FG Moves to Protect Children’s Education With New Safe Schools Department
The Federal Government has created a Safe Schools Department in the Federal Ministry of Education to enhance the protection of learners and ensure children’s right to access education in safe environments.
Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, revealed this before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Safe Schools Initiative.
The new department will replace the existing Safe Schools Unit and will offer strategic leadership, coordination and oversight of school safety programmes across the country.
The move is important from a child development perspective because insecurity can impact children’s education, attendance and learning. If children cannot attend school safely or if families are not confident that the school is safe, they cannot access their right to education.
The ministry will implement the Safe Schools Initiative in a coordinated manner across the country using a common framework in all 774 local government areas, Alausa said. The framework is designed to enhance the implementation, accountability and monitoring of school safety.
The ministry is also collaborating with the Office of the National Security Adviser, Department of State Services, Armed Forces, Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other agencies to beef up security around schools.
The minister said that school safety could no longer be addressed in a piecemeal fashion due to the fact that learners have multiple security and welfare issues.
For children, the implementation will be more important than the establishment of a new department. Safe schools need to be reflected in actual protection, safe learning spaces and uninterrupted learning, especially for children in insecure communities.
The initiative thus focuses on accountability as the main driver of Nigeria’s responsibility to ensure that children can learn, develop and thrive without fear.
