Islamister brænder nigerianske skoler

Forfatter billede

7.000 børn er berøvet muligheden for at gå i skole i et område af det nordlige Nigeria, hvor uddannelsesniveauet i forvejen er lavt. Myndighederne appellerer til forældre om ikke at lade sig skræmme af islamister.

BORNO STATE, NIGERIA, 20 APRIL 2012. IRIN News. So far this year 14 schools have been burnt down in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in northern Nigeria.

In a video posted on YouTube in February, Boko Haram, the Islamic jihadist group based in Nigeria, called on their followers to destroy schools providing Western education.

School enrolment is already lower in Borno – 28 percent – than in any other state in Nigeria, according to the Nigeria Education Data Survey 2010. The recent attacks are making it even harder for teachers and aid groups to persuade parents to let their children stay on at school.

Appeal to parents

“We are appealing to parents to keep their children in school and not to be intimidated,” Musa Inuwa, the Commissioner for Education in Borno State.

State officials are assuring parents that it is still safe to send their children to school, and Inuwa has begun visiting schools more frequently to give motivational talks to pupils and staff.

“It’s not just the students at the targeted schools that end up being affected. Targeting of schools can lead children in neighbouring schools to stay home or drop out completely for fear of further attacks,” says Eric Guttschuss, Researcher on Nigeria for Human Rights Watch.

Læs hele artiklen http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95327/NIGERIA-School-attendance-down-after-Boko-Haram-attacks