<b>INSECURITY AND THE QUEST FOR QUALITY SCIENCE EDUCATION IN NORTHERN NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING, LEARNING AND EDUCATIONAL POLICY</b>

This study examines the impact of insecurity on the quest for quality science education in northern Nigeria, with particular focus on its implications for teaching, learning, and educational policy. Drawing on existing literature and contextual analysis, the study highlights how rising insecurity manifested through insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and communal conflicts has disrupted educational processes, leading to school closures, displacement of learners and teachers, and deterioration of learning environments. The study reveals that such disruptions significantly undermine the quality of science teaching by limiting access to laboratories, reducing teacher effectiveness, and constraining the use of inquiry-based and practical pedagogies. It further establishes that science learning outcomes are adversely affected through irregular attendance, reduced student engagement, psychological distress, and poor academic performance. In addition, the study identifies key challenges in educational policy responses, including weak implementation, inadequate funding, limited infrastructure, and regional disparities, which hinder efforts to sustain education in insecure contexts. Then the study concludes that insecurity in its various forms disrupts the access to quality science education through school closures, displacement of learners and teachers, and the deterioration of learning environments, all of which significantly hinder science education that depends on stable conditions, practical engagement, and consistent instructional time.