From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
Save the Children International has handed over newly renovated classrooms and latrines to schools in Chikun and Igabi Local Government Areas as part of the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) project, urging communities and school authorities to ensure proper maintenance and protection of these facilities for children’s use.
During the handover ceremony, ECW Project Manager Altine Lewi stated that the ECW initiative, Cannot Wait, is funded by education funds, with support from the Japanese government, and focuses on aiding displaced and vulnerable children in northwestern Nigeria to ensure they can continue attending school.
“We all know what is happening in the northwestern states of Nigeria, where we have a lot of children being displaced due to insecurity, conflict, and other climate change effects on our locations,” Lewi explained. “ECW provided these funds to ensure that children, wherever they are, attend school.”
She added that, beyond rehabilitating classrooms and latrines, the project established alternative learning centers and enrolled out-of-school children into formal institutions. After three to four months of learning, interested children were re-enrolled in formal schools in partnership with the Education Secretariat.
Lewi emphasized that the project also prioritizes children’s safety. Save the Children collaborated with communities to create safe spaces where children participate in life skills and protection sessions, helping them understand their rights and encouraging them to seek support from parents and the community.
The organization also held weekly sessions for parents and caregivers on positive parenting, educating them on how to protect and raise children safely. “We do not discourage punishing children, but we want the discipline to be in a safe way.
“In a way that the child would understand that a parent is trying to put him on the right track, not being wicked or trying to harm him”, Lewis stated.
She noted that the handover includes renovated classrooms and latrines in several schools, including Amana, Parda, Sabon Gida, Maraban-Rido, Rido, and Udawa.
“Our hope is, as we hand over these items, they will be used in a way that the children will enjoy the benefit of these structures,” she said.
However, Lewi expressed concern about poor sanitation in some schools that have already installed the new latrines. “If the inside is not neat, no child will use it. And for us, it defeats the aim of what we are trying to do,” she noted.
To address this, the project supplied sanitation materials and urged school management and School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs) to keep the latrines clean for safe use.
She called for ongoing advocacy with the LGA, government, SUBEB, and the Ministry of Education to ensure water is provided to schools lacking access. She urged head teachers to monitor contractors during construction and report substandard work.
She reminded stakeholders of the project’s toll-free line, stressing that communities must serve as the project’s “eyes and ears” to ensure quality.
School head teachers at the beneficiary schools commended Save the Children and the ECW project for restoring dignity to unsafe ad unusable learning environments.
They noted that the new classrooms and functional latrines have already increased attendance and morale among pupils, especially girls, and pledged to work with SBMCs to enforce cleanliness and protect the structures.
Community leaders from Chikun and Igabi also expressed gratitude for the intervention, describing it as timely relief for displaced and neglected children.
They promised to mobilize parents to take ownership, provide water where possible, and support school management to ensure the buildings serve future generations. “This school is ours. We will guard it like our homes,” one community leader said.
Representing the Director of Social Mobilization at SUBEB, Malam Kabiru Lawal, Principal Social Mobilization Officer, Asma’u Idris Lere, expressed appreciation to Save the Children for its work in Kaduna State.
“They provide support to learners, renovate schools, and supply many WASH materials and other resources. We appreciate all their efforts,” she said.
Lere urged schools, especially SBMCs, to take ownership of the facilities.
“They should take care of the property and also take ownership of the schools in their communities because the school is meant for them, as it is located in their own community,” she added.
Yahaya Bala Yahaya, Education Secretary of Igabi LGA, thanked Save the Children International for its ongoing support, noting that two schools in Igabi benefited from the renovation of a two-classroom block with an office and toilets.
“Initially, these classrooms were in poor condition, and the toilets were inaccessible. But now, if you visit, you will see that there is a noticeable improvement,” he stated.
Yahaya expressed gratitude to both Save the Children International and the Kaduna State Government for facilitating these interventions and pledged to use and maintain them properly.
“We want to assure them that we will do our best to maximize the use of these renovated structures and to keep them in good condition,” he concluded.
