The Dean, Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB), South West states, Dr Nureni Adeniran has called on philanthropists to join hands with major stakeholders to further promote education in the nation.
Adeniran, told our Correspondent on Tuesday in Lagos that the support was needed to further assist the body to effectively execute proposals and programmes in the sector.
“Funding of education has not been easy, in terms of available funds; we all know that even if the entire budget is allocated to the sector, it will still not be enough.
“That is why, apart from government agencies, UBEB, state governments, we also welcome people in the area of education, philanthropists, old students association and parents’ bodies to join hands for the progress of education, especially in the foundational level, it is very important,” he said.
Adeniran, also Executive Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, said part of the agenda was to ensure that every child got quality education irrespective of background.
He emphasised that basic education was key and required utmost attention, especially for children, adding that Oyo was the only state in South West presently benefiting from the ‘Out-of-school’ programme.
He said efforts were on ground to ensure that other states in the South West benefited from the programme designed to get affected children back to classrooms to learn.
“While we are the first and only state in the South West enjoying the ‘Out-of-school’ children’s programme, we equally believe that the issues are not limited to Oyo state but scattered all over the zone.
“Therefore, we are making effort to ensure that other states in the South West zone also benefit from this particular programmes in operation in Oyo state,” he said.
Adeniran noted said the Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) programme was also planned to take the ‘Out-of-school’ children off the street and back to the classroom.
He added that the purpose of BESDA programme was to provide access for ‘Out-of-school’ children to get educated, ensure sanity in classrooms and improve literacy at large.