United Kingdom to support educational reform in Jigawa
By Umar Akilu Majeri, Dutse
The British High Commission in Nigeria and the United Kingdom will continue to support the Jigawa state government in reforming its educational system and also to improve its human capital development in the state.
This was contained in a communique issued to journalists after a one-day education reform dialogue with critical stakeholders in Dutse.
The communique which was made available to all media houses in the state was signed by the state’s Team Leader of the Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) projects, Mr. Mustapha Balarabe Ahmed.
The dialogue themed, ‘Repositioning Teaching and Learning for Human Capital Development,’ was convened by the Ministry of Basic Education and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology in the State.
According to the communique, “It is targeted at highlighting the 12-point agenda of the new Jigawa administration, geared towards repositioning the state as a center of excellence in addressing learning poverty and other challenges with basic education, including the dearth of teachers and the high prevalence of out-of-school children in the state.”
The communique indicated that “Jigawa State has set aside more than N2.6 billion to recruit, train, and induct 6,000 new teachers.
“A recruitment committee has already been inaugurated by the Honourable Commissioner for Basic Education, Dr. Lawan Yunusa Danzomo during the Education Reform dialogue.
“This reform is in line with key recommendations highlighted in a new Teacher Recruitment and Deployment Policy approved by the state, which the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) supported through its Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) and Partnership for Reform and Learning (PERL-ARC) programs.”
While paying a courtesy visit to the Governor in his office, the country director, Mr Lan Attifield commended the effort of the new administration while pledging the UK Government’s support.
Mr. Ian Attfield appreciated the state governor, Malam Umar Namadi, for the formidable steps taken by his administration to address key strategic issues in Jigawa State’s education sector, especially the current efforts to address the critical shortage of teachers in the state.
He said, “Nigeria is still experiencing a learning crisis, and one of the most vital ingredients that any state or government can provide is qualified, motivated, and adequately supported teachers.
“The UK is delighted to see the progress being made across the board under the leadership and vision of Governor Namadi.”
According to the communique, the Jigawa state governor appreciated FCDO for its interventions in the state, which have spanned over a decade, said that the state is still reaping the benefits of the Public Financial Management reforms done by the UK Government through the then Department for International Development (DFID).
The governor maintained that “PLANE is a programme which the Jigawa State Government is partaking in, and I want to assure you that just as we sustained reforms of the public financial management systems, we will also continue to sustain whatever reform or intervention you bring to us.
“We will sustain it and build on it. That is why you can see what we are doing in education regarding teacher recruitment, deployment, training and retraining and our efforts to reduce the out-of-school children,” the Governor has said.
He explained that the state’s Tsangaya education programme was designed to drastically reduce the number of out-of-school children in the state, and called on FCDO to join hands together so as to replicate FCDO’s interventions.
