Gombe Education Faces Fresh Overhaul as Taskforce Report Exposes Gaps
By Auwal Umar, Gombe
Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, has promised to implement recommendations from a government taskforce set up to address longstanding challenges in the state’s basic and technical education system.
The governor made the commitment on Friday after receiving the report of the Taskforce Committee on the Reforms and Revitalisation of Basic and Technical Education in Gombe.
The report comes after months of assessment of schools across the state, with the committee examining issues ranging from teacher-related challenges and infrastructure gaps to school administration, student welfare, security and learning conditions.
Alhaji Yahaya said the government would not allow the report to gather dust, promising to begin reviewing its recommendations immediately.
“On the report, I want to assure you that we are not going to abandon this document. We shall study it immediately and begin implementation of the recommendations,” he said.
The governor also disclosed that his administration had begun restructuring the education sector, including the recent merger of the Ministries of Education and Higher Education.
“We will do structural adjustments in the education sector. I can even say that we have started because I have now merged the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Education to become one ministry.
He said the restructuring was intended to improve coordination and policy implementation across the state’s education system.
The governor linked the planned reforms to his administration’s 10-year development agenda, DEVAGOM, saying education remained central to the state’s long-term development plans.
Alhaji Yahaya said his administration inherited an education sector facing serious challenges when it assumed office in 2019 but had since introduced interventions in areas including infrastructure, teacher development and school enrolment.
“We knew how we met this sector when we came into office in 2019, and we thank God that we have been able to achieve so much,” he said.
“I want to reiterate the pledge I made that we will leave Gombe better than we met it in the education sector. That commitment remains unwavering.”
The taskforce’s findings, however, indicate that significant gaps remain and require sustained government intervention.
The committee was chaired by the Commissioner for Education, Aishatu Umar Maigari, and included education experts with experience in basic and technical education at national and state levels.
Presenting the report on behalf of the committee, educationist and former Kaduna State Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Tom Mataimaki Maiyashi, said the document was based on an assessment of the realities within the state’s education system.
He urged the government to move beyond receiving the report and begin implementing its recommendations.
“The recommendations are practical, realistic and fully implementable,” Alhaji Maiyashi said.
He said effective implementation could help address some of the challenges facing schools and improve the quality of education delivered to children across the state.
Mrs Maigari said the committee was inaugurated in November 2025 with a mandate to examine the condition of basic and technical education and develop practical strategies for addressing identified weaknesses.
She said the committee examined teacher-related issues, infrastructure, governance and administration, student welfare, learning conditions, security and community-related challenges.
The findings, she said, were distilled into eight priority reform clusters requiring urgent government attention.
The commissioner commended the governor for establishing the taskforce and providing the political backing required for its work.