ABUJA – (FMFBNP Report) – As part of proactive measures by the Federal Government to protect education in Nigeria, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed (Dr) has initiated an intervention programme titled:”Financing Safe Schools” towards addressing funding gaps for the protection of education.
While speaking in the Validation Meeting lately, the Head of the Financing Safe Schools Secretariat in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning, Halima Iliya informed that the Ministry in collaboration with critical stakeholders has developed a robust financing Safe Schools plan that has been subjected to series of reviews with school data collected across the States.
According to her, the National Plan was validated on November 29th, 2022 in preparation for the final launch. She revealed that during the meeting recently held at the Ministry’s Auditorium in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mallam Aliyu Ahmed said that the National Plan on Financing Safe Schools (2023 -2026) is a commitment to financing various policy initiatives aimed at safeguarding education, and creating safer and more secured teaching and learning environments.
“The Permanent Secretary who was represented by the Director of Special Projects, Victor Omata disclosed that attacks on education can have a significant psychological impact on learners, teachers and non-teaching staff, thereby having devastating consequences,” she said.
“Highlighting some of the psychological impacts, Ahmed said it can lead to lower rates of enrolment and transition to higher grades, and increased teacher absenteeism, adding that learners may drop out or experience interruptions to studies or may transfer to other schools, frequently resulting in overcrowding.According to him, the meeting was an opportunity for key stakeholders to provide inputs as the plan is being finalized, just as prior to this validation meeting, various activities have taken place.”
The representative of the NGF at the meetingin his goodwill message said that NGF is delighted to be part of the ongoing consultative process and is ready to support its implementation.
The participants at the validation meeting for stakeholders included: National Planning, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Defence, Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Department of State Security Services (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Civil Society and Development Partners.
