Senator Uba Sani, the Governor of Kaduna State, lamented the decline in student enrollment throughout the state on Wednesday.
He attributed this worrying trend to the prevailing insecurity, marked by incidents of kidnapping, banditry, and other criminal activities.
Sani revealed that the government had initiated plans to relocate 359 schools from areas heavily affected by terrorism and integrate them with schools situated in secure locations.
These remarks came during his address at the opening of a one-day capacity-building event hosted by the Nigeria Police Force School Protection Squad in Kaduna.
“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 berated what he described as the alarming drop in school enrolment rate in the state due to 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 his proactive initiative in establishing the Schools Protection Squad, aimed at bolstering security and safety in educational institutions throughout Nigeria.
