As primary and secondary schools resume across Kaduna State and most parts of the country, many parents have vowed that their wards will remain at home if necessary security arrangements are not put in place.
Recall that an issued circular from the State’s Ministry of Education, signed by Adama Yahaya, had ordered both private and public schools in the State to resume on Sunday, September 4. However, reacting to the circular, some parents have reportedly vowed to resist such a move. Although the President of the Parents Teachers Association of Nigeria (PTAN), Haruna Danjuma, had on Sunday also called on the Federal, State governments and Heads of security agencies to deploy security personnel to strategic places, it is not certain if the State government would heed the advice.
According to one of the parents who spoke to newsmen, Madam Dorcas Salisu Umoru, she was still going through the pains of her uncle’s son who was abducted from Bethel School in Kaduna, as she paid a ransom in order to secure his freedom. “I cannot make any further mistake sending my children to school if the government did not provide a secure and conducive atmosphere of learning for these students”, she stated.
Another parent, Haruna James, said he would never allow himself to be caught in the web. “Before my children step into Government Technical College, Malali, I must go there, inspect facilities and security arrangements on the ground. I cannot exchange the lives of my children with education”, he declared.
Also, another parent, Mrs. Mariam Dogo, whose daughters are still in primary schools, noted that those students within Kaduna metropolis may not have many issues of security threats because of the presence of various security operatives in the city.
She, however, appealed to the State government to draft more security presence in all the interior villages, adding that most villages were deserted.
