Children of Paiko community in Gwagwalada Area Council of Federal Capital Territory-FCTA the Nigerian capital city are learning on a bare floor because the government could not provide chairs for them to sit and learn.
On a visit to the LEA Primary School Paiko, one sees a good number of children sitting on the bare floor and taking classes. A situation that is an abuse of their right and dignity.
Mr. Usman, a community champion who spoke to MAWA about the deplorable condition of the school, says the situation has made some parents withdraw their kids because they do not want them to continue sitting on the floor.
He added that parents who do not have money to take their kids to another school ended up keeping them at home, making them not access any form of formal education.
Mr. Usman, who claims to have monitored many public schools across Gwagwalada Area Council, described the condition of schools in many communities as highly deplorable that needs government intervention to be addressed.
The implication is that, if the FCTA and Gwagwalada Area Council continue to allow public schools to be this deplorable, many children in the rural areas, particularly those from poor homes will be denied access to quality education. And, this has a dire consequence on the nation’s development.
If schools in Abuja and other communities in Nigeria are allowed to be in this deplorable condition, Nigeria’s chances of achieving SDGs goal 4 (quality education) will be very much impossible.
A primary School teacher in one of the schools in Gwagwalada Area Council who spoke to MAWA and wants his identity concealed, described public primary and secondary schools in the Area Council as hugely deplorable and below standard.
According to him, virtually all the Primary and Secondary Schools located in the rural areas of Abuja are in deplorable condition and do not fit a conducive environment for decent learning.
MAWA-Foundation could not immediately reach out to Gwagwalada Area Council Authority for an official response.