Goal two of the millennium development goals, MDG, specifically talks about achieving Universal Primary Education for every child by 2015. These children are not only expected to have access to primary education, they are to be retained in their classes to ensure they complete the full course of primary education.
Closely related to goal two of the MDG is goal three that focuses on promoting gender equality and empowering women. In essence, gender parity between girls and boys in terms of accessing basic education should be eliminated. Again, the target is 2015.
By historical design, the first term of President Jonathan administration coincides with this critical era when the entire universe is working towards ensuring that no child is denied access to basic education, which is a right. From the very beginning, the administration made it clear that it was committed to addressing the fundamental challenges that negatively affected the development of the basic education sub-sector in particular and the entire education sector in general.
This commitment led to the launch of the four-year strategic plan to completely re-position the education. One of the cardinal objectives of this plan that runs from 2011 to 2015 is the creation of access to quality education for Nigerians at all levels.
Since 2011, the administration has completely re-positioned the basic education sector. Two years down the line, the steps taken by the administration are now yielding positive results and Nigerians from all walks of life are keying into the plan of the Federal Government to ensure universal basic education for Nigerian children.
Spear-heading the Federal Government’s revival of basic education in the last two years is the Minister of State for Education, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike. He has two controlling philosophies that have driven his successful campaign to get less privileged Nigerian children get enrolled in schools and stay there to acquire life sustaining skills.
First, is that running the nation’s basic education would not be business as usual and the other, working assiduously towards achieving results rather than promoting bureaucracy. Second, he works from everywhere in the country and has revolutionized monitoring and evaluation of projects and programmes at the highest level.
Across the nation, unprecedented achievements in the basic education sector dot the landscape. These projects are carefully designed to increase the enrolment of less privileged Nigerian children in basic education institutions. The projects are supported by a vibrant academic workforce being trained and retrained by the Federal Government.
Some of the projects that have increased access to basic education for the less privileged Nigerian out-of-school children include the Almajiri schools, the special girl-child schools and the out-of-school project for children in the south-south and south-east.
Over eighty percent of the Almajiri schools in parts of the country have been completed and are ready for the commissioning. These schools will cater for the need of the roving Almajiris in the north and other parts of the country.
These schools will absorb a large number of the Almajiri, with the framework for the construction of additional three hundred Almajiri schools between 2013 and 2015 already in place. The interesting aspect of this programme is that several states in the north have bought into it and are constructing their own schools for these out-of-school children.
The story has been the same for the girl-child in most parts of the north. The Federal Government has completed majority of the schools in sixteen states of the federation. By June ending, all the schools would have been completed. The aim of these schools is to grant access to basic education to girls hitherto left out due to cultural, religious and environmental reasons.
Collaborating with the state governments, teacher capacity development has been comprehensive since 2011. More than one million teachers and basic education administrators have benefitted from training programmes. The government has also initiated the Housing for All teachers programme, with the Nigerian Union of Teachers participating actively.
While the government has created access to basic education for a high percentage of Nigerian children, it has strengthened the distribution of free textbooks and instructional materials to these children for quality of education in the public schools to be guaranteed.
Other key projects that have taken place in the course of the last two years include; phased rehabilitation of Federal Unity Colleges, construction of e-library in selected unity colleges and sponsorship of self-help infrastructural programmes in communities.
Technical and vocational education and training have acquired a new meaning under the Jonathan administration. The hitherto neglected Federal Science and Technical Colleges have been given grants to re-position their facilities and equipment. This process of re-positioning these schools is nearing completion in most of the schools. The new schools for the Boy-Child in the South-East and South-South about to be constructed will have elements of technical and vocational education infused in them.
Increased investments in the basic education sector by the administration have led to more foreign participation by international development partners all over the country. Korea International Development Agency, Japan International Development Agency, British Department for International Development, the Chinese government and other global groups have helped in developing infrastructure and the capacity of teachers to improve access to basic education in the country.
Progressively, the enrolment of less privileged Nigerian children in basic education schools has increased under the Jonathan administration. This is expected because of the quality results attained due to the investments by the government and the sustained monitoring of the process of implementation. However, the population of out-of-school children is still on the high side. The good news is that with the level of commitment by the administration, if the target is not met by 2015, the percentage of work left undone will be minimal. The Federal Ministry of Education and other stakeholders are working towards achieving 70percent reduction of out of school children by 2015.
Before concluding this piece, it is instructive to point out that the four year strategic plan of the Federal Ministry of Education has two fundamental goals, creating access to education across all levels and maintaining quality. These two principal goals have been achieved from the basic through to the tertiary level of education.
Detailed above are key steps that have implemented in the basic education sub-sector. However, in the tertiary education sub-sector, the Jonathan administration through the Federal Ministry of Education has established 12 New Federal Universities. Nine of these universities have started full operations, while the other three are building their operational framework. The Federal Ministry of Education has kick-started several programmes to develop a virile academia for all universities, state and Federal, with first class brains being trained in 25 world class universities.
The Jonathan administration has also released funds to all Federal and State Universities for the development of infrastructure though TETFUND. This was done after the first Needs Assessment of the Universities were conducted by the administration.
Therefore, for any stakeholder to opine that education has not grown under the administration tantamount to acute cerebral fixation. The type most social media enthusiasts have fallen into. Doling out criticism for the sake of it. Whatever assessments that should be made of the nation’s education sector must take into cognizance the position of the sector before the administration started her surgical remedial operation. To do otherwise would be unjust and pedestrian.
What is considered by most stakeholders in the educational circle to be the most important achievement of the administration in the education sector is the fact that most states are beginning to live up to their responsibility in development of this all-important segment of our national life because the Federal Ministry of Education has provided the right example.
Nwakaudu is the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of State for Education.
