尼日利亚为失学儿童重建学校

AS IT IS 2016-09-10 Northeast Nigeria Rebuilds, Prepares for Schools to Open 尼日利亚为失学儿童重建学校

Schools are to open in Nigeria this month, but millions of children may not be able to attend.

Nigeria has one of the world’s largest populations of children who are not in school -- about one-third of the country’s schoolchildren, according to a recent report by the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Many school-age children cannot go to classes because of attacks by the Boko Haram terrorist¹ group in the northeast. The terrorists² believe Western education is wrong. They not only destroy schools -- they also kill teachers, and have forced more than 2.7 million people to flee.

UNICEF says 1,200 schools in Nigeria were closed because they were damaged, looted or used to shelter displaced³ people.

However, officials are trying to get more children into schools this year.

Not just Chibok

More than two years ago, Boko Haram terrorists attacked the Government Secondary School in Chibok, kidnapped more than 270 schoolgirls and destroyed many of the school’s buildings.

The school in Chibok was not the only one attacked by Boko Haram.

Musa Inuwa Kubo is the education minister for Borno, the northeastern state where much of the conflict between government troops and the terrorists has taken place over the last seven years. Kubo says Boko Haram has destroyed more than 134 schools.

The state government has taken steps to open most of the schools in Borno state by moving internally displaced people -- or IDPs -- out of classrooms.

Kubo says the state government has also started rebuilding destroyed schools. But not all schools will open. Kubo says 15 schools are in areas too dangerous for classes to start.

Displaced people

UNICEF spokesman⁴ Toby Fricker says some schools will have to deal with a large increase in the number of students.

Many people have fled to the state capital Maiduguri. Fricker says the move could mean that students who may not have been able to attend school in their home areas can go to classes in the areas to which they have fled.

“You really have a lot of displaced people who are in towns, or even in internally-displaced camps, and in some cases have easier access to education because of the location, in terms of the travel to school is not as far...”

Rebuilding Chibok

The kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls caused people throughout the world to criticize Boko Haram. Some of the girls were able to escape immediately. But only one girl has been rescued since the attack.

The attack also damaged the Chibok school. Eventually, the government had to destroy it. People said students were left without anywhere to study. But now Nigerian Army troops are rebuilding classrooms and dormitories.

Parents of the missing girls support the rebuilding of the school.

Esther Yakubu says if her kidnapped daughter Dorcas Yakubu is rescued, she would let her attend classes in Chibok.

“I would send her to that school," she said. "Only that she cannot sleep in the school anymore.”

She says if her daughter had not slept at the school overnight, she would not have been kidnapped.

Words in This Story

loot – v. to steal things from (a place, such as a store or house) during a war or after destruction has been caused by fire, rioting⁵, etc.

access – n. a way of being able to use or get something (usually + to)

dormitory – n. a building on a school campus that has rooms where students can live

according - prep. as stated or reported by

internally - adj. existing or happening within a country, organization or system

1 terrorist   

n.恐怖主义者，恐怖分子

参考例句：

• Without the gun,I'm a sitting duck for any terrorist.没有这支枪，我就成了恐怖分子下手的目标了。
• The district was put on red alert during a terrorist's bomb scare.这个地区在得到恐怖分子炸弹恐吓后作了应急准备。

2 terrorists   

n.恐怖主义者，恐怖分子( terrorist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The terrorists have halted their bloody campaign of violence. 恐怖分子已经停止了他们凶残的暴力活动。
• They were finally forced to capitulate to the terrorists' demands. 他们最后被迫屈从恐怖分子的要求。

3 displaced   

移动( displace的过去式和过去分词 )； 替换； 移走； 撤职

参考例句：

• Gradually factory workers have been displaced by machines. 工厂的工人已逐渐被机器取代。
• He was displaced by another young man. 他已被另一个年轻人顶替。

4 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。

5 rioting   

暴乱，骚乱

参考例句：

• There were ugly scenes in the streets last night as rioting continued. 昨晚暴乱持续之际，街上险象环生。
• They are rioting in the streets. 他们在街上闹事。