Adamawa State Government on Thursday in Yola tasked education stakeholders to generate credible data during the Annual Schools Census (ASC) to enhance the development of education in the state.
The Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Dr. Garba Pella, made the call at the first census planning meeting held in collaboration with Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA).
BESDA is a World Bank initiative created to increase equitable access for out-of-school children, improve literacy in focus states, and strengthen accountability for results in basic education in Nigeria.
Pella urged stakeholders to take the exercise seriously for credible data, saying “there is no need to engage any consultant for that.’’
He stressed that the ASC data was important for budgeting appropriationss and targeting results.
“We expect cooperation from each of you because the ASC report is a document for the government to use as a guide.
“We should try to avoid errors and challenges in the implementation.
“We need this for a lot of our plans for the state and for development partners,’’ he said.
In his remarks, BESDA’s coordinator in Adamawa, Dr. Muhammed Degereji, charged education secretaries to be committed and to ensure the implementation of issues raised.
He warned that this was necessary as BESDA was rounding up its programme in Adamawa.
He said BESDA had trained teachers, distributed more than 200 tables, and refurbished vehicles, among other interventions for effective service delivery,, and expected positive results in Adamawa’s education sector.
Degereji lauded Adamawa’s Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri for elevating the education sector to priority level, and the coordinating partners for effective implementation of their projects in the state.
Also speaking at the meeting, Mr Michael Chinda, Coordinator, Global Partnership for Education (GPE), said the ASC was a source of education data for basic and post-basic education sector.
The GPE is a multi-stakeholder partnership and funding platform that aims to strengthen education systems in developing countries to dramatically increase the number of children who are in school and learning.
“The result we are going to get from the field is what the government is going to use for educational development projects.
“Without data, I don’t think we have proper planning for children yet unborn,’’ Chinda said. (NAN)
