Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board in partnership with the FCDO-supported Partnership for Learning for All in Nigerian Education -PLANE, has organized a capacity building programme for primary school teachers across three senatorial zones in Kaduna State.
The programme, which commenced four years ago with a focus on Hausa literacy and mathematics, has now expanded to pilot foundational English literacy for over eight hundred teachers selected from over one hundred and thirty public primary schools (Basic 1–3) across six local government areas.
The benefiting local government areas are Zone One, comprising Kaduna North, Kaduna South; Zone Two, Sanga and Jaba while zone three are Sabon Gari and Soba.
In his remarks during the training, the Director of Human Resources at KADSUBEB, Ahmed Sani, said the initiative represents a major expansion of PLANE’s support to Kaduna State, shifting from indigenous language instruction to the inclusion of English literacy at the foundational level.
He explained that while PLANE initially focused on building teachers’ capacity in Hausa literacy with numeracy taught in English, the programme has now been upgraded to include English literacy from Basic 1 to Basic 3.
Ahmed Sani explained that there are plans to extend the support to Basic 4, Basic 5 and Basic 6, alongside the integration of Google-supported learning tools.
Director of Human Resources described PLANE as a co-creation initiative that operates in close partnership with the state government, noting that KADSUBEB values the programme’s collaborative approach and its emphasis on continuous feedback from teachers to improve training delivery and classroom implementation.
Responding on behalf of the participants, a classroom teacher and Head Teacher at Kaduna North Local Education Authority Primary School, Yusuf Jamiu said the training improved teachers’ competencies in reading, writing and spelling—initially in Hausa and now in English.
He noted that the transition to English literacy, including effective code-switching between Hausa and English, has boosted teachers’ confidence and enhanced classroom delivery.
Jamiu expressed appreciation for the opportunity and pledged that participants would cascade the knowledge gained to colleagues and pupils.
Also speaking, Umeh Josephine Onye, a participating teacher, said the PLANE programme has consistently supported teachers in improving their teaching methodologies.
She described the English literacy component as a timely extension of the earlier Hausa-based intervention and reaffirmed her commitment to applying the new strategies to improve learning outcomes.
From the labour perspective, Mohamed Shittu, Third Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Kaduna North Branch, commended PLANE, KADSUBEB and the Kaduna State Government for investing in teacher development.
He said the series of training has exposed teachers to modern instructional techniques, resulting in more effective lesson delivery.
Shittu added that the six-day programme would conclude on Saturday, January 10, 2026, noting that previous phases recorded even broader participation, including Hausa literacy support up to Primary 5.
COV: Adamu Yusuf
