The League of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Kano State has congratulated students, teachers, parents, and education stakeholders for what it described as a “historic achievement” in the 2025 NECO Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE).
Kano State emerged as the best-performing state nationwide with 68,159 candidates—representing 5.02 per cent of the national total—securing five credits or more, including English and Mathematics.
In a statement jointly signed by 22 CSO leaders and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Friday, the group said the result was a testament to the resilience of Kano youth and the state government’s strategic investment in education.
“This remarkable feat reflects not only the brilliance and resilience of Kano’s youth but also the strategic vision and sustained investment of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, whose education-first agenda has revitalized public schools,” the statement read.
It noted that measures such as increased budgetary allocation, classroom rehabilitation, teacher recruitment, free uniforms and learning materials, and support for girl-child education had helped reposition the state’s secondary education system.
However, the coalition warned that the gains could be short-lived if foundational challenges in primary education were not addressed.
“As we celebrate this milestone, we must confront the persistent structural challenges, particularly in primary education, that threaten the sustainability of these gains,” the group cautioned.
According to the CSOs, issues such as overcrowded classrooms, inadequate sanitation, and teacher shortages continue to undermine quality learning at the basic level.
The statement cited the 2024 UBEC report which put Kano’s Pupil-Teacher Ratio at 1:65, Pupil-Classroom Ratio at 1:78, and Pupil-Toilet Ratio at 1:120, far above both national and international benchmarks.
“These conditions disproportionately affect young learners, especially girls, and undermine the promise of lifelong learning,” it stressed.
The CSOs urged the state government to take urgent steps to sustain the recent gains through strategic reforms, including recruiting 25,000 teachers over the next three years, expanding gender-sensitive sanitation facilities, digitising education monitoring systems, and empowering School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs).
“True educational excellence begins not at the secondary level, but in the formative years within the crowded classrooms, overstretched teaching corps, and under-resourced primary schools that shape a child’s future,” the statement added.
The coalition pledged its support through technical assistance, community mobilization, and independent monitoring to ensure that every child in Kano has access to safe, inclusive, and high-quality education.
“Let this victory mark the beginning of a new chapter, one where every child in Kano, regardless of background or geography, has access to quality education from the first day of school to the last,” it concluded.
The statement was endorsed by CSO leaders including Comrade Bala Abdullahi Gaduwama of Wuro Development Concerns (WDCN), Yusha’u Sani Yankuzo, Esq. of the Centre for Human Rights and Social Advancement (CEFSAN), and Comrade Fatima A. Ibrahim of United Action for Democracy (UAD), among others.