In this piece, MUHAMMAD SABIU reports the growing concerns of parents and other stakeholders following the escalating insecurity in Kaduna and the ripple effects from the closure of schools across the state.
THREE weeks ago, the Kaduna Commissioner for Education, Shehu Usman Mohammed, hinted that the state government has extended school resumption by three weeks. He said the extension was to allow the state government to review the school calendar.
Findings gathered that the school calendar in the state has suffered serious adjustments as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and insecurity bedevilling the state.
Even though the statement did not appear to go down well with parents and other stakeholders, there was nothing much to do be done than to comply with the government order. Thus, parents looked forward to the new date of resumption which was 9th August, 2021.
However, barely two weeks later, there were reports that schools might be closed in Kaduna as a result of security challenges. Though the state Ministry of Education swiftly countered the media reports of another extension as fake, one week later, the Commissioner for Education, Shehu Usman, and Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, announced that schools will remain closed indefinitely due to the ongoing military operations in the state.
According to Usman and Aruwan, the status quo will remain until security agencies give the assurance that the state is safe. Aruwan maintained that though the action is painful, it was taken to safeguard the lives of pupils, students and teachers in the state.
Kidnappings in Kaduna schools
Indeed, Kaduna has been battling with the menace of kidnapping of pupils and students in recent times. In March, an attack on the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, led to the abduction of over 50 students; the students were eventually freed after weeks in captivity.
Speaking on the kidnap of the Afaka students, a parent, Abubakar Abdullahi, said the released students need to be rehabilitated to address psychological trauma they are passing through.
In April, bandits stormed the Greenfield Univerity, located along Kaduna-Abuja highway, and abducted over 20 students and two staff members of the university. It was gathered that parents of the kidnapped students paid N100million ransom before they were freed.
In May, bandits stormed the Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic in Zaria and kidnapped 6 students and two staff. A source alleged that a ransom of N10million was paid for their release.
Again in July, bandits stormed Bethel Baptist School, Kaduna, and kidnapped 121 students of the school. So far, 41 students of the college have been released, including those who escaped from the kidnappers. Chairman of CAN in Kaduna, Rev Joseph Hayab, disclosed that there are 80 students still in the custody of the kidnappers. This is even after parents reportedly contributed N60million as ransom.
The kidnappers are, however, said to have made new demands. According to Rev Hayab, “they have placed a fee of N1m on each of the remaining students.”
As part of steps to prevent more attacks, the state government hurriedly closed 13 schools considered to be vulnerable to attacks. In a statement issued by the Director General, Kaduna State Quality Assurance, Ummu Ahmed, the affected schools are Faith Academy, Kachia road; Deeper Life Academy, Maraban Rido; ECWA Secondary School, Ungwar Maje, and Bethel Baptist High School, Damishi.
Others are St. Peters Minor Seminary, Katari; Prelude Secondary School, Kujama; Ibiso Secondary School, Tashar Iche; Tulip International (Boys) School; Tulip international (Girls) School, Rigachiku; Goodnews Secondary School; St. Augustine, Kujama; Comprehensive Development Institution (CDI), Tudun Mare, and Adventist College, Kujama.
Indefinite closure of schools
The recent directive by the state government for the indefinite closure of schools may have a serious impact on education in the state. A source in the state ministry of education, who pleaded for anonymity, revealed that over 8,000 schools comprising both public and private have been closed. According to the source, the schools have over 200,000 students in total.
Measures adopted by schools
Following the development, some of the private schools have introduced different measures to ensure that their pupils or students continue to receive lessons through online platforms, especially for those who will soon write the Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination organised by the West African Examination Council (WAEC), scheduled to begin soon.
Speaking in an interview, a principal in one of private schools who didn’t want his name mentioned, disclosed that the school has introduced online lessons and has reached out to parents.
However, a parent, Abdullahi Idris, expressed reservations over the arrangement. He noted that during the Covid-19 pandemic, online lessons were introduced by some of the private schools, but said it was seen as an avenue to extort money from parents.
“During the Covid-19, I enrolled my daughter for the online programme. But do you know it was when they resumed the school management asked us to pay N50,000. To me, this is ridiculous,” Idris said.
Another parent, Lare Moses, lamented that apart from the obnoxious fees, “our children too don’t understand what the teachers are teaching them through online platforms”.
According to Moses, radio and television platforms have not been very helpful for the learning process, as there is a huge gap between the students and the teachers, and many students prefer to learn in school instead of online.
For public schools, while the state government introduced online programmes during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, it is not clear whether online programmes will be introduced now that date for school resumption has been extended.
A source in the ministry of education, who pleaded for anonymity, said online lessons can be difficult to organise, considering the process and the attitude of students.
He said after the the online learning exercise in 2020, the ministry decided to review the period in order to assess its successes and failures.
“One of the far-reaching effects we discovered was that students are not following the online lessons on radio or television. We discovered that there is a gap between the teachers and the students,” the official said.
Stakeholders’ reactions
Some teachers have described the closure as unfortunate as it has affected the school calendar.
“We are already in third term, going by the calendar we are working on,” a primary school teacher, Zainab Ibrahim, observed.
According to her, except the government will approve that all pupils are promoted upon resumption, the break in the session may have negative effects on students’ performance.
According to another teacher, Bilyaminu Usman, the state government should take proactive measures to provide adequate security by fencing all the schools.
He said: “Parents ought to understand we are facing a difficult situation. These security challenges are new things. Before this time, nobody has ever thought something like this will happen. But it’s happening now.”
In his remarks, a former teacher, Sylvester Mallam, noted that the situation calls for urgent intervention from stakeholders, as well as the international community, adding that “closure of schools is a very sad thing I think no government will be happy about”.
However, the National President of the Parents-Teachers Association, Haruna Danjuma, called for more efforts to ensure smooth operations in the education sector.
He said: “The question is for how long will the schools remain closed, and what will be the future of our children’s education when schools are also experiencing security threats?”
Way out
Danjuma advised on relocation of schools to areas with improved security.
He said: “Can’t all schools in rural areas be moved to urban areas where they will be merged with schools under security coverage, which will include members of the Hunters’ Association, Vigilante Service, and security volunteers among our teeming youths who are ever ready to answer the call to service?”
To this end, he said the members of the Parents-Teachers Association are appealing to the Kaduna State Government to meet with all security agencies on how to ensure safe reopening of schools in Kaduna.
“More so, we are urging the government to reconsider the danger of allowing our children becoming idle,” he added.
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