Suwaiba Ahmad, who was a guest on Channels Televisions’ Political Paradigm show, feared that time would be lost if schools remained shut for Ramadan.

The Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad, has urged the governments of Bauchi, Katsina, Kebbi, and Kano states to reconsider their decisions to shut down state-owned schools for Ramadan.

Ahmad, who was a guest on Channels Televisions’ Political Paradigm show, feared that time would be lost if schools remained shut for Ramadan.

According to her, the Federal Ministry of Education has started engaging the four state governments to re-open the school though she admitted that the Federal Government has no control over state-owned schools.

There has been outrage over the closure of schools in at least four northern states with predominantly Muslim inhabitants for the Ramadan fast.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has argued that the closure of schools for five weeks in the region with high-level poverty and illiteracy was counterproductive, discriminatory and a violation of the rights of non-Muslim students living in the affected states.

The Christian body also argued that the closure of schools for the Ramadan fast would worsen the educational crisis. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Nigeria had about 18.3 million out-of-school children as of 2024. (Channels TV)