•An empty classroom at LEA Primary School in Gidan Bijimi Community in Bwari Area Council, FCT Abuja
The already poor state of the Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School in Gidan-Bijimi village, Kawu ward of Bwari Area Council in the FCT, has further deteriorated, as only 17 out of the 136 enrolled pupils now attend classes, investigations by our reporter have revealed.
A visit by our correspondent to the school on Friday showed that the two blocks of classrooms, including the headmaster’s office, are in deplorable condition, with parts of the roofs blown off by windstorms. The classrooms have no windows or doors, the ceilings are collapsing, the walls are cracked, and there are no desks or chairs for the pupils, reports Daily Trust.
Our correspondent also observed that some community members had resorted to spreading ginger inside two unused classrooms.
Some parents told our reporter that they have stopped sending their children to school because the crumbling classrooms pose a danger to the pupils’ safety.
Mrs. Grace Yohana, a parent, said her husband had repeatedly drawn the attention of the head teacher to the need for the management of the LEA in Bwari to fix the classrooms and provide furniture, but nothing was done. As a result, he stopped their children from attending school.
“How I wish my husband were at home, but he has gone to the farm. He would have explained in detail the efforts he made concerning the dilapidated condition of the school. The classrooms have no chairs, no windows, no doors, and the roofs have been blown off,” she said.
Another parent, Markus Bawa, said his children also stopped attending the school due to its deteriorating infrastructure. He noted that the buildings had been in disrepair for over two years, making learning unsafe and uncomfortable. He eventually transferred his two children to an LEA school in Zuma community.
“In fact, during the rainy season, the children cannot sit in the classrooms because they are always flooded. Many children have to remain at home,” he said.
A teacher at the school, who preferred anonymity, said the pupils’ absence was largely due to the attitudes of parents. According to him, many indigenous parents have not sent their children to school for over a year, despite repeated sensitisation efforts.
“I am an indigene of this community and I know how we have tried to talk to parents to allow their children to attend school, but many don’t care,” he said.
He added that many parents now enrol their children in schools in neighbouring villages in Bwari, while some children prefer to accompany their parents to the farms.
The chairman of the school’s Parents Teachers Association (PTA), Mr. Yakubu Akaito, also blamed some parents for the low turnout of pupils. He said he had engaged several school committees to encourage parents to send their children to school, but with limited results.
He noted that despite the poor infrastructure and lack of furniture, the head teacher has continued to push for intervention from the LEA in Bwari.
“So whatever some parents may be telling you—that children are not coming to school because there are no teachers—is not true. The real challenge is the dilapidated state of the school and lack of desks and chairs. The head teacher and I have been working tirelessly to get LEA management to intervene,” he said.
A retired director in the FCT education secretariat’s department of policy implementation, Mr. Jatau Bala Daniel, who is also from the community, said the parents have tried their best to keep their children in school. However, he noted that the decaying state of the buildings has been discouraging.
He dismissed claims that only the children of Gbagyi and Fulani residents attend classes, while others do not, saying teachers have also been committed to educating the pupils.
“The claim that parents here don’t allow their children to go to school is false, though some parents have moved their children to schools outside the community due to insecurity, especially after bandits attacked schools in broad daylight,” he said.
Daniel called on the Bwarii Area Council authorities to work with the FCT Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) to rehabilitate the school and provide necessary infrastructure.
“Rehabilitating the entire school and providing furniture will definitely encourage parents to send their wards back to school,” he added.
The head teacher, Sa’adu Suleiman, confirmed that only 17 out of the 136 enrolled pupils currently attend classes, and they are the only ones writing the ongoing examinations.
“All the 17 pupils are Gbagyi and Fulani children who have been regular in class, while the main indigenes of the community don’t come to school,” he said.
He could not explain why indigenous families have refused to send their children to school, saying even supervisors who are indigenes have failed to convince parents to bring their wards.
“Last year, bandits invaded this community and some neighbouring villages in broad daylight, abducting people. Out of fear, some parents moved their children to schools in Bwari. Others are still at home but do not come to school,” he said.
He added that efforts were ongoing to get LEA officials to address the school’s crumbling infrastructure.
The director of the FCT UBEB, Dr. Hassan Suleiman, could not be reached for comment, but a senior board official, who was not authorised to speak, confirmed that the board had received reports from the school about the deteriorating structures.
He said the board had already identified several remote schools, including Gidan-Bijimi, to receive furniture and other learning materials next year, along with renovation works.
“As you know, the board has been renovating various primary schools, and the Gidan-Bijimi school has already been captured. Renovation work will commence next year,” he said.
