The Federal Government has expressed commitment to increase funding for the education sector by 25%.
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, made this known when he declared open the 2021 and 2022 Nigeria Annual Education Conference (NAEC), in Abuja, on Monday.
Prof. Mamman also expressed his commitment to bridge the gaps existing between education policy statements and their actualisation.
He noted that the country had a lot of good policies on what was required to do in the best interest of the nation, but that those policies were not bringing values to the sector.
“President Tinubu has directed the return of the 10.5 million out-of-school children to school at the expiration of his tenure. We still have a long way to go. We are not matching the children in the country with the desired education and this is because our policies are not producing the values we need.
“What we need is the action on the ground and not the policy declaration. This is where I can tell you we intend to come in. We want to bridge the gaps between policy statements and actualisation of outcomes.
“This is to give them future training that will enable them to live their lives and make them employers of labour. Everybody deserves to live a life of dignity for the well-being of their family”, he said.
Prof. Mamman further stressed the importance of basic and secondary schools being properly equipped, saying, “We know that society that had benefitted from education is known for nurturing of creativity and research which starts from the lower levels.”
The minister emphasised the need for mechanisms that constantly monitor and evaluate the implementation of policies’ strategies to be put in place to ensure the SDG goals were accomplished.
He called on the various stakeholders in the education sector to work with the Federal Ministry of Education and agencies as well as State Ministries of Education.
This, he said, would lead to the identification of innovative approaches for improved funding, and ensure that Nigerians enjoy inclusive equitable, quality education and life-long opportunities.
Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo, explained that the 2021 and 2022 edition of the conference could not hold because of COVID-19 recovery, which informed its delay till now.
Adejo, represented by the Director, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the ministry, Abubakar Isah, charged stakeholders to deliberate on ways of collaborating and partnership towards actualising the 2030 education agenda.
Also, the United Kingdom, through James O’Donoghue, the Education Adviser of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), pledged to support Nigeria in achieving the 2030 SDG agenda, as well as to ensure every child gets quality education.
O’Donoghue urged the Federal Government to increase funding for education and strive to ensure that the money allocated for education is used for the overall education objective.
