The Jigawa government says it has spent N342 million to fast-track establishment of the Safe Schools Rapid Response Coordination Centre in the state.
The project is being implemented under the Safe School Initiative in collaboration with the federal government and development partners.
Mr Sagir Musa, Jigawa Commissioner for Information, Youth, Sports and Culture, said this on Sunday while responding to a survey by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on the safe school initiative.
He said the state government was allocating N3.4 billion annually, to support 9,974 security guards recruited under the initiative.
Musa said that the funds released under the programme significantly improved security in schools across the state.
Also, Abubakar Usman, Coordinator of the centre, said the centre had strengthened school surveillance and monitoring across the state.
He said the centre also focused on sensitising students, teachers and host communities on school safety.
“The initiative goes beyond schools because communities have critical roles to play in safeguarding educational institutions”.
Usman noted that the state has not recorded any major attack on schools since the centre became operational.
“The major challenges we face are petty theft, vandalism and occasional intrusion by unauthorised persons,” he said.
Usman attributed such incidents to the location and physical structures of some of the schools, adding that the state government had fenced many schools, while efforts were ongoing to expand the scope of the programme.
Mr Badaruddeen Tijjani, Public Relations Officer, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in the state, said the initiative had recorded remarkable successes.
Tijjani said operatives of the corps, through the Safe Schools Rapid Response mechanism, arrested suspects over alleged theft of 20 laptops from a school in Gadadin community of Dutse Local Government Area.
He said that the corps also apprehended suspects linked with the theft of 12 ceiling fans from a polytechnic in the state.
“Security operatives equally foiled an attempted burglary at a school in Gagarawa LGA”.
Tijjani said the corps had deployed surveillance cameras across the state to support real-time monitoring and emergency response.
A check by NAN in some schools across the state, showed that the state government deployed security guards and constructed perimeter fencing in the schools, while some schools were yet to benefit from the programme.
At Government Girls Junior Arabic Secondary School, Baure, the Principal, Mrs Yuhanasu Ahmad, said the deployment of security guards had improved security in the school.
“Before the deployment, thieves frequently broke into offices and carted away equipment”.
Ahmad said that such incidents had stopped since the deployment of security guards to the school.
“We now have guards on duty day and night, and the school is adequately secured”.
Similarly, Muhammad Ubale, a teacher in the school, said the government’s intervention had eased the burden on Parents Teachers Association (PTA), which previously engaged watchmen to protect the school.
Moreso, Basiru Inuwa, a Principal at the Kargo Junior Secondary School, said the initiative substantially checked cases of theft in the school.
He also identified inadequate cooperation from some members of the community as a challenge to effective security in the school.
On his part, Abbas Hamisu, a parent, lauded the initiative, adding that it had enhanced security and restored parents’ confidence in public schools.
“Now, I don’t fear sending my children to school because security has improved considerably”.
However, a teacher, who pleaded anonymity, expressed concern over the delayed payment of salaries to the guards deployed to the schools.
He alleged that some of the guards did not receive their salaries in the last seven months, warning that the situation could affect their morale.
He urged the government to sustain funding, fence vulnerable schools and ensure prompt payment of security guard salaries to consolidate the gains recorded under the initiative.
