the certificates and results the State awards
Register, license, post and develop teachers, and maintain the State teacher record
Take the Annual School Census and publish the education statistics of the State
Secure the free and compulsory basic education entitlement for every child of school age
Provide for learners with disabilities in special schools and in inclusive units in mainstream schools
Supervise the eight boards and agencies and hold each to its performance agreement
Account to the State Executive Council and the House of Assembly for the whole of the above

The powers that have teeth

Approval is the Ministry's strongest instrument. No school may open, advertise, admit a pupil or present a candidate for an examination without an approval in force. Approval is granted for a fixed term, is renewable, and may be made conditional on remedying a defect within a stated period.

Inspection is the second. An inspector may enter any school in Kano State during school hours without notice, call for the register, the scheme of work, the continuous assessment records and the staff list, interview staff and pupils, and photograph the premises. What follows an unsatisfactory inspection is an improvement notice with a deadline, then a re-inspection, then, if the defect stands, suspension of approval.

Grant, refuse, vary, suspend or revoke the approval of a school
Enter and inspect any school, public or private, during school hours without notice
Issue an improvement notice with a deadline and re-inspect against it
Direct the closure of a school that is unsafe or operating without approval
Withhold, cancel or release an examination result, and de-recognise an examination centre
Post, transfer, query and recommend the discipline of a teacher in a public school
Cap the fees and charges an approved school may lawfully collect

The limits

The Ministry does not award degrees, accredit universities or colleges of education, or regulate tertiary institutions; that is the work of the federal commissions and of the Ministry responsible for higher education. It does not set the WASSCE or NECO syllabuses, which belong to the examination councils. It does not employ teachers in private schools, and it does not fix their salaries, though it does register them and can remove a teacher from the register.

Nor may the Ministry act without notice against a school. A refusal, a suspension or a revocation must be in writing, must state the ground, and carries a right to make representations within 21 days and a further right of appeal to the Commissioner, whose decision is final within the sector. A school that has been refused approval may reapply once the defect is remedied.

Points that are frequently misunderstood

Can the Ministry actually close a school?

Yes, and it does. A school operating without approval may be sealed immediately, because it has no lawful existence. An approved school is closed only after an improvement notice has expired, a re-inspection has confirmed the defect, and the proprietor has been given 21 days to make representations. Where there is an immediate danger to life — a collapsing structure, no water, an unfenced site beside a highway — the school is closed at once and the process follows.

Is my child legally obliged to be in school?

Yes. Section 2 of the Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act 2004 places the duty on the parent to ensure that a child of school age completes the full nine years of basic education. A parent who fails to do so may be reprimanded on a first conviction, fined or imprisoned for one month on a second, and fined or imprisoned for two months on any subsequent conviction. In practice the local government education authority visits first, and prosecution is a last step.

A public primary school has asked us for a levy. Is that lawful?

No. Nothing may be charged in a public basic school: not tuition, not a parent-teacher association levy, not an examination fee, not a uniform or lesson charge. Report it to the local government education authority for the area, or through the feedback form on this site, with the school name and the amount demanded. The head teacher is answerable for money collected in the school.

Who decides what is taught?

The curriculum is national, developed by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council and adopted by the State. Kano adds Arabic and Islamic Studies, Christian Religious Studies and Hausa Language within the national frame. The Ministry approves the scheme of work by which a school delivers that curriculum, and the inspectorate checks that the scheme is actually being followed.

Can the Ministry discipline a teacher?

In a public school, yes: through the board that employs the teacher, by query, suspension, transfer or referral to the State civil service commission. In a private school the employer is the proprietor, but the Ministry can and does remove a teacher from the State record and report the matter to the national registration council, which may withdraw the licence to teach anywhere in Nigeria.

What happens to a school that simply ignores the Ministry?

It loses its approval, and with it the right to admit pupils and to present candidates for any examination. Its name is removed from the published register and its pupils are transferred, at the Ministry's direction, to approved schools nearby. Certificates and results issued by an unapproved school are not recognised by the State, by the examination councils or by any Nigerian institution that checks.

If you are running a school without an approval in force

Apply now rather than wait to be found. An unapproved school that comes forward and applies is processed on the ordinary timetable; one that is discovered during inspection is sealed, and the proprietor is liable to prosecution under the Kano State Education Law, Cap. 47.

Applications, the twelve statutory criteria and the current schedule of charges are at /services/school-approval.

Read the instruments for yourself

The education laws, circulars, policies and standards the Ministry works to are published in full and may be downloaded without charge.

Policies and circulars Downloads