Research, facilitated by Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, has identified poor political will and funding as major challenges militating against the development of the education sector in the northern part of the country.
The research, entitled, “The Status of Education in Northern Nigeria; the Way Forward” was conducted by a team of experts, led by a former Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqqayatu Rufa’i.
Mrs Rufa’i said during the public presentation of the research report, via zoom, on Thursday, that other challenges include high number of unqualified teachers, poor infrastructure, and teaching and learning materials.
She added that the education sector in the region was also bedeviled by poor implementation of education curriculum as well as inability to mobilise school-age children to access quality education.
According to her, the region has remained educationally backward due to inadequate political will and poor budgetary allocation and release of allocated funds to the sector.
“The research findings revealed that the political will to address the challenges of education is lacking in most parts of the region as the sector is not getting the priority it deserves.
“Finding across the region also shows that schools are rarely provided with enough budget to run their affairs. Without adequate budget, it will be difficult to successfully deliver quality education.
“Across the states, 33.3 per cent of public school’s administrators claimed to have received only between 21 and 35 per cent of the annual budget in the past five years.
“Similarly, as at July 2019, N51.6 billion Universal Basic Education Commission Intervention Funds were un-accessed. N27 billion of the amounts were due to states in the North.”
Mrs Rufa’i stressed the need for the governments of the 19 northern states to increase investment in the education sector, to build critical human resources needed for the development of the region.
She stressed that political leaders in the region must muster the will also called for enhanced political will to support education and fully implement policies as well as provide qualified teachers and non-teaching staff in public schools.
“The government must also ensure availability of functional school infrastructure, child-friendly environment, water facilities and security in public schools.
“They should also strengthen science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education,
integrate entrepreneurship education into basic education as well as technical and vocational education and training.
Earlier, Chairman, Board of Trustees of the foundation, Muazu Babangida-Aliyu, explained that the research was facilitated to provide updates on the state of education in the region.
Mr Babangida-Aliyu added that the research was to also highlight the issues of gender balance, funding and provide baseline information for policy makers, implementers, and other partners in the education sectors.
He described education as the “primary requirement” for the development of the region, which currently harbour about 10 million of the estimated 13 million out of school children in the country.
Mr Babangida-Aliyu said that the region must do everything possible to address the challenge of education, so as to empower the population with requisite skills to move the region forward.
Also speaking, Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State acknowledged the myriad of problems confronting the education sector in the region, urging collaborative efforts to address them.
Mr El-Rufa’i, who was represented by the Commissioner of Education, Dr Shehu Makarfi, urged governors in the region to study the research findings and partner with relevant stakeholders to implement key recommendations.
On his part, the Chairman, Northern Governors Forum, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau, thanked the foundation for facilitating the research, describing it as “key” to addressing challenges of the education sector.
Mr Lalong, who was represented by the Secretary to the Plateau State Government, Prof. Danladi Atu said that the findings would go a long way in reviving education in the north.
He urged the lead researcher to present the research findings to the northern governors’ forum for adequate action to be taken to advance education in the northern region.
NAN
