The Chairman of the House Committee on Basic Education, Hon. Bako Useni, has detailed the 10th Assembly’s efforts to revise the Universal Basic Education Commission Act, aiming to enhance the commission’s funding from two to four percent of the consolidated revenue.
The proposed amendment, championed by Hon. Muktar Shagaya, is designed to bolster the financial support for the basic education sector, ensuring the achievement of its goals. The bill has already made progress, having passed the second reading in a recent House session.
During an oversight visit to UBEC’s Digital Resource Center in Abuja, Useni expressed confidence that the proposed changes would fortify the commission’s capabilities. “Since UBEC was established in 2004 to date, a lot has been achieved. However, the House felt that if UBEC is motivated with more funding, it will go a long way in achieving more of what it has achieved. It was on this basis that one of us, Honourable Mukhtar Shagaya proposed an amendment to the UBEC Act to increase funding to UBEC from 2% to 4%/from the consolidated revenue fund.”
Useni praised the Digital Resource Center’s impact on modernizing Nigeria’s basic education. “It is going to bring a new approach to basic education in Nigeria. It is going to improve teachers’ training and content,” he remarked, committing to ongoing oversight to ensure the center’s success and proper use of allocated funds.
UBEC’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Hameed Bobboyi, highlighted the center’s role in advancing digital education. The facility, which includes a digital museum, library, AI center, and more, is set to revolutionize teacher training and pedagogy.
“This is an experiment that we have started and believe that it will be a game changer in our basic education sub-sector,” he stated.
The center’s National Coordinator, Professor Bashir Galandanci, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the center’s significance in ushering UBEC into the digital age and its focus on training educators in digital literacy.
The report concludes by reiterating the Digital Resource Center’s purpose in Abuja: to elevate the standard of digital education for Nigerian teachers.
