ActionAid Nigeria has called on the governments to revise and increase allocation for education to 15 percent-20 percent of public expenditure.
This was contained in a press statement issued on Tuesday by Communications Coordinator ActionAid Nigeria, Lola Ayanda which copy was made available to newsmen in Lokoja to mark this year International World Education Day with the theme: ‘Recover and Revitalize Education for the COVID-19 Generation’.
The statement noted that the declaration calls for free and compulsory elementary education adding that Nigeria is a signatory to several international treaties including the Convention on the Right of the Child and the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which stipulate that countries shall make education accessible to all.
The statement read this, “As a developing nation, education is a vital tool for transformational change and is critical for sustainable development
“In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that led to a global disruption of learning, this has affected the lives of many children due to the closure of schools, universities, and other institutions of learning in year 2020. Other factors such as insecurity challenges, socio-economic factors, infrastructural deficit have continued to affect education in the Country.
She stated that they join the rest of the world to commemorate this year’s International Education Day and call on the Federal Government to revise and increase allocation for education to 15% – 20% of public expenditure and also increase the tax base by capturing the informal sector to increase resources, working towards a minimum tax to GDP ratio of 20%.
Government should provide free quality education for all and halt the dangerous trends of privatization and commercialization of education, ensure inclusive educational systems and institutions, improve the quality of teaching through adequate recruitment, renumeration and continued teacher training and re-training and also ensure evaluation of existing safety measures in schools to identify gaps and take corrective measures followed by regular risk assessment at the Federal, State and LGA level.
She said government should also provide leadership and funds to support logistics of monitoring teams at all levels; and enforce compliance to COVID-19 safety rules and measures and braze up security architecture in places where insecurity has affected learning.
“With less than a decade to 2030, and in a world thrown into turmoil by COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial that the Federal Government takes concrete actions to recommit to honoring the UN commitments and mobilize all available resources to deliver on SDG4 thereby ensuring no child is left behind,” the statement added.
