There are growing concerns over deterioration of public secondary schools in Abuja, heightening fears of insecurity among teachers and students.

Worried by the infrastructural decay, parents and residents have appealed to the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to rehabilitate the dilapidated structures for better learning experience, and protect the students against attacks.

For instance, schools like Government Secondary School Kubwa I and II; Government Secondary School Byazhin; Government Secondary School Bwari; Government Secondary School, Dutse, and other public schools within the city centre like Jabi and Garki, have collapsed fences, making them soft spots for insurgent attacks.

In the schools visited, The Guardian noticed that some classes had no ceilings, are with cracked walls, and floors ridden with holes, a testament to how old the structures are. Also, some doors and windows have fallen off in these classes.

According to residents, Abuja public secondary schools always had standard structures until recently.

The hardship brought to the residents by the fuel subsidy removal has forced many parents to move their wards from private schools to public ones, thereby putting pressure on the poor structures.

Some parents attributed the development to insensitivity and lackadaisical attitude of past administrations to education.

According to a parent, Mrs Idowu Agnes, “The decline started in 2013 during the administration of Bala Mohammed.

“I attended a public school in Abuja and the structures at the time were far better than what we have now. When I visited my alma mater recently, Government Secondary School Bwari, it was an eyesore. I want to appeal to the new administration to revamp public schools in FCT,” Agnes stated.

An educationist, Dame Joyce Kamsi, said: “Education should be top priority for the new administration. The minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, has a track record of developing infrastructures, he should bring the same energy to public schools in Abuja. The Model school near Phase 3 Mosque, in Kubwa has no ceilings. The Vice Principal’s office was rickety and loosely constructed with ceiling sheets. That is so strange coming from a school in Abuja. Pupils learn better in a serene and conducive environment.”

Some students, who spoke to The Guardian said the condition is so bad during the raining season, as learning is disrupted.

A Senior Secondary School (SSS) 1 student, in one of the schools visited, Sanusi Kabiru, said: “My class doesn’t have a ceiling. During the daytime, when the sun is hot, the classroom becomes so hot that nobody pays attention to the teachers.”

Another student, Ubong Edet, also lamented: “Whenever it rains, water enters my class because the windows are bad. If it rains on weekends, we resume finding water all over the classroom, and it takes hours for us to clean. The time spent in doing that could have been spent on learning.”

A female student from one of the Junior secondary schools, Tumininu Israel, said her class is a meeting point for miscreants as the school has no fence.

She said: “The fence in my school has since collapsed, thus exposing us to danger. Sometimes, when we resume, we see empty bottles of beer everywhere, last week, we found a dagger on the floor, we had to take it to the principal’s office. It is terrifying.”

Another junior secondary school student, Friday Oche, said: “When rain starts, the whole class becomes dark, the sounds on the roof with no ceiling, and water entering the class, discourage teachers from coming to class.

Responding, the Information and Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Secondary Education Board, Dr. Maisana Yahaya, who spoke on behalf of the director, Dr. Mohammad Ladan, assured of the administration’s commitment towards fixing dilapidated school structures in the FCT.

He said: “I want you to understand that a few of these schools are not owned by the board, it is just like a lease. If you visit Kubwa Phase 3 secondary school, you would discover that it’s not their permanent site.

“When a tenant borrows from the landlord, there is always a limitation. If you rent a house, before you carry out any major repair, the landlord must be carried along. Most of the schools in Kubwa are on rented buildings, they are not on their permanent site.

“Generally speaking, the government in FCT is trying, Abuja public schools are the best. Compared to other states, in terms of qualitative education, we are the best.

“All our staff are graduates, some have Masters and PhD. Just recently some teachers were sent to Canada for entrepreneurship and trade training, to come and retrain our students. That doesn’t happen in other states.”

“FCT administration’s dedication to her schools is amazing; we have a team of inspectors who go around schools three to four times in a term, while the director goes around every day to inspect these schools.   “There are also natural occurrences that affect the structures; flood for instance, when the rain is very intense, it pulls down the fences of these schools.2

Yahaya, however, appealed to the government to improve the security of the schools.

He said: “Let me use this opportunity to appeal to the government to help in securing these schools, especially those with boarding facilities.

“Besides, we appeal to the government to build more classrooms, because more students are coming from private schools due to the harsh economic situation.