The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education, Senator, Ibrahim Gaidam, has advocated for more funding to the education sector in Nigeria in order to address the multiple challenges confronting the sector, including insecurity and strike actions by staff unions in the system.
Gaidam who was represented by the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, spoke, on Monday, in Abuja while leading other members of the committee on monitoring the ongoing 2022 National Personnel Audit of both private and public schools being conducted nationwide by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
He commended UBEC for conducting the exercise, he noted would help generate accurate data bank that would help policy-makers and implementation of government policies aimed at improving the quality of education in Nigeria.
The former Yobe State Governor earlier led his colleagues on courtesy visit to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Universal Basic Education Board, where he empathised with the Chairman of the Board, Alhasan Sule, one of the victims of the Kaduna train kidnap. Sule was lucky to regain freedom after about three months in the den of the kidnappers.
ALSO READ FROMÂ NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
- Atiku Challenges Tinubu To Grant Hour-Long TV Interview
- Tenant Flees After Allegedly Killing Landlord Over Rent In Abuja
Gaidam noted that the essence of the personnel audit was to help planners gather information about teachers in schools, students, infrastructure and other challenges that will guide policy formulation and implementation.
He said it was unfortunate that some children sit on the bare floor to learn in some schools while teachers are seen standing marking children’s papers because they had no place to sit.
He added that with the rising security challenges in the country, there was a need to provide security in all the schools nationwide while ensuring that the schools are properly fenced to prevent invasion by attackers.
He said all these require adequate funding to be able to address them, saying “Education sector needs more funding and we have been crying about that in the red Chamber and if we miss that the country would have issues to face.”
He appealed to private schools to cooperate with UBEC officials and participate fully in the Personnel Audit exercise, expressing concern that the impression he had was that some private schools have refused to allow the enumerators into their schools.
Essential Documents You Need When Applying To Study Abroad On ScholarshipÂ
Senate committee advocates more funding for education