UBEC vows to provide access to quality education for Nigerian children

From Fred Ezeh, Abuja

Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Hajiya Aisha Garba, has promised to ensure that every Nigerian child has access to quality education in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

In her first quarterly meeting with Executive Chairmen of State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs), in Abuja, Hajia Garba said her agency will strive towards strengthening basic education by fostering effective collaboration at national and state levels.

According to her, there had been poor coordination and weak partnership between critical stakeholders in the sector with inconsistent collaboration among UBEC, SUBEBs, and State Ministries of Education, resulting in inefficiencies, poor monitoring, and reduced impact of educational interventions.

She emphasized that it was imperative to address persistent challenges such as finances, infrastructure, quality education and relevant learning materials, shortage of teachers and conducive environment for teaching and learning, adding that the meeting was an opportunity to collectively evaluate progress, identify challenges, and chart a new pathway towards achieving shared goal of an efficient and effective basic education system in Nigeria.

The UBEC boss recalled her earlier years as an International Development Education Officer when she visited schools in remote villages all over the country, and stated that the poor conditions in many of schools required all stakeholders to be solution-oriented, action-driven, positive and committed to building a stronger, more efficient system for universal basic education in our country.”

Declaring the meeting open, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, represented by his Senior Special Assistant (SSA), Dr. Ismaila Adiatu, assured the SUBEB chairmen of the Federal Government’s commitment to promoting quality education to inspire renewed hope, with strong emphasis on prioritizing quality basic education.

He emphasized that development of the foundational level was essential for positive impact of the other tiers of the educational system which was why the Federal Ministry of Education was deeply committed to improving teacher quality, enhancing school environment, ensuring the availability of adequate instructional materials, and implementing an effective quality assurance evaluation system.

The meeting, with the theme “Strengthening Collaboration for Quality Basic Education Delivery”, which was held at the Digital Resource Centre of the Universal Basic Education Commission, Kado-Kuchi, Abuja was attended by the UBEC Executive Secretary, members of UBEC management, SUBEB chairmen from all 36 states of the Federation, FCT UBEB chairman and representatives of International Development Partners.

The meeting witnessed presentations from the UBEC Executive Secretary, sub-deans of SUBEBs and UBEC directors as well as group discussions and reflections across priority UBE pillars.