In a bid ensure a more secure environment for students in schools in Nigeria, the House of Representatives has asked the Federal Ministry of Education to ensure the construction and repair of parameter fences of all unity schools.
During plenary on Thursday, a lawmaker, Mrs Evelyn Oboro, told the House that some government owned schools do not have parameter fences thereby putting the lives of the students at great risk, especially the female who are often raped by hoodlums.
She also questioned the lack of portable water in many of these schools which cause students having to go long and unsafe distances in search of water, a situation she said posed a great risk considering the present security situation.
After she raised the issue, the house mandated its Committee on Education to liaise with the ministry to ensure compliance.
Since over 200 girls were abducted by members of a terrorist group, Boko Haram, on April 14 form their dormitory in the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, the need to make schools more secure has been emphasised by rights group.
During the World Economic Forum on Africa held in May in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, a Safe School Initiative was launched for the purpose of protecting schools in Nigeria with more focus on schools in the northeast.
President Goodluck Jonathan allocated 3.2 billion Naira to the initiative in June, with half of the amount coming from the private sector.
After a meeting on the initiative between President Jonathan, the UN ambassador on Safe School Initiative and former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown and governors from the three least educationally developed states in Nigeria on June 17 , the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, told reporters that the fund would help ensure that children in schools in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states got educated in a safe environment.
