At least 188 public schools have been shut down due to insecurity in Northern Nigeria. According to the report of a search carried out by Daily Trust, many schools in the region had been shut due to attacks on the villages by bandits just as some of them are now serving as camps for people displaced by insecurity.
The report mentioned at least 39 in Zamfara; 30 in Niger; six each in Sokoto and Kaduna in addition to the reported 52 and 55 schools in Katsina and Benue states respectively which have been shut. This figure may be higher than this as some areas cannot be accessed to get the true picture of things, the report said.
The investigation did not also include Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states that have peculiar challenges occasioned by Boko Haram attacks in the last 15 years.
“In some cases, schools had been opened at IDPs camps, thereby giving some children the opportunity to learn.
“Also, many displaced communities have been rebuilt, a development that led to the relocation of the IDPs to their ancestral homes alongside their children.
“However, sources said still there are hard -to-reach communities in the affected states”
Situation in North West
Of the 39 identified schools in Zamfara, 20 are primary schools, while 19 are secondary schools.
In Niger, 18 primary schools, one secondary school, and 11 nomadic designated schools are shut.
Three secondary schools, two technical colleges and one primary school have been shut in Sokoto State.
This is happening despite a report showing that some of the states have highest number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
The ICIR reports that Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children in the world, with estimates ranging between 10 and 20 million, according to 2024 UNICEF report.
Specifically, the country’s education system faces an alarming crisis, with 10.2 million children of primary school age, and another 8.1 million of junior secondary school age out of school.
According to data from the National Mass Education Programme Initiative (NMPI), the number of out-of-school children stands at 1.4 million in Katsina, representing 45.9 per cent of its school aged population.
Kebbi State has 67.6 per cent of its school-age population out of school, recording over 1.06 million children outside the classroom.
Sokoto has 1.25 million out of school children. This means Katsina, Sokoto, and Kebbi lead the ranking of out of school children in Nigeria.
Zamfara, Kaduna, and Niger sit in the top 15 of the ranking.
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at a school in Gwer West LGA of Benue State
According to Statista, Katsina had 3,375 primary schools in the 2018/2019 school year.
Many public schools across Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Niger, Kaduna, Kebbi, Benue and Kwara states have remained closed for years, others for months or weeks after they were shut down owing to attacks by Boko Haram, ISWAP, Ansaru, Lakurawa, Mahmuda terrorists and bandits.
The report also revealed that the closures have forced thousands of children out of school, with some classrooms turned into shelters for displaced persons and camps for security operatives.
While some students have been relocated to urban centres and merged into existing schools, others have dropped out.
This is just as educationists warn that prolonged closure of rural schools will deepen illiteracy and poverty
