The federal government has declared that Universal Basic Education will make “every humanly possible effort” to improve state-level early childhood education.
The Federal Ministry of Education has given UBEC, a federal government agency, the responsibility of developing and coordinating all programs associated with the Universal Basic Education program as well as setting the minimum requirements for basic education in Nigeria.
State governments in Nigeria are primarily in charge of basic education.
To access the annual federal government interventions, state governments are required by the UBEC act to contribute a 50% counterpart fund.
In a statement made available, the flag off of the National sensitisation campaign of out-of-school-children across the country, the minister of state for education, Nanah Opiah, highlighted some of the factors that deny children access to early education saying, “The Federal Government through the instrumentality of the Universal Basic Education is doing everything humanly possible to assist the states on the issue of early childhood education.
Some of the factors that prevent our children’s access to early education include extreme poverty, ignorance, and access to education, among others.
The sensitisation, the Minister said is designed, “to ensure massive enrolment of children in basic and primary schools and should be taken seriously by all stakeholders, adding that it is a moral and legal obligation, the discharge of which will guarantee the future of the children and by necessary implication, the Nation.”
Citing the case of Bayelsa State, the minister commended successive administrations in the state for the special attention accorded to education, including the declaration of a state of emergency in the education sector in the state, the introduction of a free education policy at primary and secondary levels and the inauguration of the enrollment drive committee, all of which have led to a huge enrollment in schools in the state.
The Minister said no parent in Bayelsa State has any excuse to keep their child out of school anymore.
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