"It is not fair on the countries, we should interrogate, let's start questioning these data from international organisations," an official said.
Some government officials have questioned the latest global data on out-of-school children by the United Nations Educational,
Officials of the federal and
According to the statistics,
The government officials who spoke as panellists at the annual education summit organised by the
The summit was tagged "Towards safe schools in
Participants at the summit also discussed the violent attacks on schools by criminals and other forms of violent incidents in schools.
Officials query figures
The Director of Senior Secondary Education,
"The federal government has taken a number of steps that have greatly reduced the figure in recent times. BESDA is one of the steps and through it, we have got over four million children back to school in no fewer than 17 states of the federation," she said.
BESDA is an intervention programme funded by the
The states include all 13 states in the North-west and North-east geo-political zones, as well as
As of
On his part, the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Education,
"It is not fair on the countries, we should interrogate, let's start questioning these data from international organisations," he said.
However, despite the claims of the officials and the actions of the government, many schools in the North-west and North-central remain closed or partially open due to fear of attacks by terrorists.
PREMIUM
Giving his keynote speech, the Minister of Education,
"In the period between 2012 and 2016 alone, more than 600 teachers were reportedly killed in attacks while more than 19,000 were displaced," he said.
He acknowledged that "the security situation in the country has had a domino effect on the literacy level of Nigerians as insurgency also destroyed 497 classrooms and left 2.8 million school learners in need of education-in-emergency support."
He said this has led to approximately 6 of every 10 children under the age of 18 years experiencing some form of violence and half of the children experiencing violence before the age of 10.
It has also aggravated "the already challenging out-of-school menace plaguing
"Despite this situation, we are not deterred in our commitment to creating a good environment for education, which would increase literacy levels in the country. Our actions and policies towards safe schools show the federal government's commitment to the present and the future of this country.
"As the apex body in charge of education in the country, we are essentially committed to developing and increasing literacy which fits into the larger spectrum of the Federal Government's commitment/responsibility to the children, youths and the whole country," he noted.
Federal govt initiative
They also launched the
He also noted that "the federal government in
He added that the
He called for more collaboration between the government and the people "to actualize the possibility and reality of safe schools in
Health insurance for students
Speaking on universal access to health, the newly appointed first female Vice Chancellor of the
"I think it is mandatory that all students, whether primary, secondary or tertiary, are on the National Health Insurance Scheme.
She also said the psychological health of students is as important as physical health, as more students are battling depression as a result of bullying, sexual harassment and other social vices.
She recommended the need for the formulation and implementation of policies across all institutions to deal with such social vices and ensure that everyone knows about the policy.
Citing UNILAG as an example, she noted the institution as a result of some cases of sexual harassment a few years back, "had the sexual harassment policy, bullying, anti-bullying policy, which we adopted together as a safeguarding policy."
She said new employees in the school are made to read and sign the policy, and students are trained to know that these policies exist.
She also recommended that schools should be renovated to accommodate people with disabilities, stressing the need for adequate funding.
Advocacy, partnership for change
In his opening address, the chairman of EWAN,
"The assignment before us is to ensure that there is security at every level. If we do not address the security of schools in
The EWAN boss also noted that the safety of schools is the responsibility of everybody, as the NSCDC in charge of the safety of schools cannot do that alone.
He added that "safety of schools is not limited to violent attacks only, and that is why we are having this discussion to proffer solutions that will be domesticated even right from the top to the various homes."
He also reiterated the association's responsibility as the "fourth estate of the realm" to drive advocacy and partnerships for change at all levels of education.
"It is beyond reporting. We have reported and listened. It is now left for us to engage in advocacy to partner with everybody - from the university, basic education, and middle education, and we are telling you that this commitment is very important for all of us. We are ready to mobilise everybody," he added.
In his remarks, the
You have equally expressed your organisation's readiness through advocacy programmes like this to join the state government's efforts to ensure safety and improved security system in schools, he said.
Lagos State efforts
Speaking further,
"This is not by accident; rather, it underscores the state government's genuine commitment to achieving quality and sustainable educational growth through policy formulation and implementation," he said.
As part of the measures to scale up security in public schools and institutions, he said the current administration has taken a lot of initiatives including the provision of perimeter fencing in all public schools, banning the use of public schools for social parties and sensitisation programmes on the danger of drugs, cultism and violence in schools.
He added that the state has installed street lights in schools, as well as rewards of excellence in academic programmes in schools and institutions, among others.
He, however, urged the government at all levels to "formulate and implement policies that would help us to rise up to the challenges posed by insecurity in our schools."
"This in turn would help us to achieve peace and harmony in our schools and colleges while our school calendars and programmes would run as planned, thus making our educational system gain global relevance," he said.
The Deputy Director of
More recommendations for safety
The panellists advocated for the provision of close-circuit Television (CCTV) cameras to help monitor and ensure adequate security of lives and properties in schools.
In her comments, the Director of Secondary Education hinted at a high-level safe school initiative that is being organised by the
"They are doing everything humanly possible to see that each and every school secondary school in
Also, the Commandant-General of the
He said the agency has been charged to ensure safety in schools "in conjunction with playing an advocacy role not only to the school but to the ministry governments, traditional institutions, women associations as well as other relevant stakeholders"
Other panellists included representatives from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the
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