The Federal Government has said that it has begun the installation of an “alarm system” across schools in the north to guard against attacks by Boko Haram.
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, stated that the move became imperative as many schoolgirls in the north have become “instruments of war.”
The former World Bank managing director said advancing safe access to education for girls in northern Nigeria was topmost on the agenda of the Federal Government following the abduction of the over 200 Chibok girls.
Writing on Twitter, Okonjo-Iweala explained that the alarm system being installed would serve as a “notification system” in the event that there was an attack on any of the schools.
She did not, however, name the number of schools or states benefitting from the new security arrangement; neither did she state the financial implications.
“Girls’ education is absolutely essential for economic growth and stability. No matter how well an economy does, we will fail to reduce inequality if we do not secure education for girls.
“We feel dismayed that we have come to a situation where schools and girls’ education have been made instruments of war.
“Government is installing alarm systems that will serve as an internal notification system in case there is an attack at the school,” the coordinating minister for the economy stated.
According to Okonjo-Iweala, the Federal Government is working closely with the international community and the organised private sector in ensuring that school children learn in a safe environment.
As part of the new safety arrangements, the minister stated that government was exploring the use of solar panels as a source of regular power supply for schools – especially those with boarding facilities.
Better sanitation facilities, she added, would also be put in place so that pupils would not have to walk long distances from the dormitories to take their bath.
She claimed that schoolgirls from various states in the Boko Haram hotbeds seeking transfer to educational institutions in other geo-political zones, would be supported by the Federal Government “with a full scholarship.”
“The Nigerian government is working to secure the safe return of the Chibok schoolgirls and safe access to education for all students. We must do all possible, working with the international community and private sector, to ensure our children learn in a safe environment.
“The Nigerian government is improving school safety by installing solar panels to provide 24/7 electricity for schools and dormitories. Government is providing better sanitation facilities so girls do not need to walk from their school and dorms to use the bathroom.
“Government is also allowing girls from the northern regions that are threatened to transfer to different schools with a full scholarship,” Okonjo-Iweala added.
But the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, Raj Shah, lamented that over one-third of school-age children are out-of-school in Nigeria.
USAID quoted Shah on its official Twitter page as saying that “too many girls” in Nigeria have no access to basic and safe education.
Shah noted that the Nigerian government must continue to work with local leaders on prioritising education for girls, adding that a tailored investment in teacher training was also imperative.
He challenged the belief that providing safe access to education was “too difficult” a feat to achieve, adding that USAID was “making progress.”
“Recent kidnapping of girls in Nigeria created global awareness of the challenge we face on behalf of schoolgirls. In Nigeria, as many as one-third of children are out of school. Too many girls have no access to basic and safe education.
“Why are so many girls not in school? Too dangerous; too expensive, that girls are not being given the chance. Access to a safe education is so important that we have made it a pillar of USAID education strategy,” Shah said.
According to USAID, increasing access to education in fragile states would go a long way in stabilising the system, thereby helping to rebuild the country.
The US agency stated that over 60 per cent of out-of-school children live in a country affected by armed conflict, adding that increased investment in education would help safeguard their future.
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