As schools across Taraba State prepare to reopen on Monday, the familiar early morning rush will no doubt take an unfamiliar shape for thousands of families.
Students who once woke to the clang of hostel bells and the predictability of supervised routines, will now rise before dawn scrambling onto buses, trekking long distances or navigating unreliable transport networks just to arrive in school on time.
This new reality, as observed by DAILY POST, follows recent directive bygovernor Agbu Kefas for the immediate closure of all boarding hostels in public and private secondary schools across the state.
Weeks after the announcement, the policy is noticed to have begun to reshape daily life for students, parents and educators alike, effectively converting all secondary schools into day schools.
The government insists the move was unavoidable. According to the Commissioner for Education, Augustina Godwin, the directive was prompted by a nationwide surge in kidnappings, including attacks on schools in several states. In Taraba, she said, boarding hostels had become particularly vulnerable, with recent insecurity incidents heightening fears for students’ safety.
For many students, boarding school represented far more than a place to sleep. It offered structure set study hours, close supervision and a stable learning environment that was often lacking at home. Teachers who spoke to our reporter said that stability has been abruptly replaced by long commutes, irregular attendance and mounting distractions.
Learning time has been cut. Some of them travel for hours every day. By the time they get here, they are already worn out,” one teacher said.
Parents are feeling the pressure. Those who live far from schools, particularly in rural communities, describe daily attendance as exhausting and expensive. Transport fares, meals and constant supervision must now be juggled alongside work and other responsibilities.
“What used to be a full-time school solution is now an exhausting daily obligation. You have to rush to work, rush back, and worry about food, transport and safety all at once,” one parent said.
Low income families, parents confessed that they are bearing the heaviest burden. In some households, the financial and emotional strain is already forcing difficult choices. Our reporter observed rising absenteeism in several schools, while some families are considering withdrawing their children altogether.
Education stakeholders warn that the policy could deepen inequality within the system. For decades, boarding schools served as a critical bridge for students from remote communities, providing access to education that geography would otherwise deny them. Without hostels, school heads fear that only families in urban centres or with better resources will be able to sustain regular attendance.
A secondary school principal, who requested anonymity, expressed particular concern for girls and other marginalised groups. Daily travel, he said, raises safety and cultural concerns that could make them the first to drop out.
“This decision affects everyone, but not equally. Some children will simply disappear from the classroom,’ he said
Teachers also point to longstanding challenges within Taraba’s education sector, including dilapidated infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms and shortages of basic facilities such as water and toilets. Removing boarding options, they argue, has compounded these problems, leaving already vulnerable students with even fewer pathways to learning.
The concern was also observed to have extends beyond the state,as the Christian Reformed Church–Nigeria (CRC-N), in a recent communiqué issued after its 161st General Church Council in Takum, acknowledged the reality of insecurity in schools but warned that shutting down boarding facilities could undermine national development.
While noting what it described as improvements in security under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Church urged authorities to strengthen school protection rather than restrict access to education.
School administrators who also echoed the call said without additional safeguards or a review of the policy, many children especially those from rural and low income communities risk being pushed permanently out of the education system.
“For many students, boarding schools offered stability and support. Losing that environment is more damaging than many people realise,” one of the school principal said.
As classrooms across Taraba reopen, educationists who spoke to DAILY POST believe the challenge is not only about security but about balancing how to protect students without closing the very doors that give them a chance to be future leaders.