Despite the fact that the nation’s education sector is in a pathetic state, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has disclosed that over N46.2 billion matching grant for the development of public primary and junior secondary schools has remained unutilised by some states.
The startling revelation was made by the Acting Executive Secretary of UBEC, Prof. Bala Zakari, during an oversight visit to the Commission by the Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education in Abuja. While presenting the 2022 capital budget implementation report of the agency, Zakari stated that N162 billion was allocated to the states as UBE grants between 2019 and 2022, while N116 billion was accessed by 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
According to him, ‘the total un-accessed UBE matching grants as at April 30, 2023, by the 36 states and the FCT, stands at N46.2 billion. Between 2019 and 2022, N162 billion was allocated to the states being UBE grants, and as at April 30, 2023, N116 billion was accessed by 36 states and the FCT, Abuja, representing 71.52 per cent.’ So far, only 11 states accessed the 2022 matching grant. These included Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Ekiti, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa, Ondo, Taraba, and Zamfara states. Twenty-five states and the FCT did not access the 2022 UBE matching grant as of 30th April 2023.
The inability of some states to pay their counterpart funding disqualifies them from accessing the UBEC’s facility. Unfortunately, this stance by some state governments is inimical to the lofty objectives of the intervention agency. Last year, UBEC expressed worry that about N110 billion of the intervention fund was not utilised by the states during the 2021 financial year.
It is quite unfortunate that while N46 billion is lying idle, the schools are in decrepit forms. In many parts of the country, dilapidated infrastructure, inadequate personnel and dearth of teaching aids define the state of the educational institutions. Nigeria has about 20 million out-of-school children, according to the September 2022 global data on out-of-school children by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). That ranks her with India and Pakistan, among the countries with the highest figures for out-of-school children globally.
Therefore, there is need for the management of UBEC and education authorities in the states to find a lasting solution to the problem. Whatever that is responsible for the lapses in accessing the UBEC funds must be identified and rectified. As a matter of urgency, UBEC needs to review the modalities for accessing the funds by the states. Let the agency examine the factors responsible for the seeming inability of the states to pay their counterpart funds and address them forthwith. It may review the conditions attached to accessing the funds and dismantle all inherent obstacles. The states should also utilise the opportunity offered by UBEC to uplift the standard of education for their people. The affected states should liaise with UBEC to ensure seamless access to the funds.
Education, especially at the basic level, is vital to the development of the child. Access to education is a foundation for development. Any system that ignores its education and health sectors is doomed to remain undeveloped.
UBEC as an agency, has the mandate to formulate and coordinate all programmes of the Universal Basic Education programme and prescribe the minimum standards for basic education in Nigeria. It was established by the Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education and Other Related Matters Act of 2004, to eradicate illiteracy, ignorance and poverty as well as to stimulate and accelerate national development, among others.
The enabling law defines Basic education to include: early childhood care and development education, nine years of formal schooling (6 years of primary and 3 years of junior secondary education, adult literacy and non-formal education, skills acquisition programmes and the education of special groups such as nomads and migrants, girl-child and women, almajirai, street children and disabled groups. This is a vulnerable group that the government owes the duty to protect. UBEC is a good programme that should not be allowed to die. It is largely funded from the money from education tax by commercial organisations, as well as contributions by the federal government. Such deductions should not lie fallow or untapped.
The incoming government should make it a matter of priority to ensure that all obstacles hindering the smooth access to the funds are dismantled. Nigerian children should not be denied the inherent benefits of UBEC’s fund because some states are unwilling to access it.