By Gabriel Dike
The registrar and chief executive, Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Prof. Josiah Olusegun Ajiboye, has challenged members of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) to encourage and promote safe school environment to enhance learning.
Prof. Ajiboye gave the charge in a paper he delivered at the NUT National Delegates’ Conference, titled “Terrorism and Attack on Schools: Effects on Education and Nigeria’s Economy”.
He acknowledged that the world was grappling with terrorism, which has dealt a serious blow on every facet of the economy, education inclusive. Ajiboye hoped the conference would serve as an avenue for the NUT to proffer ideas, and suggestions on how best to improve and promote a safe school environment.
He said: “Schools should be safe havens where students and education can work towards a better future. Instead, in at least 37 countries globally, there is a pattern of attacks on education, which has taken diverse dimensions, ranging from the security situation to the economy and then to the education sector.”
The TRCN boss disclosed that the conflict in the North East has led to the death of over 2,905 teachers, between 2009 and 2022, while about 19,000 teachers have been displaced.
Ajiboye further stated that over 910 schools were damaged, 1,500 schools forced to close due to insurgency and more than 600,000 schoolchildren lost access to education.
“Attacks on education create a ripple effect, setting in motion a range of negative impacts such as loss of education, early marriage, early pregnancy and stigma associated with sexual violence and children born from rape, all of which dramatically affect female students’ futures.
“The presence of armed forces in or near a school can make it a target of retaliatory attacks, increasing the risk to children and teachers, as well as the likelihood that education will be disrupted. The presence of such forces also increases the risk of sexual violence against female students and teachers”, Ajiboye observed.
On the economy effect, Prof. Ajiboye, said it include destruction of school buildings, classrooms, students hostels, staff quarters, laboratories and equipment which would require billions of naira to fix.
He urged teachers to keep close watch on pupils to ensure that abuse and violence against learners are prevented.
In event of an attack on a school, he suggested that teachers should set of alarm using school coded alarming strategy such as clapping of hands, blowing of whistle and ringing of bell.
The TRCN registrar stressed that irrespective of the population of pupils including disabled, evacuation should be completed within a maximum of three minutes.
“After evacuation, call the authorities and seek for emergency assistants. Reports incident giving accurate information’s and numbers, especially where there are casualties.
He urged the Federal Government to review its security architecture to address the deteriorating situation because of terrorism and violent attacks on education.
Ajiboye appealed to government to implement to the fullest the safe school declarations guidelines endorsed by Nigeria in 2015 and ratified in 2019.
The TRCN boss called on federal, state and local education authorities to facilitate the immediate implementation of the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence Free Schools (NPSSVFS) by making budgetary provisions.
He further called on government to increase domestic education expenditure of 50 percent over the next two years as committed at the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) summit.