Theirs is an unenviable task. As teachers in the Northeast states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe where the Boko Haram insurgency is rife, they are faced with the burden of keeping their schools running. With the schools virtually deserted, it is their lot to ensure that pupils keep coming. They share their experiences with KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE.
In the Southern part of the country, pupils go to school with ease. They do not have to worry about being harassed on the way. In the Northeast, where insurgency is rife, it is not easy going to school.
While other parts of the country enjoy an uninterrupted academic calendar, teachers and pupils in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, have to think of staying alive first, before any other thing. In the past one year, primary and secondary schools in the states have been shut for up to nine months in some cases. However, despite the security challenge, states, teachers, pupils and parents have not given up on education. Some teachers, who attended a school safety and security workshop in Abuja last Friday, said they have improvised ways to keep the schools opened, despite the Boko Haram threat.
Mr Buka Modu, Principal of Government Science and Technical College, Gujba in Yobe State, misses his school but cannot go there for now because he said it has become Boko Haram base. The sect sacked the school and destroyed its facilities in July. Though the school has been merged with two others close to Damaturu, the State Capital, Modu said school life is not what it used to be before the insurgency. Many of the pupils have been separated from their parents.
He said: “The insurgency has affected school activities greatly. My school has now relocated to another local government which is about 200 kilometres away from the children’s parents. The school’s previous site is now captured by Boko haram. Even the school is now their abode; they have destroyed everything in the school. The pupils and their parents are far away now. Some are in Bauchi, Gombe and other states. Now, it is very difficult for those parents to send their children to the school.”
Since relocating, Modu said only “40 percent or less” of his pupils have resumed. He also said many of those that have resumed find it difficult to study because of fear. He is concerned that performance in the 2015 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) may be poor.
“They have to stay in a boarding school because there is nowhere to live. In normal days, there is evening prep, night prep, games. But now, we don’t have such things because you don’t know who will come and bundle you, so you can’t come out and play. Now, may be 10 students play at a time, then, after that, another set would make a team and play.
“Concerning the night prep, there is no light; almost everything is disconnected. And you cannot put on the generator because the sound would not allow you to hear if anything is happening in the environment. So, we cannot even put it on for the pupils to read at night. Students come to class only in the day time. By 2 or 3pm, the school has closed, and the students go back to the hostel, take their bath and read two or three pages of their books and that’s all. So, you see, it is very difficult for them to pass the SSCE, because you have to read in the night to pass your exams. But, at night you don’t know what is happening. You can’t even sleep let alone read. The mind is just somewhere else. Even the sound of a balloon scares you,” he said.
Modu urged the government to improve security so teachers and pupils could face the tasks of teaching and learning. He said some parents actually wait for their wards throughout school hours, to take them home.
“You know when this happens, at least, we expect the security details around. When you see them around, your mind would be at rest. Our minds, both the teachers’ and pupils’ are not at rest to pass the teaching and learning process. All the school needs is to have security. When something happens, they will come. But, sometimes, they will say they have come, we don’t even know the time they came,” he said.
Mrs Aishatu Mohammed Bakare of Government Day Secondary School, Bungere in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, is also worried about performance in the 2015 WASSCE.
“We are more than two steps backwards because we have not been operating schools in Adamawa State. We closed and resumed late due to the Ebola problem; then, we just started for about three weeks and we had to close schools again because of the insurgency. Now, everybody is at home – the public schools. Only the private schools are still on. Actually we do not know what will become of our pupils, this year, especially our SS3 pupils,” she said.
She said even before the government ordered schools to close, parents had stopped their wards from coming to school.
“Parents actually stopped their children from coming to school. Then, finally, we just had to close. Every minute we hear different rumours that they are coming to Yola, so we had no options than to close temporarily,” she said.
Alhaji Abubakar Hayatu, Principal of Government Secondary School, Mayo-Belwa, Adamawa State, said most schools have closed down. But some of his pupils still attend school – thanks to hunters who provide security. He said they are funded by the school’s Parents-Teachers’ Association.
“Well with the help of our teachers, the PTA, and hunters, we are able to hold classes. In the night, they patrol within the school premises. The hunters are helping us. We are paying them with the meagre resources we get from the PTA,” he said.
Though situated in the Borno State capital where there is relative safety, Mr Adamu Wakawa, Principal of Government Girls College, Maiduguri, has to cope with running a school that also serves as a camp for internally-displaced people.
“In my school, particularly, we have displaced persons. Despite that the school is rowdy, we still make effort that the students, if not all, at least the finalists, are kept in place for them to face their WAEC. Managing students and displaced persons is the greatest challenge that we are now facing. As far as I’m concerned, together with the government, effort is being made to see that students do not lose. Apparently, some schools have been opened. Students can now go to school to cover up what they had lost, so far,” he said.
Mohammed Musa, Principal of Government College, Nguru, Yobe State, said the lack of perimeter fence around his school worsens the feeling of insecurity.
“Any time there is an attack close to the school, you see children and teachers disturbed. Most of the schools are vulnerable because they don’t have fences. But it is not all about fencing; whether there is fence, it cannot stop these people. Government ought to provide security. If security personnel are posted to schools, at least students and teachers will feel secure because somebody is around – at least there is somebody to confront them. But as teachers and students, we cannot confront any insurgent using just your hand and your biro and whatever, but the presence of security personnel on the school premises is very necessary. And to cap it all the school ought to be fenced, not just this bare fencing; the fencing has to be a little bit high with barb wire on top so that it will prevent anybody scaling thorough,” he said.
To encourage pupils to go back to school, Suleiman Maina, the state national representative of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), Borno State, said the union has partnered with the government and other stakeholders to keep as many schools as possible open in and around the state capital.
“Our state governor has formed a high-powered committee by name Primary School Resuscitation Commitee. The committee has sat down with NUT, head masters and stakeholders and now our primary schools have been opened. Out of about 1,000 primary schools now 400 in maiduguri and outskirts are running. It is so encouraging because now in schools, teachers are performing their jobs,” he said.
Mrs Jebu Babe of Government Girls Secondary School, Buni Gari in Yobe State, said her school was relocated to Government Girls Unity College, Damaturu, after it was attacked about the same time that Boko Haram killed about 40 pupils of the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi.
“Our administrative block was totally burnt down in February 2014. Presently, where my school is located is the most dangerous area of Yobe State. Most of the students are from that area and were also affected personally. Currently, the school is in Damaturu because the state government has moved it from that area to safety,” she said.
However, since it reopened at its new location, she said not all the pupils have resumed. To encourage the pupils to return to school, Mrs Babe said the government has mounted a publicity campaign for them to resume and continue their education.
“Not all the students have reported to that school because of that thing. Parents have left their homes, and gone to other places, especially Gombe State, because we are bordering them. But three-quarters of the students are back because the government is making everything possible to see that the students are back. They announce over the radio, television, telling them to come back to school, and by whatever means. I personally as the principal, and other teachers communicate to them through the phone and we tell them to come back; ‘that it is safe here’, ‘come and continue your schooling’. The government is trying by making the parents aware that it is very important for them to send their children; continue their education because of tomorrow. ”
She added that the reopening of schools, despite the insurgency is important so the insurgents do not achieve their goal of stopping the education of the citizenry.
“They should not close our schools because this is one of the things they (insurgents) want. So, let us stand our ground and make sure that we follow the truth. Once the parents feel secure enough, feel that the government is on their side, the students will come,” she said.
