The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) says it will begin implementing a new road map in 2016 with a view to improve basic education in the country.
The Executive Secretary of the commission, Dr Suleiman Dikko, disclosed this in an interview with reporters in Abuja on Thursday.
He said that the development of the five-year map was part of UBEC’s efforts at discharging its mandate.
“The roadmap for basic education, which we call the five-year road map is aimed at achieving a positive result in basic education, that is, improving access, quality, quantity, transition; that is the road map will help us mobilise the children into the school.
“And it is develop in such a way that we can check the teachers input and the quality of learning in the schools.
“The most important thing that is put in the road map is evaluation – strict supervision and evaluation – and that’s what is lacking in our basic education today.
“Because once people are allowed to carry on the educational system of a country without strict and adequate supervision, without strict evaluation it will not yield any positive result.
“But once there are checks and balances you find that the education move forward.
“So the most important aspect of this roadmap is what you call quality assurance assessment; we begin in 2016.’’
According to him, the governors of the 36 states of the federation have started paying their counterpart funds to enable them to access their Universal Basic Education (UBE) fund.
The executive secretary explained that inability of state governments to pay their counterpart funds was the major challenge the commission had in the past.
“Now they are accessing, even the most backward ones that have not accessed (the funds) for the past five years have started accessing it; these governors are very determined.
“There is no problem the only problem is from the Treasury Single Account policy of the government.
“Because when they put their counterpart and we release our own it will take weeks and even a month or two months before it drops into the account.
“So that is the only problem we are facing, but they are accessing it.’’