In an effort to prevent the incessant abduction of students across the country, the Adamawa State Government has engaged local hunters and vigilantes to protect schools and prevent the abduction of students.

The state Commissioner of Ministry of Education and Human Service, Wilbina Jackson, made the disclosure in Yola, the state capital, in an event organised by Education in Emergencies Working Group, to commemorate the International Day to Protect Education in the state.

She noted that the government took the measure in an effort to save the state from the abductions that have occurred in many parts of the country in recent times.

Jackson further explained that the vigilantes were required to complement the efforts of regular security arrangements.

The event tagged ‘International Day to Protect Education against Attack in Adamawa State’, which was organised by Education in Emergencies Working Group Nigeria in collaboration with the state Ministry of Education, featured student representatives from the Federal Government Girls College (FGGC), Yola, who made a speech and staged a drama.

The state Focal Person of the Education in Emergencies Working Group, Medugu Stephen, said his organisation works with stakeholders, especially in the focal states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, to ensure that schools remain open and studies are uninterrupted irrespective of emergency situations that may arise.

Stephen added that as much as his organisation supports de-boarding in secondary schools for security reason as the Adamawa State Government has done, his organisation is working with the state government to see that no student drops out of school, even as some may have to leave their current schools for schools nearer to their homes.

Teachers and parents in Rwanda have welcomed changes to the school calendar, saying it will bring various benefits to learners.

The 2021/22 calendar for primary, secondary and TVET schools was released on September 3 and under the new calendar, the academic year will start on October 11, 2021, and end on July 15, 2022.

Among the benefits, students will be in holidays during the hot season.

Headmaster of Institut de Formation Apostolique de Kimihurura (IFAK), Father Jean Bosco Ntirenganya, said studying during the hot season affected the performance of learners, adding that teachers, and parents actually asked that the calendar be changed.

Teachers say that students lose concentration during hot weather, while boarding schools face water shortages.

Ntirenganya added that they are optimistic about the next academic year, due to the fact the previous one was disrupted by Covid-19 fiasco.

A primary teacher at Groupe Scolaire Kacyiru, Jolie Ladegonde Mukase, said that the calendar will allow pupils from lower primary and pre-primary school to have a little break before going back to school, since they are still studying. Their studies were interrupted by the previous lockdown.

Astéria Munganyinka, a parent, said that the calendar came at the right time, because she will have plenty of time to look for school fees, and better provide for her children.

However, she added there is still a problem of schools raising school fees, suggesting that there should be an intervention on this issue because as parents it becomes difficult.

A senior five students at Collège Saint André, Josias Ndamira, said that as students they will no longer encounter problems of too much fatigue or dust that could cause them diseases in the hot season.

Head Teacher of ADEGI GITUZA in Ngoma District, Gregoire Niragire, said that the new calendar will allow the government to properly plan, recruit and assign teachers to different schools where they are.

A programme funded by the United States and United Kingdom to address challenges in education in North-east Nigeria has drawn to a close.

The programme, “Addressing Education in Northeast Nigeria (AENN)” with a lifespan of three years was launched in 2018, to help the government of Nigeria create more certified and safe educational environments for girls and boys in Borno and Yobe in collaboration with major local, federal, and international education establishments.

The activity has since improved literacy, numeracy, and social emotional skills of nearly 200,000 out-of-school children in formal and non-formal settings, more than half of them girls.

USAID Mission Director Dr. Anne Patterson joined Nigerian education officials and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to mark the closing of the three-year U.S. and UK government-funded activity.

Paterson said: “It is promising to see that of those girls and boys who participated in the new instruction throughout Borno and Yobe, nine out of 10 were able to later transition successfully back into mainstream education despite missing school time because of conflict.”

She added that: “A better educated Nigeria is a stronger, more prosperous, and ultimately resilient Nigeria.”

Utilizing research conducted by USAID and its partners, the activity was designed to create a sense of safety for young people, and produced in local languages to increase children’s ability to learn and build resiliency from the surrounding conflict.

The conflict-sensitive curricula were supplied in the Hausa and Kanuri languages in more than 900 accelerated education centers supported by AENN.

Rebuilding the devastated school system also included addressing the gap left by the thousands of teachers who were forced to abandon their jobs in the Northeast.

AENN provided conflict-sensitive training to more than 2,000 learning facilitators and another 600 school administrators who can continue to advance the learning opportunities in their respective communities.

AENN was implemented by FHI360 in consortium with Save the Children International and Via Mobile, as well as in close collaboration with the government of Borno and Yobe and community-based organizations.

Jigawa state Government has promised to establish 200 more new nomadic schools and employ 10 herders from each of the 27 local government areas in the state, as part of its effort to continue to provide and expand qualitative nomadic education to the herders in all parts of the state.

The state Governor, Muhammad Badaru Abubakar, made the promise when he received a delegation from the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, a socio cultural Fulani organisation at the Government House in Dutse, the state capital.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Public Relations to the governor, Habibu Nuhu Kila.

Badaru said his administration was committed to providing education to all citizens of the state, including the herders.

He also said that after his recent working tour to the Netherlands, plans were underway to expand the existing cattle routes and grazing reserves which would provide enough all-year grass for the herders.

Badaru called on the association to support the state government in the fight against negative vices among the Fulani especially youths who are engaged in criminal activities.

Chairman of the association, Adamu Hadejia, commended the efforts of the state government in maintaining peace in the state.

He promised that the association would do everything possible to ensure that the relative peace that exists between farmers and herders is maintained, adding that with the support of the state government, the group will fish out criminals among them.