Education

Nigeria may not achieve Goal 4 of SDGs by 2030 if… — UNICEF

There are strong indications that Nigeria may not achieve the objectives of Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the year 2030 if the implementation of the programme is not encouraged.

The assertion was made by the Chief of Education, UNICEF, Nigeria Country Office, Saadhna Panday while making a presentation titled: Education in Nigeria: The Race to SDGs-4, Issues, Trends and Prospects during a One Day Media Dialogue on out-of-school children in Bauchi held at Chartwell Hotel, Misau on Wednesday.

Represented by the Education Specialist, UNICEF, Bauchi Field Office, Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ado, the Chief of Education said that the data available indicated that overall, what has been achieved 8 years after the commencement of Goal 4 of the SDGs has not been encouraging.

According to her, some drivers supporting and hindering success towards the SDG4 include Development partner interventions and private sector participation as well as the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme.

Saadhna Panday also identified Education reform, Girls’ education initiatives, Technology integration, Inclusive Education Policy and Creation and success of SBMCs as some other supportive elements.

The hindering elements include Economic recession, Funding, Insecurity, Lack of equity, Changes in national and state-level administration and Lack of sustainability in activities when development partners withdraw.

The Chief of Education then recommended that Government must develop and implement with adequate resources, a New Results Based Strategic Plan 2023-2030 of the Education Sector for Nigeria aligned with SDG2030 and the National Development Plan 2021-2025 taking into account Covid19 negative effects on pupils learnings lessons learned from SDG4 Evaluation.

She added, “In addition, a comprehensive analytical theory of character results framework plus road map of SDG4 must be evolved.”

On the supply side, Saadhna Panday recommended that Massive investment must be made by the government, development partners and the private sector and communities to build sufficient infrastructure, develop and recruit enough teachers and procure sufficient learning materials, considering the huge demographic growth of Nigeria.

On the demand side, government must address the issue of out-of-school children, a major communication drive should be mounted and equitable conditions established to reduce social and racial barriers to attract children to schools.

For quality, She recommended that Government entities at the national and state levels should define learning outcome proficiency benchmarks.

“Another thing is Education Financing for which government must Build the political will and incentives necessary to prioritise and increase education financing up to 20% of the budget, by increasing earmarking budget lines both at the and federal levels, so that basic education is truly free as promised by the UBE Act of 2004.”

READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE