From Olukayode Idowu, Maiduguri
SUNRISE NEWS, Borno, Aug 20, 2020 States in the North East region of the country have agreed on a 10-year education sector plan.
The region remains the most educationally disadvantaged in the country, the plan is aimed at catching up with the other regions.
Stakeholders in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states’ education sector agreed to develop a 10-year strategic plan that is backed by law and can effectively respond to unforeseen crises.
They also agreed on the place of credible data and monitoring for such plans to work.
Rising from a meeting comprising members of States’ House of Assembly, Commissioners for Education, Permanent Secretaries and the Universal Basic Education Board, the states decided to embrace a plan to develop education.
The communique issued at the end of a one-day high-level advocacy meeting on Education Sector Plan in Maiduguri, Borno State and organized by the Borno State Universal Basic Education Board, supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund, agreed that: “States should prioritise activities in strategic and operational plans by channelling resources to areas of greatest needs within the provision of available resources.
“States should garner political clout through policy dialogue to ensure ownership of education plans. Policy makers should demand reports of the performance of education sector plans from the technical team as a tool for accountability to track progress made.”
Other resolutions made at the meeting included the need to conduct annual school census and that national and global documents should guide the development of education sector plans.
Speaking at the event, UNICEF Education Specialist, Dr. Rosemary Nwangwu noted that the development of strategic education plans in the three north east states would enable the region transit and catch up with the standard of education obtainable in at least 30 other states in the country.
She said a sectoral education plan will provide the states a roadmap against which progress and setbacks could be easily measured.
She noted that: “The development of this plan is a look-ahead for a future for children in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states using education as a tool for constructive engagement.”
The chairman of the communique drafting committee is Professor Dugje Kadiri from the University of Maiduguri. Members include Alhaji Shettima Garba, member of the Borno State House of Assembly; Alhaji Ali Ibrahim, member of the Yobe State House of Assembly; Aisha Abubakar Umar, Permanent Secretary, Adamawa State Ministry of Education and Shettima Buji, member, Yobe State Universal Basic Education Board.