World Bank, Dev. Partners vote 100m dollars for Basic Education

The World Bank and sundry development partners have jointly made a donation of 100 million US dollars to ensure the successful take-off of the newly launched ‘’Nigeria Partnership for Education Project ‘’ (NIPEP), with a pilot take-off in 5 North Western states namely, Sokoto, Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa and Kano.

Speaking in Abuja on Monday during the lunch of the project whose focus is on improving Access and quality of basic education with emphasis on Girls Education, the Team Leader of Global Programme on Education (GPE) and representative of the World Bank, the Grant agency, Dr. Olatunde Adewole, said the national partnership for education project is purely a Nigerian project with external support from funding agencies and development partners.

Adewole maintained that the project is aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s Basic Education System and improving equitable access with particular emphasis on girls, adding that quality education differentiates the lives of those who attended schools and the ones who didn’t.

Giving a further breakdown of the grant, Adewole said that the allocation is 100 million dollars; 95 percent for the five states while 5 per cent is for the supervising ministry and the Universal Basic Education (UBEC).

He said: ’’GPE is part of UN efforts to support developing countries especially on how to bring more girls to school and they stay in school and learn. The objective of the project launch is to sensitize the citizenry about the delivery of process, knowledge sharing and capacity building.

“Since the effort is to bring more girls to school, we are focusing on five states in North-West that have more girls out of schools—Sokoto, Jigawa, Kano, Kastina and Kaduna.

“The allocation is 100 million dollars; 95 percent of it is for the five states; while 5 per cent is for the supervising ministry and the Universal Basic Education (UBEC).

“We will provide scholarship for girls and provide incentives so that they can come to school and stay in school; there will also be incentives for female teachers of the schools’’.

In keynote address at the occasion, the Minister for Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, who was represented by his Minister of State, Professor Anwuka, described education as one of the cornerstones of the present administration’s change agenda.