The Kaduna State government has disclosed that it has commenced the merging of no fewer than 359 schools in crisis-prone areas with schools in safe locations.
The state Governor, Senator Uba Sani, stated this while declaring open, a one-day capacity building programme organised by the Nigerian Police Force School Protection Squad in Kaduna on Wednesday.
He noted that the merging was to ensure that education of pupils from these crisis-prone areas were not disrupted.
Sani, who expressed concern over the drop in enrolment of pupils into schools across the state, attributed it to the spate of insecurity occasioned by kidnapping, banditry and other related crimes in the state.
“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,” he said
He lamented that the enrolment figures in schools had dropped with over 200,000 fewer primary school pupils recorded in the 2022/academic session, following security challenges in the state,
“This dramatic drop (from 2,111,969 in 2021/2022 to 1,734,704 in 2022/2023) is largely attributed to insecurity,” he said
The governor also identified five Local.Government Areas of Chikun, Birnin Gwari, Kajuru, Giwa, and Igabi, where insecurity has further pushed up the number of out-of-school children in the state.
Speaking on the programme themed: ‘Strengthening Security Resilience and Integration of Host Communities in the Protection of Education,’ the governor stated that the theme was apt considering the fact that no nation achieves greatness in terms of human and capital development amidst insecurity.
” No nation can achieve its human capital development goals, and infact make giant developmental strides if it fails to guarantee the safety and security of schools.
“It follows therefore that security forces must integrate host communities in their security plans and execute effective Psychological Operations to win the hearts and minds of the people.
“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 education revitalization programme,” he said.
He commended the Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun for establishing the Schools Protection Squad (SPS), a proactive initiative aimed at enhancing security and safety in educational institutions across Nigeria.
“It is a great privilege for me to address you this morning. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State Command, Audu Dabigi, for inviting me to this important Capacity Building Programme,” he said.