₦68bn Meant to Improve Education Lying Dormant Due to States’ Failure to Meet Access Requirements
The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has revealed that over ₦68 billion funds earmarked to improve basic education across Nigeria,remain unutilised due to the failure of state governments to meet the basic requirements for accessing the funds.
This revelation was made during a two-day training workshop held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, for South-South State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) Directors and Desk Officers from the Department of Physical Planning.
UBEC Executive Secretary, Aisha Garba, speaking through her Special Assistant, Ibrahim Gold, attributed the persistent dormancy of the funds to systemic inefficiencies and the slow pace of fund utilisation by states.
She said that these issues have created significant barriers to accessing the funds, despite their critical importance to education development.
According to Garba, the introduction of a revised Basic Education Action Plan (BEAP) template is intended to eliminate these bottlenecks and facilitate a more efficient process for accessing intervention funds.
She explained that the goal of the workshop was to directly equip SUBEB Directors and Physical Planning Desk Officers with the tools and support systems necessary for effective planning and implementation of action plans in their respective states.
“This capacity-building workshop aligns with the Commission’s ongoing reforms, particularly in the development of work plans needed to access the UBE Intervention Funds.
“The Commission’s current strategy is to consolidate work plans under a single framework, covering various funding categories such as Matching Grants, Teacher Professional Development, and Special Needs, among others.
“Hence, there is an urgent need to introduce a practical and user-friendly work plan template to replace the outdated version that has been in use for over 20 years.”she stated.
Garba also noted successful performance of a similar workshop recently held in Kano for Northern States, and challenged participants from the South-South region to surpass that benchmark in both engagement and implementation.
In separate remarks, UBEC’s Director of Physical Planning, Sadiq Saiad, and the Executive Chairman of Akwa Ibom SUBEB, Dr. Aniette Etuk, urged participants to be attentive and proactive, stressing that a thorough understanding of the workshop’s objectives was essential to unlocking the potential of the intervention funds.
