“From Shade Trees to a Classroom”: Hope Reaches Jigawa’s Forgotten

A grassroots education organisation, The Transit Education Initiative, has built a thatched school in Rugar Jatau, Malam-Madori Local Government Area of Jigawa State, to provide learning opportunities for children in the remote settlement.

The initiative aims to reduce the number of out-of-school children by providing both Western and Islamic education to children in underserved communities.

A Beacon of Hope in a Remote Settlement

For years, the children of Rugar Jatau, a remote settlement in Malam-Madori Local Government Area of Jigawa State, have been learning under trees with no chairs, no books and no teachers. But a grassroots education organisation has stepped in to change that.

The Transit Education Initiative has built a thatched school in Rugar Jatau to provide learning opportunities for children in the remote settlement.

The initiative aims to reduce the number of out-of-school children by providing both Western and Islamic education to children in underserved communities.

A Father’s Gratitude

A 48-year-old father of nine, Ibrahim Ado, expressed the community’s gratitude for the intervention.

“For years our children have been learning under trees with no chairs, no books, and no teachers. We are very happy that this project has remembered us,” he said.

“We want our children to receive education that will help them in life. This school is a blessing to our community,” he added.

Bridging the Educational Exclusion Gap

Speaking in a telephone interview, the Coordinator of the organisation, Dr Tijjani Mukaddas, said the project was designed to address the difficulty faced by children living far from conventional schools.

“This is part of our grassroots effort to take education closer to children in underserved nomadic communities across Jigawa State,” Mukaddas said.

“This programme is aimed at helping to bridge the educational exclusion gap in Nigeria. Many nomadic children still lack access to formal schooling because of where they live and the challenges of reaching existing schools,” he added.

Reaching More Than 300 Children

Giving details of the intervention in Rugar Jatau, the coordinator said more than 300 children had been re-enrolled through the programme, with four teachers currently teaching them different subjects.

He added that more than 10 communities in Kafin Hausa and settlements bordering Jahun and Miga Local Government Areas had also been mobilised to encourage parents to enrol their children.

The Challenge of Access

Mukaddas said several communities in Jigawa currently had no access to formal schools. He listed Ataru Karate, Alimawa, Garin Malammai, Gidan Gabar, Gidan Lilo, Salamawa, Ataru, Gidan Na Dabo, Rukumawa, Goran and Jata among the communities without schools.

“We are planning to build thatch schools in these areas,” he added. He also said children in Tsuburowa community, Malam-Madori LGA, currently learn under trees.

“For Tsuburowa community in Malam-Madori LGA, they learn under the trees. We plan to build makarantar zana, ‘the Hut school’, for them.”For Kandalari community in Kaugama Local Government, there is no school there.

The coordinator stated that the initiative also plans to extend its intervention to border communities in Maigatari and Birniwa local government areas.

A Call for Support

Mukaddas called on the Jigawa State Government, local authorities, development partners, philanthropists and other stakeholders to support the initiative and help provide schools in hard-to-reach communities.

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“There is a need for government and stakeholders to work together to bring every out-of-school child back into the education system.

Communities in remote areas should also benefit from educational interventions because their children deserve the same opportunities as those in urban centres,” he said.

A Lesson for Nigeria

The Transit Education Initiative’s intervention is a reminder that education is a right, not a privilege.

The same politicians who celebrate school enrolment figures will never allow their own children to learn under trees.

Their families are protected.

For Nigeria, the lesson is clear: the government cannot do it alone. The same leaders who fail to provide schools in remote communities will never allow their own children to be denied education.

But for the children of Rugar Jatau, a thatched school is a lifeline.

Support grassroots education. Invest in rural schools. And never forget that every child deserves a chance to learn.