Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has expressed concerns regarding the decrease in student enrollment across the state’s schools.
Sani attributed this decline to the prevailing insecurity, particularly kidnapping and banditry.
He revealed that the government had initiated plans to relocate 359 schools from areas plagued by terrorism, merging them with safer schools.
The governor during the opening of a one-day capacity-building program organized by the Nigeria Police Force School Protection Squad in Kaduna made this remarks.
Sani described as apt the theme of the programme: ‘Strengthening Security Resilience and Integration of Host Communities in the Protection of Education.’
He said “Incidents like the kidnapping of 135 students from the LEA Primary and Junior Secondary School, Kuriga, Chikun Local Government tragically illustrates the devastating impact of insecurity on education access and safety.
“To ensure that the education of our children in conflict-prone and terrorists-infested areas is not interrupted, we have commenced the merging of 359 schools with those in safe locations,” the governor said.
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Sani expressed concern about the significant decrease in school enrollment in the state, which he attributed to insecurity.
He said, “Kaduna State is one of the states that has been waging a sustained battle against banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and other forms of criminality.
“These non-state actors have disrupted socio-economic activities in the affected communities and are threatening our educational revitalization programme.
“Kaduna State’s educational system is facing a crisis of declining enrolment, with over 200,000 fewer primary school pupils recorded in the 2022/2023 academic session compared to the previous year.
“This dramatic drop (from 2,111,969 in 2021/2022 to 1,734,704 in 2022/2023) is largely attributed to insecurity.
“In several local government areas, particularly Chikun, Birnin Gwari, Kajuru, Giwa, and Igabi, insecurity has forced school consolidation, further pushing up the number of out-of-school children.”
The governor further praised the Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, for creating the Schools Protection Squad, an initiative designed to improve security and safety in schools throughout Nigeria.
