So far this year 14 schools have been burnt down in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, northern Nigeria, forcing over 7,000 children out of formal education and pushing down enrolment rates in an already ill-educated region. In a video posted on YouTube in February, Boko Haram, a Islamic jihadist group based in Nigeria, called upon its 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 complete schooling. “We are appealing to parents to keep their children in school and not be intimidated,” Musa Inuwa, the commissioner for education in Borno State, told IRIN. State officials are assuring parents 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 students at targeted schools who end up being affected. Targeting of schools can lead children in neighbouring schools to stay at home or drop out completely for fear of further attacks,” says Eric Guttschuss, researcher on Nigeria for the watchdog organisation Human Rights Watch.

 

The authorities have responded to the crisis by pledging to rebuild all government schools which have been burned or bombed. Five private schools were also destroyed and a teacher at the Success Stars Secondary School, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals by Boko Haram, said his school too deserved state funds for rebuilding. “Many students enroled with us because the state schools are full, but where is the state now?” he asks.

 

Staff attendance has also dwindled, says Suleiman Aliyu, headmaster of the Future Prowess Islamic Foundation, a private school offering both Islamic and Western education, which caters to the growing number of orphans in the state. “Almost every week a teacher calls in to say she is staying  home because there is shooting in their area,” says Aliyu. The school has not been targeted by Boko Haram thus far, but the headmaster fears “it’s only a matter of time”.

 

Meanwhile the joint military task force deployed to Borno State to enforce Operation Restore Order in 2011 has stepped up patrols around state schools. Most of the schools targeted by suspected Boko Haram members provide Western as well as Islamic education, sending a message to parents that they must choose only Islamic education for their children. Although Islamic schools have a long tradition in the region, they are not regulated by the authorities and graduates have no formal qualifications.

 

“Young people should be employable. Having only Islamic education will not make you employable, which is why we need to encourage parents to choose Western education for their children,” says Inuwa.