81 students displaced by Boko Haram are studying in Kaduna – Official

No fewer than 81 students displaced by Boko Haram insurgency are studying under the Safe School Initiative in Kaduna.

Tijjani Tumsah, the Vice Chairman, Presidential Committee on North East Initiative, made this known on Wednesday during a routine evaluation and monitoring of students under the Initiative in Kaduna.

According to him, the students were making progress and should be encouraged to be useful to themselves and the society.

Tumsah said: “Some of the students have not been to school for some years but they are picking up fast.

“Unity schools are the perfect place for them to socialise and blend because of the different cultures, traditions and religions in the country.”

He said five of the students had passed their JAMB and had written the West African Examination and were now waiting for the NECO examination.

Tumsah said the Federal Government would sustain the scholarship programme and encourage the students so as not to abscond from the programme.

Edith Obianwuzia, Vice Principal, Federal Government College, Kaduna, said the school had to come up with a new curriculum for the students because they had been out of school for a while.

She said the initiative should be encouraged as the teachers themselves were putting up their best to ensure that the students become useful to the society.

Obianwuzia said: “During the midterm break these students do not go home, this makes teachers to stay back and ensure that they get extra lessons and feed properly.”