Katsina Parents Attribute Spate of Out-of-school Children to Insecurity

Katsina Parents Attribute Spate of Out-of-school Children to Insecurity

By Francis Sardauna

Parents in Katsina State have attributed the alarming rate of out-of-school children to what they termed the deteriorating security challenges be deviling states in the North-west region and other parts of the country.

The parents, who spoke at a training organised by Save the Children International (SCI) in Kadandani community, Rimi Local Government Area of the state, expressed worries with “educational deterioration” in many parts of the country.

They explained that majority of the out-of-school children are in the northern part of the country where insurgency and banditry orchestrated by terrorists and bandits are gradually enveloping the entire region.

One of the parents, Adamu Yusuf, said: “SCI is doing well by encouraging us to enrol our children, particularly girls in school but insecurity is hampering the NGO’s good intention. For instance, last year, armed Fulani herdsmen abducted our children at Government Science Secondary School, Kankara.

“So, this issue of kidnapping for ransom has badly affected the enrollment of children to schools and led to the increment in number of out-of-school children in Katsina State and many other states in North-west.”

On her part, Aishatu Mohammed said government is unmindful of the predicaments that the country is currently facing, noting that the north particularly faces pervading security challenges than other parts of the country thereby affecting children’s education in the zone.

She added: “Many parents have left their communities and villages in Faskari and Batsari Local Government Areas as a result of bandits’ attack. They don’t have any means of survival not to talk of returning their children to school. The number of out-of-school children is increasing everyday because of insecurity.”

While reiterating that the north is worse in terms of security, the 54-year-old mother of 11 called on both the state and federal governments to tackle security issues afflicting the country for peace and development to thrive.

Related Articles