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Public school teachers are facing serious threats from charm-carrying students in rural areas, who not only display anti-social behaviour and acts of extreme hooliganism but also threaten teachers with rape and physical assault.
This was one of the findings of a leading Pro-democracy group, Kwara Must Change, which is at forefront of improving public schools in Kwara State.
In a statement by the convener of Kwara Must Change, Abdulrazaq Hamzat, the group said that its investigation shows that beyond the normal inconveniences some teachers face as a result of being deployed to rural areas, one of the major challenges is the lack of security for the school environments and the teachers themselves.
Hamzat explained that many teachers who spoke with Kwara Must Change told us that the lives of teachers are not safe because of the nature of their rural environment.
“Some students come to school with charms, display anti-social behaviour and extreme acts of hooliganism and when a teacher tries to correct or punish them, they threaten you with charms”.
The situation is even more aggravated because when some students are punished or caught with charms, and their parents are informed of such development, they take the side of their children, adding that such situations had made the students grow out of teachers’ control.
“We are now facing a situation where secondary school students will tell the male teachers that they will deal with them from their hideout within the bush areas, sometimes, even threatening to rape a female teacher”.
Hamzat further explained that most schools in rural areas are not fenced, they are close to bushes and students easily walk into the bushes during school hours outside the control of their teachers.
“We don’t have enough classes, some of our classes had collapsed, we have even converted our staff room and laboratory to classes just to be able to watch over the students, and we the teachers now seat under trees and the ministry and SUBEB are not responding to our letters,” they said.
Kwara Must Change also heard of situations where students simply engage in illict acts within the school environment after closing hours, due to a lack of fence or any kind of security.
“The lives of rural teachers are constantly under threat from students and this account for why some teachers are always seeking ways to redeploy, especially since their schools do not have any form of security that could serve as cover for them”.
Kwara Must Change is therefore calling on the government at all levels to engage permanent security in all rural schools and prioritize the security of rural teachers, and provide necessary facilities for rural schools.
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