In her keynote address, Dr. Abimbola Ogundere, the founder of the LAIT Foundation and convener of the program, underscored the importance of increased funding for education in Nigeria.
By Johnson Atoukudu:
Education experts and stakeholders within the education sector have urged President Bola Tinubu’s new administration to raise the budget allocation for quality teaching and learning to 30 percent. During the inaugural School Leaders Conference held in Lagos on Friday, these stakeholders expressed their concern about the historical underfunding and neglect of the education system in the country by past administrations.
Participants at the conference, which included principals, school owners, administrators, and individuals from both private and public sectors across Nigeria, emphasized that a crucial sector like education necessitates sufficient funding to address the nation’s human capacity needs. The event, organized by the Learning As I Teach (LAIT) Foundation Africa, had the theme “Building to Last in a Rapidly Changing Modern World” and aimed to foster collaboration, deliberation, and collective thinking among school leaders, while establishing a unified approach to constructing enduring institutions in Africa.
In her keynote address, Dr. Abimbola Ogundere, the founder of the LAIT Foundation and convener of the program, underscored the importance of increased funding for education in Nigeria. She urged the Federal Government to implement strategies such as curriculum reviews for colleges and faculties of education, as well as appointing professional educators to key positions in education administration, including commissioners and ministers. These measures, she emphasized, are essential to prevent the collapse of Nigeria’s education system.
The convener said: “It is funny to think that the foundation of the future is not well funded. We know that less than 20 per cent of the budget of the whole nation goes to education. So we are asking that there is more funding to aid infrastructure – physical and technological, train and empower teachers, increase remuneration, and curriculum review, among others.
“It is crucial that there is a spotlight on funding the sector and equipping the teachers. There is so much infrastructure that needs to be put in place. You go into an average public school somewhere, and children are still sitting on the floor. We don’t need that in 2023.
“It is important that the new administration should pay adequate attention to the education sector by bringing in leaders that have the experience to be in charge. We can’t continue to have ministers and commissioners for education who are not professional educators make decisions for the sector.
“We want to have a review where there is proper accountability. You have things in place, but nobody holds educators and other stakeholders accountable.”
Ogundere proposed a 30 percent allocation of the national budget for education when queried about the appropriate percentage.
During a panel session, Ozavize Salami, the Executive Chairman of Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), also added to the discussion, highlighting the conference’s theme as highly pertinent and aligned with the ongoing reforms in the education sector.
She emphasized that numerous reforms and fresh initiatives were being implemented in the sector, underscoring the importance of establishing measures to sustain these reforms through collaboration between the government and private stakeholders.
