Nigeria Student Forum

A non-governmental organisation, Human Development Initiatives (HDI) has enjoined government at all levels to devote more percentage of their annual budgetary allocations to education, in order to increase the pace of development in the country.

Speaking at a sensitisation programme for education stakeholders in Ojo Local government area of the state, the HDI Program Officer, Johnson Ibidapo, noted that no serious government that yearns for meaningful development would trivialise the issue of education.

He urged government to do more and earmark at least 15 per cent of its total annual budget to education, even if they cannot devote 19 or 20 per cent, as recommended by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

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Ibidapo tasks government to do more in prioritising education and reduce the army of 13 million out-of -school children off the streets, saying failure to do so may amount to a time ticking bomb for Nigeria.

The education expert encouraged state governments to also seek alternative ways of funding the sector, reminding that education, being on the concurrent list, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) funds from Federal Government should not become the only source of basic education development.

“Government should do more, they are not doing enough. The situation where you are using billions of Naira to renovate National Assembly complex and you have school children whose infrastructure are comatose is not good enough.”