Thousands of Boarding Students In Zamfara Sleep On Bare Floor, Have Insufficient Food

Government Unity Secondary School Gummi, Zamfara State. Credit: Federal Ministry of Information

A preliminary report on secondary schools assessment carried out by a committee led by Professor Tukur Adamu has revealed shocking details about the conditions in which boarding students in Zamfara State secondary schools live.

About 31,000 students have no beads in their dormitories and sleep on bare floors or mats.

Most of the toilets are over stretched, and some students are forced to defecate in open places including the kitchen area where their meals are cooked, Professor Adamu said while presenting the report to the governor of Zamfara AbdulAziz Yari.

Professor said that makeshift structures are often used as offices and classrooms, especially in schools in rural areas.

AbdulAziz Yari

According to Professor Adamu, the situation with schools in meals is also alarming. On the day professor's team visited one secondary school in Gusau, about 917 students did not get breakfast. Besides, there have been reports of cases of food diversion with the involvement of school principals. And even where meals are served to the students, they are often insufficient and under poor hygienic condition, Professor Adamu added.

Governor Yari expressed shock at the revelation and promised to implement the recommendations of the report.

"We are determined to bring back the lost glory of the education sector because had it been we were treated the way these children are being handled, we would not have been here as governors, permanent secretaries, professors and directors," he said.