Stakeholders Task Federal Govt On UBE Act In Conflict Zones

Stakeholders in the Nigerian educational system have urged the Federal Government to implement the 2004 Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act in conflict setting with the aim of identifying the problem and proffering solutions.

This was the crux of a stakeholders workshop organised by Common Heritage Foundation, a Non-governmental Organization (NGO) on the implementation of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act and other educational policies in conflict and protracted crisis zones.

The meeting, which took place in Abuja on Thursday, also aims to initiate measures through which Nigerians can have access to quality education in conflict and protracted crisis settings

Speaking during the workshop,  the Senior Special Educationist with the World Bank, Professor Tunde Adekola said the initiative was timely especially when talking about education, specifically in crisis areas.

To address the issue at hand, he said the solution must be multi-sectional, multidonor and it must  involve both the formal and informal sector.

 He said ” you need the service providers like the state and non -state actors to be able to participate. The non -state actors we are talking about are the community, civil society organization, private sector, philanthropist, etc. Everybody needs to work together with several other government MDAs, to improve access and universal basic education.

“Part of the challenges are systemic, we should see how we can involve more partnerships, collaboration and cooperation from all the state actors to be able to focus on the issue of access, quality, equity and so on.”

He added that “The  second issue is that of quality, relevance, not about more money for education, teachers training but about more results, in the learning aspect like how many children can read and write before they get to age 9.” 

He also noted  that the issue  involves “how are we reducing the pupil -teacher and pupil- classroom ratio and so on. We need to set targets and set strategic plans with measurable indicators to be able to know how much that we are making. And then, be able to mobilize more resources from the State to be able to increase their funding to basic education and to be able to see how they can hold people accountable for their actions.”

The chairman,  Associate Professor of Law in Nasarawa State University Dr. Halima Doma, in her remarks noted that the essence is to bring together stakeholders to hear from group of researchers  that have worked in the area of education, i.e. Universal Basic Education in Northeast Nigeria, access to it and to what extent it has been implemented particularly in Adamawa State.

According to her, Adamawa State as part of northeast Nigeria, was specifically researched because of the recent attacks on education it has faced.

Earlier, the Regional Research Director for International Rescue Committee (IRC) in charge of the project, Professor Oladele Akogun, said the answer needed now is how the law is being implemented, to make sure that people continue to have access to free education. He  added that education should continue even where there’s conflict because the quality of education doesn’t change.

In an interview, the Programme Manager Common Heritage Foundation Dr. Adedoyin Adeshina, said that the Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC), project is set out to answer just one question, “How we can improve access, quality and continuity of education in conflict and crisis setting.”