Operational plans for basic education is important

The need for a good operational plan for basic education has been reiterated.

The education consultant of the United Nation International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in Adamawa State, Mr Joel Jutum, disclosed this at the inauguration of the State’s Education Sector Operational Plans (SESOP) and Local Education Sector Operational Plans (LESOP) in all formal and non formal schools in the state.

The state’s Commissioner of Education and Human Capital Development, Dr Umar Pella, while inaugurating the operational plans sponsored by UNICEF said the plans would enable the government and stakeholders to identify the areas of needs to develop the sector.

Represented by the permanent secretary in the ministry, Hajiya Aisha Umar, the commissioner said that “education is the key to the development of any society.”

He added that the state government is willing to partner with any organisation or group which could help in reducing the number of out-of-school children in Adamawa State.

He charged education secretaries, teachers and all the stakeholders at the basic education level in the state to study the newly-inaugurated operational plans in order to improve the learning processes in their local government areas.

Addressing stakeholders at the programme, the UNICEF consultant said his organisation is determined to assist the state in developing its basic education sector.

“UNICEF provided the funds to develop new operational plans for nine local government areas of the state based on their priority needs after the insurgency, which affected four out of the nine council areas. Meanwhile, the others were chosen based on the roles they played in accommodating the displaced persons after the insurgency.

“We hope to extend the plans to other local government areas in the state,” he said.

The SESOP and LESOP are designed to help identify areas of needs and to also reduce the rate of out-of-school children in the local government areas in Adamawa.

Mr Jutum noted that Adamawa had a population of about 4.5 million people with 2.7 million being in the school age bracket, while only 30 percent of them are in school.

He noted that UNICEF is worried about this trend, hence the need to develop these plans to encourage people, particularly to get the children back in school.

The dean, Department of Early Child Care (ECC), Federal College of Education (FCE) Yola, Dr Umar Ibrahim affirmed that the benefits of SESOP and LESOP are numerous.

According to him, the plans will help in building the education capabilities of the children and will not only promote flexibility and accessibility to education, but also the ability to know the various needs of the schools and how to make provisions for them.

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