Stakeholders brainstorm on ways forward for the education sector in Kaduna State
By:Femi Moustapha
The Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) today hosted an education stakeholders’ meeting where participants shared ideas on how to enhance human capital, technology, and infrastructure for quality education in the state.
The meeting under the auspices of Local Education Group (LEG) had in attendance team from the Kaduna State Ministry of Education, Save the Children International, Reaching Out of School Children (ROOSC), Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment Project (AGILE project.) and others stakeholders.
The LEG Meeting According Director of Planning Ministry of Education, Salisu Lawal Baba, will enable the stakeholders to discuss progress, and challenges and proffer solutions to the lingering problems, promoting education in the state, addressing possible challenges restricting access to education and strengthening the education system has always been the aim of the LEG Meeting held quarterly.
Lawal Baba added that Kaduna State, through the Ministry of Education, is collaborating with partners supporting the educational section in the State for the betterment of the citizens.
He expressed gratitude to the State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, for allocating the highest budget to the education sector this year, N206Billoin, which demonstrated his administration’s commitment and passion to addressing the key challenges facing the sector.
He, however, mentioned key Challenges facing the Education sector, including a shortage of teachers and inadequate Infrastructure.
“We have also identified the issues of employed teachers who, on their own, employ someone in that local Area to teach on their behalf while they pay their salary percentage to that individual.
“So we have been liaising with a consultant who developed a school management solution to scale up a technology to register teachers’ attendance to school daily to monitor the activities of the school. “
In their presentation titled PLANE Window 3, ROOSC, ECW-FER, presented by Ayuba Usman, Save the Children said Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) is FCDO’s flagship basic education Programme to enable the more inclusive and effective opportunity to deliver foundational skills to all children.
Ayuba Usman explained that the project uses evidence-based approaches to enable and increase community-based support to learning for marginalized children, especially girls, and children with disabilities, through building foundational competencies, fostering empowerment, strengthening protection systems, and supporting families to overcome demand-side barriers to access quality inclusive education.
He added that ROOSC (Reaching Out of School Children) in Kaduna State is a multi- Donor Project to support Kaduna State in ensuring the inclusive and equitable provision of quality primary education for all children of official primary school age (6-11 years), adolescents, and young adults (12-18 years) with Project strategies, and interventions that are gender-sensitive, pro-poor, and will promote inclusivity in primary education provision.
“Adequate attention will be given to infrastructure and providing facilities, teaching-learning supplies, and processes to ensure child-friendly and enabling environments in schools and learning centers to promote and sustain enrollment, full participation, completion, and quality “
On the Education cannot Wait -First Emergency Response Project ( ECW-FER) is aimed to address urgent
educational needs of children
affected by crises in the North-west
Nigeria.
The Scope according to him is to Provide immediate
educational support to children
impacted by armed conflicts,
displacement, and climate-related crises
.
Similarly, the Deputy project co-ordinator of Reaching Out of School Children (ROOSC) Ministry of Education Kaduna State Hassan Abdul said the the LEG Meeting is held quarterly by some key stakeholders and Education Industries to map out way forward.
According to him, the Educational sector is very broad; hence, there are lots of challenges in times of resources, noting that the State Government has been doing a lot of funding as regards education.
He however highlights Challenges confronting the sector including the lack of teachers in public schools as the result of this new policy of 9,3,4, then 9 years of basic education, the transition from basic 7, 8, 9 all this has brought teachers gap in that area so it is a very significant issue that is bevelling the sector.
“We are trying to address the situation with the help of the government through the ministry of education
“ROOSC is a very serious issue in Nigeria, and it is striking the North with criminal activities taking place such as mandatory.
” The government has support from some of the development partners to return 200,000,00 students to school by constructing 102 new schools and renovating 170 others.
In her presentation, System Strengthening Technical for Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment Project AGILE project, Hajiya Zaynab Marna Lukat Hajiya Zaynab Marna Lukat disclosed that her organization had built 60 new schools from scratch through the 23 LGAs and some renovations in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area.
The schools, according to her, are functioning with adequate teachers employed, well-quipped libraries put in place and have been instrumental in returning ROOSC to school.
The project wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Kaduna State Government, as AGILE is a government project aimed at restructuring the face of education in Kaduna State.
The stakeholders agreed that providing quality and quantity education to Kaduna citizens is a work in progress because the State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, runs an inclusive government open to all, listening and talking to all the stakeholders in the sector.
