PUBLIC PRIMARY EDUCATION

Public primary schools

Primary 1 to Primary 6 in every ward of the State, free and compulsory, with no tuition, no levy and no charge for a uniform, an exercise book or a place in the examination hall.

Six years, in every ward

There are 2,380 public primary schools in Kano State, managed by the State Universal Basic Education Board through the local government education authority in each of the 44 local government areas. Between them they hold about 1.86 million pupils in Primary 1 to Primary 6, taught by roughly 41,600 teachers.

Primary education is the first half of basic education and it is free and compulsory under the Universal Basic Education Act. Free means what it says: there is no tuition, no development levy, no parent–teacher association charge, no examination fee and no charge for the State-issue uniform or the exercise books. Compulsory means that a parent or guardian who keeps a child of school age out of school without cause is in breach of the law, and that the local government education authority may take the matter up.

Admission is at six years of age. A child who turns six before the end of the first term is admitted into Primary 1 for that session. A child who has never been to school and is older than six is not turned away — the school places the child by a short placement test and, where the gap is wide, refers the family to an accelerated learning class run with the Agency for Mass Education.

Primary education in numbers

2,380

Public primary schools

One or more in every ward

1.86m

Pupils in Primary 1–6

986,000 boys · 874,000 girls

₦0

Cost to a parent

Tuition, uniform, books and examinations

44:1

Pupil–teacher ratio

State average; the standard is 40:1

How to enrol a child

Enrolment is done at the school itself, not at a board office, and it takes about twenty minutes. There is nothing to pay at any stage.

Go to the nearest public primary school

Any public primary school in the ward where the child lives must admit the child if there is a place, and a school with a place may not refuse a child on the grounds of the family's means, tribe or state of origin. If you do not know which school serves your ward, the school finder lists every school by local government area and ward.

Ask for the head teacher or the admissions teacher

Enrolment is entered on the school register the same day. There is no application form to buy, no interview and no entrance examination for Primary 1.

Present what you have

Bring the documents listed below. If you do not have a birth certificate, an age declaration sworn before a commissioner for oaths, an immunisation card or a statement from the ward head is accepted, and the school will help you obtain one.

Collect the uniform and the exercise books

Two sets of the State-issue uniform and the exercise books for the year are given out in the first fortnight of the first term, free of charge. A pupil admitted mid-session receives the same at the point of admission.

Confirm the class and the class teacher

The head teacher tells you the class, the class teacher's name and the resumption time. Ask for the school code — it is the reference to quote in any later correspondence about the child.

Enrol before the second week of the first term where you can

A child enrolled in the first fortnight is captured in the Annual School Census, which is what drives the school's capitation grant, its textbook allocation and its teacher posting for the year. Late enrolment is still accepted at any point in the session.

What to bring

None of these is charged for, and none of them is a reason to turn a child away. A school that cannot verify a document admits the child and follows the paperwork up afterwards.

Proof of the child's age — a birth certificate, an age declaration or an immunisation card.
The immunisation record, if the family has it.
Two passport photographs of the child.
The name, address and telephone number of the parent or guardian.
A transfer certificate from the previous school, if the child is moving from another school.
The last report card, if the child is being admitted above Primary 1.
Nothing else. No school may ask for a levy, a donation, a bag of cement or a set of chairs as a condition of admission.

The school day and the school year

The primary school day runs from 8:00 to 13:00 for Primary 1 to Primary 3 and from 8:00 to 14:00 for Primary 4 to Primary 6, Monday to Friday. The morning opens with assembly, then teaching in periods of 35 minutes for the lower classes and 40 minutes for the upper. There is a mid-morning break of 30 minutes, when Primary 1 to Primary 3 are given the school meal.

The year runs in three terms across roughly 41 teaching weeks. The first term opens in mid-September and closes before Christmas, the second runs from early January to the beginning of April, and the third from late April to late July. Each term has a mid-term break of one week and closes with two weeks of examinations. During Ramadan the school day is shortened and the timings are circularised by the Permanent Secretary before resumption.

Primary 1–3: 8:00 to 13:00, 35 periods a week of 35 minutes.
Primary 4–6: 8:00 to 14:00, 39 periods a week of 40 minutes.
Three terms, 41 teaching weeks, a one-week mid-term break in each.
Class size standard 40; the State average is 44 and higher in the metropolitan wards.

What is taught in Primary 1 to Primary 6

The subject load follows the national basic education curriculum with the State's Hausa and Arabic provision. Religious studies is taught according to the faith of the pupil.

Subject	Primary 1–3	Primary 4–6	Periods a week
English Language	Core	Core	6
Mathematics	Core	Core	6
Hausa Language	Core	Core	4
Islamic Studies or Christian Religious Studies	Core	Core	4
Arabic Studies	Elective	Core	2
Basic Science	Core	Core	3
Basic Technology	Not taught	Core	2
Social Studies	Core	Core	2
Civic Education	Core	Core	2
Agricultural Science	Not taught	Core	2
Computer Studies	Core	Core	2
Physical & Health Education	Core	Core	2
Creative Arts	Core	Core	2

If a school asks you for money

No public primary school in Kano State may charge a parent anything at all — not tuition, not a parent–teacher association levy, not an examination charge, not a fee for a report card or a transfer certificate, and not a contribution towards furniture, cement or a borehole.

If you are asked, do not pay. Report it to the head teacher first, and if that fails, to the local government education authority for your area, or to the Ministry on +234 803 700 1420 or at info@moe.kn.gov.ng. Quote the school name and, if you have it, the school code. Complaints may be made in Hausa or English and the complainant's name is not disclosed to the school.

Questions parents ask

My child is eight and has never been to school. Is it too late?

No. The school will admit the child, give a short placement test to decide the right class, and where the gap is wide refer the family to an accelerated learning class run with the Agency for Mass Education, which covers the primary syllabus in a compressed form and returns the learner to the mainstream class. There is nothing to pay.

Do I have to send my child to the school in my own ward?

Not necessarily, but the ward school must admit the child if there is a place, and it is the school the local government education authority will hold responsible for the child's attendance. A school outside the ward may admit your child where it has room.

Is the meal really free, and who gets it?

It is free, and it is given to every pupil in Primary 1, Primary 2 and Primary 3 in a public primary school, one hot meal on every school day. It is cooked locally under the Home-Grown School Feeding programme. Primary 4 to Primary 6 are not covered.

What happens at the end of Primary 6?

Every Primary 6 pupil sits the Common Entrance Examination in the third week of March. It is four papers, the entry is paid by the State for pupils in public schools, and the result places the pupil into a junior secondary school, and for the highest scorers into the selective science secondary and technical intake.

Can my child repeat a class?

Basic education operates automatic promotion, so a pupil moves up with the age cohort. Where a pupil is a long way behind, the school runs remedial classes rather than holding the pupil back. A repeat is only agreed with the parent, the head teacher and the local government education authority together, and it is rare.

My child has a disability. Will the school take her?

Yes. Mainstream primary schools admit learners with disabilities and a growing number run inclusive units with a specialist teacher. Where the need calls for a specialist setting, the school refers the family for an assessment and the child may be placed in one of the State's special schools. See the special and inclusive education page.

We are moving to another state during the session. What do I need?

Ask the head teacher for a transfer certificate. It is issued free of charge within five working days and carries the school code, the class the pupil has reached and the record of continuous assessment.

The class is too big. What is being done?

The State average is 44 pupils to a teacher against a standard of 40, and it is higher in the metropolitan wards. Recruitment, redeployment from over-staffed schools and the classroom construction programme run by the Education Development Support Board are all directed at it. Congestion in a named school should be reported to the local government education authority, which can request a redeployment.

Enrol a child, or check a school

Enrolment is at the school and costs nothing. Use the school finder to locate the public primary school serving your ward.

Find a primary school Common Entrance Examination