Senator Uba Sani, the governor of Kaduna State, bemoaned on Wednesday the reduction in student enrollment across the state.
Sani voiced alarm about the trend, linking it to the state’s recent surge in insecurity caused by kidnapping, banditry, and other associated crimes.
He revealed that the administration had started a plan to remove 359 schools from terrorist-infested areas and integrate them with other schools in safer locations.
On Wednesday, the governor said this as he opened a one-day capacity-building programme organised by the Nigeria Police Force School Protection Squad in Kaduna.
Sani described as appropriate the theme of the programme: ‘Strengthening Security Resilience and Integration of Host Communities in the Protection of Education.’
“Incidents like the kidnapping of 135 students from the LEA Primary and Junior Secondary School in Kuriga, Chikun Local Government, tragically illustrate the devastating impact of insecurity on education access and safety.
“To ensure that the education of our children in conflict-prone and terrorist-infested areas is not interrupted, we have commenced the merging of 359 schools with those in safe locations,” the governor said.
Sani expressed concern over the state’s significant reduction in school enrollment as a result of insecurity.
Sani 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 praised Inspector General of Police Olukayode Egbetokun for establishing the Schools Protection Squad, a proactive step to improve security and safety in Nigeria’s educational institutions.
