We may lose N32bn yearly to unsafe schools — Zainab

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has said the country could lose N32 billion annually to unsafe schooling environment.

She disclosed this on Tuesday during a press briefing at the end of the “High Level Dialogue: Financing Safe Schools: Creating Safe Learning Communities” organised by the Ministry in Abuja.

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“It will cost us at least N32bn per annum if we don’t keep our schools safe. There have been analysis that has been done and there have been some numbers that have been released on that.

“Also when you invest in a child to acquire an education, for every $2 you invest in a child you can get a contribution to the GDP of up to $20,” she said.

She said the federal government is coordinating an effort to raise funds to make Nigerian schools safe. She also said a national plan to making Nigerian schools safer will developed and implemented.

“We will invest more in education in the right secured and safe environment. Investing in the education of our children is investing in the economy. That is why the Ministry of Finance is leading this.”

She also revealed that the Chairman of the Governors Forum Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State had said “each state will be budgeting between 15 to 20 percent of each state budget to education and a good part of that will be used to the safety of the schools.”

Governor Fayemi at the event said: If we keep truncating the ability of our children to go to school and learn and acquire the necessary skills, we will be in serious trouble as a country.

“If our children go to school, they won’t be idle and won’t join bandits. There is no country that has developed without skilled labour.”