By Joseph Erunke, ABUJA

Following the backlash that has trailed recent increment in school fees in the country, the federal government on Friday, said it would engage Parent Teachers Association, PTA and stakeholders in education sector to amicably address it.

This was as the government said it would develop learning centres in Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs camps across the country.

Minister of State for Education,Dr Yusuf Sununu said these at a media conference in Abuja to mark the commemoration of the International Day to Protect Education from Attack in Abuja on Friday.

The minister,who noted that increment in school fees could have contributed immensely to what he referred to as “attacks in schools”, said it was time for government and critical stakeholders to look into the issue to prevent further attacks.

 Noting that Nigeria in recent past has had more than a fair share of attacks on education system at all levels, the minister regretted that the attacks were not only physical but also non-physical, adding that the actions were deliberately carried out by the perpetrators with a view to weakening the nation’s education standards.

 He said: “So many areas that require finances are being attacked but we must also look at the constitutional provisions.

“The constitutional provisions expressly states that free education but with a caveat ‘when government can afford’ and that is why it comes also as voluntary contributions by all stakeholders.

“When we say safety in schools, it is a collective responsibility. So we are going to encourage formal negotiations.

“Where we cannot provide, it is to encourage PTA and relevant institutions so that we can agree to a term that is acceptable to all of us.

“Also, we will encourage a lot of partnerships as part of areas that can bring peace. Whether we agree or not, we must appreciate the role of PTAs in sustaining services in lots of our schools in both local and federal levels.

“So, while we do that with scarce resources, at the ministry level, we try to see how we can block leakages and see how more funds can be available to schools to ensure that quality education is affordable, acceptable to every Nigerians without decreasing the quality of education.”

Sununu,who clarified that government had ratified the Safe School Declaration in December 2019 and developed a safe school policy in furtherance to upholding the right to education in emergency situations, assured that the ministry would develop learning centres in IDPs’ camps .

He said:“Nigeria in recent past has had more than a fair share of attacks on our education system at all levels. These attacks are not only physical but also non-physical, especially on deliberate attempts to water down our standards of education.

“The Federal Ministry of Education, in partnership with relevant stakeholders, have put in place various strategies to deal with these attacks.

” All our efforts would be geared towards implementing the safe school policy for all. The pre-activities of the celebration include playlet, dance, drama, poetic rendition and quiz competition.

“The presentation by learners are expected to emphasise the need for collaboration and focus on school safety policy for implementation guidance by all stakeholders.”