By Safiya Ishaq Umar
A distinguished University don and scholar of law of international repute, Professor Muhammed Tawfiq Ladan has urged the Minister of state for education, Dr Suwaiba Ahmad, Nigeria’s newly appointed Minister of State for Education, to work hard within the remaining three years that she has, to prioritize 5-point agenda for her to leave an indelible mark in the ministry.
Professor Ladan said the 5 – Point agenda are consistent with Section 18 Constitutional obligations and Nigeria’s treaty obligations on the rights to education, including adult and digital literacy for all.
The key areas of strategic intervention that the renowned scholar wants the minister to prioritize includes – Renewal of collaboration and partnerships with State & Local Governments, Development Partners, the Private Sector & Sector Unions in resource mobilization to implement the 13 thematic and 8 focus areas of the Education Sector Roadmap 2024 to 2027.”
Secondly, Dr. Ahmad has been advised to “Establish a multi-stakeholder experts team for monitoring and evaluation of the level of implementation of the roadmap that seeks to tackle the challenges of the education sector, especially, safety and security in schools, gender parity and equity in education, poor basic amenities, inadequate funding, quality staffing and standards, bringing back to school about 15 million out-of-school/street/Almajirai children.”
The third priority is to “Request for an annual report on the level of implementation of the sectoral policies such as the Gender in Education, Science/Technology/Engineering/Maths Education, Entrepreneurship, Nomadic and Special Education, Digital Literacy, JAMB’s Inclusive Access to Quality Higher Education, with gaps identified, challenges and prospects at both Federal and State levels.”
Fourthly, Prof. Ladan recommends collaborating “with NITDA/Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy on Digital Literacy to educate and skill students for a competitive knowledge, creative and digital global economy in the best interest of Nigeria.”
According to Professor Ladan, the minister should, as the fifth agenda, “Partner with States and Local Governments, Development Partners and the new National Commission on Out-of-School/Street/Almajirai Children to chart a strategic plan of action that promotes and protects children’s survival, protection, participation and development rights in Nigeria.
According to Professor Ladan the 5 – Points three year prioritized agenda requires promotion of inclusivity, resource mobilisation and partnership as well as capacity building for teachers at primary and secondary schools, investment in infrastructure at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education, to enable their products contribute meaningfully to national development and economic growth for the benefit of all.
Furthermore, Prof. Ladan noted that the agenda requires the promotion of inclusivity, resource mobilization, and partnership, as well as capacity building for teachers.
The professor emphasized that the successful implementation of the agenda will enable the products of the education sector to contribute meaningfully to national development and economic growth for the benefit of all.