Minister of education, Adamu Adamu, has approved the establishment of Education Trust Fund by all states of the federation. The fund, with special emphasis on funding Teacher Development and Secondary Education and the re-establishment of State Education Development Fund (SEDFund) and other funds would create additional but sustainable funding source to improve education service delivery.
This was made known after deliberations by stakeholders at the Ministerial session of the 63rd National Council on Education (NCE) which ended in Abuja.
Adamu had at the opening ceremony of the NCE meeting lamented that the sector had continued to suffer inadequate funding from the Federal Government, which is below the UNESCO benchmark.
He called for an urgent need for stakeholders at the meeting, which is the highest policy making body in the sector to explore alternate means to increase funding.
Minister of state for education, Gozie Anwukah, while speaking at the closing ceremony, noted that the establishment of additional sources of funding would aid the achievement of 2030 Agenda and end the endless cries of poor funding in the sector.
The council reached several resolutions as contained in its adopted communiqué. It approved the establishment of Bank and Students Loan Boards by states at concessionary interest rate, to enable students access education fund.
Other resolutions also taken at the session include the establishment of a Special Intervention Fund for persons with Special Needs.
The communiqué also stated that all investments in education should be tax deductible and that contracts and other financial transactions should be taxed to fund education.
It further said that revenue generated from parastatals in the Federal Ministry of Education should be ploughed back to the education sector for effective realisation of service delivery.
A collective agreement was initially made by delegates for a compulsory development levy of N500 and N1,000 to be paid annually by primary and secondary school students, respectively, which will be paid into a dedicated development levy account.
Permanent Secretary, ministry of education, Sonny Echono, had said that parents and pupils should take responsibility and sacrifice by contributing to funding education.
However, minister of state, said the recommendation of delegates on payment of development fees by students should go through policy stages as the council deliberated on strategies to increase funding.
On the issue of security, which has disrupted academic activities in the country, the council urged States, the FCT, LGAs and owners of schools to, as a matter of urgency augment the services of uniformed security officers with registered Vigilante groups and Community Neighbourhood Watch.
On the issue of religious curriculum, the called for implementation of the separated Christian Religious Studies (CRS) Curriculum, Islamic Studies (IS) Curriculum and National Values in Primary and Junior Secondary Schools nationwide.
It approved the teaching, learning and assessment of Christian Religious Studies (CRS), Islamic Studies (IS) and National Values as stand-alone subjects at the basic education level.
The council also approved the implementation of the Draft National Policy on Open Educational Resources (OER) in Nigeria.
The 63rd meeting of the National Council on Education (NCE) had delegates to include officials from the Federal and State Ministries of Education, Higher Education, Science and Technology; the FCT Education Secretariat, Federal and State Education Parastatals and other Agencies.
