Kano Govt Denies Excluding Persons with Disabilities from Teachers’Rrecruitment 

The Kano State Government has firmly denied allegations that persons with disabilities were excluded from the ongoing teachers’ recruitment exercise, describing the claims as false, misleading and inconsistent with established recruitment practices.

The denial is contained in a rejoinder issued by the Kano State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) in response to a statement credited to the Kano State Initiative for Persons with Special Needs, which alleged discrimination against qualified applicants living with disabilities.
In the statement, signed by the Director of Corporate Communications of SUBEB, Balarabe Danlami Jazuli, the board reiterated that the inclusion of qualified persons with disabilities remained a core policy and a long-standing practice in its recruitment processes.
Jazuli stated that over the years, SUBEB had consistently recruited qualified persons with disabilities and appropriately deployed them across the state, including to special education schools where their expertise was most relevant.

He acknowledged that in some special needs schools, the current number of teachers exceeded pupil enrolment but stressed that this situation had never been used as a justification to deny employment to any qualified applicant with a disability.

Addressing concerns over accessibility, the SUBEB spokesperson said reasonable accommodations were made during the most recent recruitment examinations to guarantee fairness and equal opportunity for all candidates.

According to him, visually impaired applicants were allowed to sit for the examination with assistants, a measure he said clearly contradicted allegations of discrimination, exclusion or informal screening.

Jazuli reaffirmed SUBEB’s recognition of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018, as well as the Kano State Persons with Disabilities Law, noting that the board remained committed to upholding the rights enshrined in both legislations.

However, he clarified that the implementation of employment quotas was guided by available vacancies, job relevance and operational realities, adding that the law does not mandate automatic recruitment regardless of workforce balance or role suitability.

He further explained that recruitment processes across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state were decentralised, pointing out that SUBEB could only conduct recruitment within its statutory mandate, while other MDAs handled their recruitment independently.

While reiterating that the rights of persons with disabilities were protected by law, Jazuli cautioned that such rights must be exercised with responsibility and professionalism. He warned that absenteeism and prolonged non-official engagements could undermine effective service delivery in the education sector.

He urged persons with special needs to pursue their legitimate interests through unity and constructive engagement, noting that internal divisions often weakened advocacy efforts and slowed progress.

Jazuli advised prospective applicants with disabilities to submit their details through their respective Local Government Education Authorities or appropriate local government structures, in line with established guidelines, assuring that all qualified candidates would be treated fairly in the ongoing recruitment exercise.