The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has expressed the commitment of President Bola Tinubu to increase the education budget of N1.79trn by 25 per cent.
This shows that the education sector will be receiving additional N447,500,000,000 from President Tinubu.
Recall that the 2023 budget, education sector received N1.79 trillion, representing 8.2 per cent of the total appropriation bill.
A breakdown shows that N103.29 billion was allocated to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and N248.27 billion for infrastructure projects in tertiary institutions through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).
Mamman disclosed this during the opening of the 2021 and 2022 Nigeria Annual Education Conference (NAEC) in Abuja on Monday, with the theme “Implementation of Education 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Nigeria”.
He said the decision was to return the 10.5 million out-of-school children to school while bridging the gaps between education policy statements and its actualization outcomes.
The minister said, “President Tinubu has directed the return of the 10.5 million out-of-school children to school at the expiration of his tenure.
“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,
“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 and we want to bridge the gaps between policy statements and actualization of outcomes.”
He acknowledged that the sector is faced with challenges and reiterated that no Nigerian will be left uneducated.
“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.
“We know that society that had benefitted from education is known for nurturing of creativity and research which starts from the lower levels,” Mamman added.
He charged stakeholders to work with the Federal Ministry of Education and agencies as well as State Ministries of Education to identify innovative approaches for improved funding and ensuring inclusive equitable, quality education and life-long opportunities.
Post A Comment: