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… Equal to 6% of budget, less than Ghana, South Africa allocations
…Nigeria walks backwards – ASUU, NANS, ANCOPS
…The government is doing its best – Gbajabiamila
By Wahab Adesina
Thirty-one years after the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, recommended that developing countries devote up to 25% of their annual budget to public education, Nigeria’s allocation to this sector is still less than 10%.
Therefore, of the 55.3 trillion naira allocated to the education sector by the federal government over the past six years (2016-2021), only 3.5 trillion naira has been allocated to the sector, which is less than ten percent.
In comparison, although Ghana and South Africa did not meet the 25 percent recommended by UNESCO, they did far more than Nigeria, allocating a maximum of 23 percent and 16.7 percent respectively. hundred.
In 2016, out of the total budget of 6.06 billion naira, the sum of 369.6 billion naira or 6.7% of the budget was allocated to public education in the country.
In 2017, 550 billion naira or 7.38% was allocated to education out of a budget of 7.29 billion naira, while in 2018, 605.8 billion naira or 7.04% was allocated education on a budget of 9.2 billion naira.
In 2019, 620 billion naira or 7.05% was allocated to education out of the 8.92 billion naira budget, while in 2020, 671.07 billion naira or 6.7% was allocated education from the budget of 10.33 billion naira.
This year, 742.5 billion naira or 5.6% has been allocated to education out of a budget of 13.6 billion naira.
On the other hand, according to World Bank reports, Ghana allocated 23.81% of its national budget to education in 2015, 22.09% in 2016, 20.1% in 2017 and 18.6% in 2018.
For South Africa, it has continued to increase allocations to the education sector by R246 billion or 16.7% in 2018, R310 billion in 2019, R387 billion in 2020 and forecasts that ‘it will reach 416 billion rand by 2023/24.
Although South Africa’s allocations during the period ranged from 14.4% to 16.7% of total budgets in the years under review, the performance was much better than that of Nigeria.
Recall that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO recommended in 1990 that developing economies allocate between 20 and 25% of their national budgets to the sector.
He based the recommendation on the need for developing countries to use education to bridge the gap between themselves and developed countries.
Commenting on the situation, the National President of the Union of Academic Staff of Universities, ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, said that rather than the country moving forward on education, it is backing down.
“All of our agreements with the government over all these years have always contained the clause that the government should gradually increase the allocation to the sector so that we can reach the international standard of 26% for the sector. Unfortunately, instead of moving forward, we are going backwards. Over the years, allocations to the sector have been steadily declining.
“We have this problem because our leaders do not taste the bitter pill that the situation is swallowing ordinary citizens. Their children do not attend school here. If they were there, they would know what it is. The only way is to force them to bring their own children and wards here to school.
“I plead that Nigerians do not let the fight for ASUU fight alone, this is because the implications of low funding for the sector weigh on us all. Nigeria currently has the largest number of out-of-school children in the world. Such children would fight when they grew up. They may believe that society has abandoned them.
“Banditry, kidnappings and other vices are on the increase as there are more and more poorly educated and poorly educated people who are not prepared for the best ways to face life’s challenges.
“Unfortunately, our leaders have divided us into classes, the rich and the poor, the privileged and the less privileged. They reserve the best jobs and positions for their own children and wards. I hope the Nigerian people will retaliate and not leave it to ASUU, ”he said.
Former President of the Oxford and Cambridge Club of Nigeria, an association of Oxford and Cambridge University alumni, Mr. Timi Austen Peters, noted that without adequate funding from the sector, Nigerian universities would not be unable to produce graduates who would be global drummers.
“Oxford, Cambridge and other great universities produce graduates who are well equipped to face life. They are breeding grounds for global companies and renowned start-ups. Adequate attention and funding should be given to the education sector if we are to truly grow as a nation, ”he said.
Reacting to low funding for the education sector and the fact that Nigeria lags behind neighboring countries such as Ghana, the Nigerian National Students’ Association, NANS, wondered when Nigeria would do it right. correctly with regard to the sector.
NANS Southwest Coordinator Kappo Samuel Olawale, who spoke to Vanguard, berated the government for pretending to be from the area.
“We keep repeating the same thing. And the way we’re going, we can’t do it right. Isn’t it a shame if a country like Ghana takes education more seriously than we do. If our education system is not sufficiently funded and planned to educate citizens, then how do we use the human resources we always tout as an advantage wisely?
“When we cannot produce those who would give the nation the desired future and leadership, what then becomes of the country’s future? The sector must be well financed, the actors motivated too. Our universities, for example, are overcrowded and there is a lack of basic infrastructure.
“It is the low funding from the government that has led these universities to offer many different and part-time programs. The intention is to raise funds to increase government grants, ”he said.
Also speaking, the National President of the Nigerian National Conference of Secondary School Principals, ANCOPS, Mr. Anselm Izuagie, described the current situation as deplorable.
“The truth is, what you put in is what comes back as an exit. We are not doing enough with regard to budget allocations to the education sector. Education needs more funding than it currently receives and it is deplorable that smaller nations like Ghana are more involved in the sector than we are. We all see the results. Nigerians are flocking to the country, among other places, for higher education.
“But how many Nigerians can afford it? Leaving aside even the huge sums that we are losing to these countries because our citizens pay for education there, we must also consider the fact that quality education will put these nations ahead of us in the long run. Let’s say we cannot reach the 26% budget allocation to the sector as suggested by UNESCO, do we also say that 5 or 6% is what we can do?
“Nothing prevents us from reaching an allocation level of at least 20%. Now the president attended an international conference where some promises were made, we pray that the promises will be kept. If that is done, we will all be better off, ”he said.
Speaking in Lagos a few days ago at a book launch, House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila said the government was doing its best to fund the sector.
“It’s not as bad as some think. Besides the allocation to the Ministry of Education, there are other ways in which the government funds education. We have the Commission for Universal Basic Education, UBEC, we have the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, we even have interventions from agencies such as the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC, among others.
“We are not saying that we have reached the level that we want to achieve, but the government is doing its best under the current circumstances. We all know that funding education cannot be left to government alone. Other stakeholders should also make their own contributions, ”he said.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari recently attended a world summit on education in London where world leaders pledged to increase budget allocations to education in their countries.
The World Education Summit, co-hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, has successfully generated around $ 4 billion of the $ 5 billion targeted for sector transformation education in low-income countries, including Nigeria. .
At the summit, President Buhari pledged to increase Nigeria’s education sector budget by up to 50% over the next two years.
The Nigerian leader said: “We commit to gradually increasing our annual national spending on education by 50% over the next two years and up to 100% by 2025 beyond the global benchmark of 26. %.
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