Kaduna State governor Uba Sani has disclosed that his state’s educational system is presently 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.
Governor Sani said this dramatic drop from 2,111,969 in 2021/2022 to 1,734,704 in 2022/2023) was largely attributed to insecurity.
At a capacity building programme organised by the Nigeria Police Force Schools’ Protection Squad held in Kaduna, Governor Sani noted that banditry, terrorism and other forms of criminality have disrupted socio-economic activities in affected communities in the state.
He emphasised that bandits and terrorists are threatening his educational revitalisation programme.
The governor 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.
“In several local government areas (LGAs) particularly Chikun, Birnin Gwari, Kajuru, Giwa, and Igabi insecurity has forced school consolidation, further pushing up the number of out-of-school children. 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.”
Governor Sani added, “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. We are also implementing our safe school programme to strengthen the security in our primary and secondary schools.”
