L-R: The Chairman, Education Writers’ Association of Nigeria, EWAN, Mr. Mojeed Alabi, The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Education, Mr.Tokunbo Wahab, Unilag VC Designate, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola and Hajia Binta Abdulkadir, Director, Senior Secondary Education, Federal Ministry of Education at the 2022 Education Summit organised by EWAN in Lagos.
The federal government has reiterated its commitment to ensuring that Schools are safe for teaching and learning across the country.
The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu made the assertion in a message to the 2022 Education Summit organised by the Education Writers’ Association of Nigeria held in Lagos.
Rpresented at the event by the Director, General Services in the Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs. Vivian Wategire, Malam Adamu said that teaching and learning would only be effective in an environment where students and their teachers were sure of their safety.
Reeling out statistics on the negative impact the insecurity situation in the country has had on the literacy level of Nigerians, the Minister said Four Hundred and Ninety-seven classrooms had been destroyed as a result of insurgency, thereby making Two point eight million school learners to be in dire need of Education-in-Emergency Support.
He stressed that the situation had made at least six out of ten children to experience violence before they were ten years old.
Malam Adamu said this had further aggravated the problem of Out of School Children in the country.
The Minister however, gave the assurance that the government would not relent in its efforts at addressing the issue of insecurity in schools.
In an addesss, the Director, Senior Secondary Education in the Federal Ministry of Education, Hajia Binta Abdulkadiri said part of the strategies put in place by her ministry to keep schools safe in the country was the Safe School Initiative which was lauched in 2015.
Hajia Abdulkadiri said so far, many states of the federarion had keyed into the programme and had done a lot in ensuring that schools in their dormain were safe for teaching and learning.
The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Education, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, who represented Governor Olusola Sanwo-Olu at the event said while the state government would continue to work assiduously at keeping its schools safe, parents and religious organisations should support government in fighting criminality in the society by impacting the right virtues that abhor all forms of criminality in individuals right from the home and religious organisations they belong to.
In a message to the event, the Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service, Mr. Isah idris said to address the criminal activities being perpetrated by some individuals at the nation’s boarders which had contributed to the state of insecurity in the country, his organisation had deployed some technological devices to monitor the activies at the nation’s major boarders.
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The Chairman of the Education Writer’s Association of Nigeria, Mr. Mojeed Alabi said while government at all levels should work hand in hand to see to the Safety of Schools across the country, journalists on their part should continue to play their roles effectively in bringing the ills in the different sectors of the society to the knowledge of relevant authorities for necessary attention.
The highlight of the event was the presentation of Awards to some education stakeholders that had contributed immensely to the development of education in the country.
