FG handicap on education funding – Minister

• Needs N2trn annual allocation for Education

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, may be sending the message that portrays that the federal government is handicapped to fund the education sector in Nigeria. The minister acknowledged that the government is over burdened with the challenges of properly funding education in Nigeria.

National Daily learned that Education Minister had admitted that Nigeria requires a budget of N2 trillion annually to develop the education sector.

He narrated that in the past four years, the Government allocated over N1.2 trillion to the education sector. “This money is different from interventions and support from donor agencies and contributions of the private sector,” Adamu added. National Daily also learned that the minister subtly admitted under-funding of education in Nigeria which several stakeholders in the polity have protested over the years.

The minister decried that “in spite of these monies, out-of-school children syndrome remains a bigger challenge for the Buhari Administration between 2015 and 2019.”

It was observed that the closure of 134 illegal tertiary institutions in four years helped to boost access, while the minister also stated that the effort of the government to curb industrial actions helped to stabilize the academic calendar.

The Minister had spoken in Abuja after the ASUU made demand for higher budgetary allocation to education by the governments.