FG to allocate N25% budget to education if… — Mamman
By Uji A. Iliyas
Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has expressed willingness to allocate 25 per cent of the nation’s annual budget to the development of education if the right policies are put in place and stability is sustained in the sector.
Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, disclosed this in Abuja Monday, at a two-day National Conference on Equal Opportunity of Access to Higher Education in Nigeria with the theme: “Towards Increasing Equal Opportunity of Access to Higher Education in Nigeria.”
Mamman said the president was looking beyond the 25 per cent being clamoured for by stakeholders in the education sector, adding that stability in the sector is a key priority to realising the president’s agenda.
The minister said his ministry has set up a committee that is working on a strategic roadmap that will produce a strategic pathway for the government to deliver on its educational promises.
He expressed commitment to policies that would not only promote inclusivity but ensure every Nigerian child attains the level of education they desire.
Mamman added that the administration of Tinubu sees education as a top priority so that every Nigerian child attains the level of education they aspire.
Earlier JAMB registrar, Prof Is’haq Oloyede, said the conference was put together to analyse the challenges of inclusive education especially as it affects persons with disabilities and find possible solutions to change the narrative.
Oloyede frowned at parents of the persons with disabilities interfering in the choice of their courses, adding that the Board would not tolerate that henceforth.
The JAMB boss expressed the board’s commitment towards facilitating equity and inclusivity of access to higher education in Nigeria.
He said despite frantic efforts by JAMB, the administration of tests has been very challenging for people with disabilities.
He added that the conference was part of efforts towards integration of interests of persons with disabilities into operations of the higher education system in the country.
He called for the dedication of stakeholders to create opportunities and provide facilities to ensure inclusion of physically-challenged persons into higher educational institutions in the country.
The Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission, (NUC) Chris Maiyaki, on his part, expressed the Commission’s readiness to introduce courses and programmes that would deepen national capacity towards meeting the noble objectives of providing equal opportunities for persons with disabilities.
“Where necessary, decisions arising from the conference requiring the review of curricula, would be given the needed attention in line with our resolve to continually update and develop globally acceptable minimum academic standards for effective delivery of university education in Nigeria.”
He said, “Available statistics indicate that there are over 27 million Nigerians living with one form of disability or the other. These types of disabilities include visual, hearing, physical, intellectual and communication impairment”
“The National Policy on Education provides for inclusive education for all Nigerians. The Policy clearly stipulates that “persons with disabilities should be educated in regular schools along with their non-disabled peers”. The theme of this Conference is, therefore, very apt as it is in consonance with the UNESCO Convention Against Discrimination in Education (CADE 1960) which defines education as “all types and levels of education, the standard and quality of education and the conditions under which it is given,” he said.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Mr James Lalu, called for the establishment of faculty of disabilities in Nigerian universities.
Lalu urged other higher institutions to follow the good example of Federal University, Lafia, which has commenced a sign language degree programme.
He decried the failure of engineers and government agencies to build public buildings with physically challenged persons in mind.