By Khanoba Khanoba, Abuja
Ahead of the forthcoming general election, the federal government is to consider the temporary closure of all public and private schools in the country, Education Minister, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau has said.
The minister, who disclosed this during an interactive session with the media at the weekend in Abuja, said a high level meeting which will involve commissioners for education from all the states of the federation as well as other stakeholders, will deliberate on the decision at a meeting scheduled for Monday (tomorrow) .
“We are meeting with education commissioners on Monday at the ministry, where we will decide the reasons for such action,” Shekarau said
Newsdiary online gathered that the decision of the government to consider closure of schools may not be unconnected with the fears being expressed by parents in some states which are considered as hotbeds of political violence, even as some parents have begun to withdraw their wards from schools to perceived safe havens until after the election.
A recent visit to some of the private schools in Gwarinpa axis of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), showed a decline in the number of students that turned up for schools, just as most public schools in satellite communities in FCT also witnessed low resumption rate last month when compared to first term.
A teacher in one of the private schools, who spoke on condition of anonymity said reasonable number of students in the school have travelled abroad in recent weeks, but expressed believe that they will be back after the election.
“The population of the school is a little down now, most students who travelled out (abroad) will come back after the election. It is not only schools that the election is affecting, some families travelled to their villages during Christmas and still waiting for the election to be over before coming back,” she said
