FG allocates ₦15billion to fund Safe Schools Initiative

The Federal Government said it has allocated a total of ₦15 billion to fund the implementation of financing Safe Schools Initiative for 2023.

National Coordinator of the Safe Schools Initiative, Halima Illiya Ibrahim, said this at a press briefing held in Abuja.

Ibrahim said the initiative aimed to enable children affected by conflicts and insecurity to continue their education unhindered and chart a way forward in addressing attacks on schools.

She stated that to achieve progress in achieving the various commitments to protect Schools and Children from further attacks, the immediate past Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, had approved the setting up of the Financing Safe Schools Secretariat/Unit for planning and coordinating Safe Schools activities in the Ministry.

According to her, a technical committee or technical working group comprising critical agencies, the Ministry of Education, the Nigerian Governor’s Forum (NGF), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Department of State Security Service (DSS), and Defence Headquarters—was saddled with the responsibility to develop a National Plan on Financing Safe Schools.

Ibrahim added that the committees developed a plan that will be implemented between 2023 and 2026, with a total investment of ₦144.86 billion in December 2022.

According to her, the plan proposes to allocate ₦32.58 billion in 2023, ₦36.98 billion in 2024, ₦37.15 billion in 2025, and ₦38.03 billion in 2026.

She added that funding comes through Annual Budgetary provisions from federal, state, and local governments, government interventionists, agencies, foreign and multilateral institutions, businesses and philanthropists, donors, partners, and others.

Ibrahim reiterated that the implementation strategy aims to cover 50% of the most at-risk Public Schools over the medium term 2023 – 2026.

She also disclosed that the implementation of the national plan has kicked off in 18 high-risk states and 48 schools, hoping that it will spread across states by 2024.

Ibrahim stated that the plan focuses on achieving the following, among other things: creating and integrating security-resilient host communities in the protection of education.

The Head of Education and the representative of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum, Ebenezer Leo, said that safeguarding schools is a collective responsibility for all, in which the Governor’s Forum is much interested.

Leo added that stakeholders, states, and sub-national governments are very much committed and fully in agreement with the safeguarding of children and the protection of schools.

He also assured that the funds released would be adequately utilised and promised that the committee would record significant achievements before the year ends.