When safety of children took centre stage
Nigerian children have experienced their fair share of the insurgency in the north-eastern region of the country. The first was the kidnap of 276 Chibok schoolgirls from their school four years ago with over 100 yet to be accounted for. And in February, 2018 another 111 school girls were also abducted from their school leaving five of them dead after they were rescued from their abductors. One of this set of students is still in captivity.
These many insurgency experiences across the North East have forced the closure of more than 57% of schools in Borno State, leaving over three million children without an education and as a result increase the number of out of school children.
The attacks on schools, which have devastating impact on education in the country, especially the North East region, has led the Federal Government, in collaboration with UNICEF, Save the Children and other stakeholders, to move for deliberate actions to secure the future of Nigerian children.
At an inception workshop for the review of the legal framework on the protection of education from attack in Nigeria, experts gathered to discuss the impact of crisis on education and how to make schools safe for both children and teachers through the adoption of the ‘Save School Initiative’.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative in Nigeria, Muhammed Fall, said the incidence has raised a lot of concern on how safe schools are for the children, adding that this remains a great reminder on how education is under attack in Nigeria.
According to him, schools should be a place where children will be protected at all times, stressing that, “We have full responsibility over the children, especially for girls, that they can go to school without any fear.”
Fall also said the implementation of the save school declaration is an important step toward seeing that children in conflict areas can be safe in their schools
“This meeting includes the legal review of the existing Nigerian policy or law that protects education in the country. By announcing and implementing the declaration of guidelines for protecting the schools and universities, Nigeria can provide a protective learning environment that would encourage more children in the North to go back to schools,” he said.
He added that education, especially for girls, is the single most important way to invoke peace, prosperity not only in this generation but those yet to come.
Also speaking, the Regional Manager, Plan International Dr Hussaini Abdul, noted that security and safety of children are why his office exists and that their commitment is to do whatever will ensure that children learn, lead, decide and thrive.
He said the safety of schools is a major national issue and whatever legal framework is being put in place must be designed to respond truly to a national problem.
According to him, in ensuring that schools remain secured, it is also important to have the bigger picture of the entire situation in the country and recognize that the crisis is actually not peculiar to the North East.
“In other parts of the country, we experience cases of children being kidnapped in schools, issues of fire disasters resulting to children dying, so whatever framework we are putting in place must be able to protect the children and education workers,” he said. Dr Abdul said: “We must plan for education continually in the face of hazards. We must know how to safeguard the sector’s investment because without investment in the education sector, we cannot strengthen the safety and security of children at schools.”
While noting that they must work to strengthen the disaster resilience of the citizenry, he added that they would engage them as they worked to ensure that schools and children remain safe. “Nigeria’s education must be tailored to be able to build resilience across the people within that sector,” he also stated.
“It is a two-way thing, such that education must be designed in a manner that you not only receive the security, but that you become part of the safety and security,” he further said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education Mallam Adamu Adamu, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Sonny Echono, in his address said education is not a luxury but a human right and a need in times of crisis as much as in times of peace.
Adamu maintained that the idea that education can and should continue during and despite conflict is not evident for many people, especially when education is compared to basic “life saving services” such as medical assistance, shelter, food water and sanitation
While noting that protecting education from attack is an issue of great importance, he said without access to quality learning, children are not only being deprived of education, but also robbed of future opportunities.
“Attacks on education are therefore not only a humanitarian and development issue, they are also a social, political and moral issue of which we are obliged to respond to,” he said
On the consequences of attacks on education and schools, he said they would lead to high student drop-out rates, reduced enrollment, lower rates of transition to higher education levels, overcrowding and loss of instructional hours.
He said adolescent girls and boys are at the higher risk of joining armed groups or criminal gangs and that levels of exploitation and abuse, including trafficking and sexual violence would also increase.
Safe schools provide lifesaving information, mitigate the psychosocial impact of war and can protect children from trafficking and recruitment by armed groups, he said.