The federal government has engaged states and other stakeholders to develop and harness strategies for inclusion on the national plan for financing of safe schools, which is set for launch in 2022.
The federal government is set to launch a national plan for safe schools following the spate of insecurity and incessant attack on schools across the country. An estimated one million children did not start the 2021/2022 session due to insecurity. Over 11,000 schools were shut down over fear of attacks according to the United Nations Children Fund.
While declaring the stakeholder forum organised by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning in Abuja open, the permanent secretary, Shehu Aliyu, special duties, said the essence of the engagement forum is to harness and aggregate action plans and strategy papers from relevant critical stakeholders collated at the federal level at the state level.
Aliyu inferred that the Ministry has committed to creating adequate budgetary allocation for financing safe schools activities.
Speaking at the engagement forum, stakeholders in the finance, security and education sector urged the government to keep to its commitment of ensuring adequate budgetary provision, saying it will create a safe learning environment and restore confidence in the educational sector.
Godly Epukemeji, the National president, Association of Private School Owners, Godly Epukemeji, urged that the National plan should provide an inclusive and proactive crisis response and recovery plan that will capture both public and private across schools.
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“This will no doubt enable the schools, students and teachers to report security threats instantly for immediate response.
This is because the schools are in a better position to clearly understand the challenges posed by insecurity and shall respond quickly to any crisis.
“The government should know that there is no one – size — fit approach to the emergency training curriculum. Therefore, any security system to be adopted should be tailored specifically to the community’s unique demographic physical and emotional needs. Government should clearly prepare and coordinate students ahead of time to enable the School to plan emergency routes,” he added.
The president also urged the federal government to work closely with both public and private schools to provide mental health support among learners so as to reduce the stigma among learners.
Mohammed Musa, president of the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools, ANCOPSS said financing safe schools must be directed at provision of security gadgets and structures that would promote security in schools across the country.
He urged the collaboration of the communities, security agencies and educational institutions in finding a holistic approach to keeping the schools safe. He said “ when we talk of security, it is not just about finances, it’s about strategies, and long term plan, that’s why we need the cooperation of the communities, the security agencies, the educational sector and the financial sector,” he added.
He further said the government can provide safety by fencing schools to tackle attacks by insurgents, while infrastructure that have been destroyed, burned by insurgents should be replaced for students to go back to school.
