‘Security has improved’ — Zamfara reopens 45 secondary schools

The Zamfara government says it has reopened 45 of the 75 schools that were shut down as a result of insecurity in the state.

Kabiru Attahiru, permanent secretary in the ministry of education, spoke on Wednesday when he received members of the state’s technical team on education in emergencies (EiE).

Zamfara closed its schools in September 2021 following the abduction of students of Government Day Secondary School in Kaya, Maradun LGA of the state.

“While reopening the schools, we categorised them into three groups – green, yellow and red,” Attahiru said.

“Green were schools located in areas without security threats. The yellow group is for schools located in areas with little threat of insecurity, while the red ones were schools in those areas with high security risks.”

He said all the 75 schools fell into the red group at the time of their closure as it was dangerous to allow them to remain open.

“Today, I am happy to inform you that as a result of improvement of security in the state, we reopened 45 out of the 75 schools, while only 30 of the schools remain shut,” he said.

“Government and security agencies have been working together to ensure improved security in the state.

“We are hoping for more improvement in security in the state so that we can reopen the remaining 30 schools.”

The permanent secretary commended the EiE team for the visit and assured them of the ministry’s commitment to continue to partner with all stakeholders to promote the education sector in the state.