Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar ; Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, and Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, representing the Minister of Education at the opening ceremony of the 4th International Conference on Safe Schools Declaration in Abuja…yesterday.
The Declaration is an inter-governmental political commitment to protect students, teachers, schools and universities from the worst effects of armed conflict. The conference, with the theme: ‘Ensuring Safe Education for All: From Commitment to Practice,’ is being co-hosted by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack , of which Save the Children International is a member, in collaboration with the African Union and the governments of Nigeria, Norway, Spain and Argentina.
The past one year has been quite a rough road for Nigerians. It began on December 11, 2020, when 344 male students were abducted from their hostels in Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State. Barely two weeks later, on December 20, 2020, 80 pupils of the Islamiyya School, Mahuta, Kaduna State, were abducted. February 17, 2021, saw another outburst of rage when 27 students were abducted from Government Secondary School, Kagara, Niger State.
PRESIDENT Buhari, who lamented that persistent attacks on educational facilities and abductions of pupils have left more than 12 million children traumatised, however, promised to ensure safety and protection of schools in the country, vowing to overhaul the educational system not just to improve on the quality but ensure the provision of a secured environment for learners and teachers.
The president said it was disheartening to note that even when the abducted students were released, the trauma of the incident remain long in their minds hence the plan to have teachers trained on psychosocial support. “Non-formal education was not spared from attack as about 200 students of Islamiyya School, Tegina, in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, were abducted on May 30, 2021. A total of 17 lives of teachers and learners have been lost in these abductions.
THE United Nations Children and Education Fund , said that about 1,436 school children and 17 teachers were abducted from Nigeria schools between December 2020 and October 2021. It also disclosed that about 16 school children lost their lives in the process of their abduction within the same period.