The Federal Capital Territory Administration is seeking alternative sources of funding for the education sector in the Territory, as the FCTA admits that it could no longer fund the sector alone.
FCTA permanent secretary, Mr. Olusade Adesola made this disclosure last week, while declaring open a 2-day retreat organized to seek sustainable options for funding of FCT public schools and vocational centres, in Abuja.
Adesola, while calling for more private sector participation in the education sector, assured that the FCTA, remained committed to its vision of providing sustainable, functional and inclusive education to learners.
According to him, the retreat theme: “Building Consensus for a More Effective and Efficient Education Services Delivery in the FCT”, was apt due to the renewed focus on implementation of the Education Sector Plan and conversations on improving funding for public schools through resourcing.
Adesola declared that, “It has become glaring that governments alone can no longer fund education, thus the urgent need to include participation of non-state actors and the organized public sector to strengthen the funding of public schools as well as vocational centres in the FCT.”
He hailed the Secretariat for been consistent in the production of annual school survey, which is a veritable document for effective planning and administration of schools in the FCT.
Adesola also commended them for partnering international development agencies for developing a medium and educational planning, which is a good guide for organized development in the sector.
He therefore tasked the participants to deliberate on improving productivity of teachers in FCT schools, evolve credible partnerships that will complement funding of the sector, develope action plan for sustaining training and capacity development of our teachers to upscale them in consonance with evolving advancement in technology.
“Our efforts in the development of the plan will come to naught if the document is not applied with our developmental initiatives. I, therefore, implore this gathering to prioritize the application of the education sector plan in your budget preparation to enhance effective plan implementation.”
The permanent secretary urged the participants to engage in meaningful and productive discussions that would strengthen their individual capacities and that of the Secretariat as an institution to improve education performance and services delivery.
Earlier in his remarks, the Secretary, Education Secretariat, Malam Sani El-katuzu, is optimistic that the retreat, in addition to finding solutions to the challenges of funding, would also address issues of security and update participants’ knowledge on their functions in the Secretariat.
Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the retreat, El-Katuzu lauded the decision to resuscitate the G7 security operation and the provision of operational vehicles, saying it would provide them relief to concentrate on handling school management and operation.
Director, Department of Policy, Planning, Research and Statistics, Malam Sani Ladan explained that the kind of sustainable funding the FCTA was seeking was not cash, but collaborations in terms of infrastructure, training as well as community development.
