Boko Harram kicks out 11 million school children

By Alhaji Alhasan Abdulai

All those who have the welfare of the people of West Africa, especially children at heart, would be worried at the sad news streaming out of Nigeria and her neighboring countries. Information from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicates that as a result of the armed conflicts instigated by the Boko Harram, many children of school going ages in Northeastern Nigeria and its neighboring nations have been thrown out of school. UNICEF says 1 million kids missing out on education in Nigeria adds to the estimated 11 million children of primary school age who were already out of school in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger before the onset of the crisis .

An estimated 600 teachers have been killed since the start of Boko Haram insurgency and among the challenges being faced is to keep children safe without interrupting their schooling which is becoming difficult.

Schools have been targets of attack, so children are scared to go back to the classroom; yet the longer they stay out of school, the greater the risks of being abused, abducted and recruited by armed groups. Says a UNICEF representative

Today More than 2,000 schools remain closed in conflict areas, and some have been closed for more than a year, in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger after being attacked, looted or set on fire, and only one out of 135 schools closed last year in the far north of Cameroon has reopened.

However More than 170,000 children have gone back to school in safer areas of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe where schools have reopened, but many classrooms are "severely overcrowded as some school buildings are still being used to house the large numbers of displaced persons seeking shelter from the conflict, according to UNICEF.

Classes are given on double shifts, manned by displaced teachers who have fled fighting, to help more children attend school. This situation is troubling for the following reasons

Already the north eastern part of Nigeria and the neighboring nations are predominantly Islamic nations that are being encouraged to embrace western secular education side by side Islamic studies in order for the students to fit into the modern world of work. With the current challenges posed by the insurgency of Boko Harram there are fears that not many children of school going ages who come from poor families would be able to go to school. The Nigerian government of General Buhari and the leaders of the neighboring Nigeria are doing all in their power to overcome the aggression of the Boko harram. However this move would succeed only when the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Africa Union and the entire international community are able to marshal forces to give a helping hand through a strategic intervention.

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