By Ibukun Emiola
Ibadan – The Oyo State government, on Friday, commenced the implementation of Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) to reduce illiteracy and enhance access to quality education.
The state Governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, stated this at a policy dialogue workshop on the implementation of BESDA in Ibadan, on Friday.
The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Alhaja Faosat Sanni, said about 272,847 out-of-school children (OOSC) would benefit from the programme.
Makinde, while stressing the need for an all-inclusive participatory implementation of the programme, said that it was aimed at increasing access to education for the OOSC.
He added that the programme, if well implemented, would improve literacy rate and retain children in schools at the basic education level.
The governor revealed that the initiative was geared towards including every child in the free education policy of the state government “leaving no child behind and consequently making every child count”.
The governor said that the free education policy of his administration was yielding increase in the return of children to public schools across the state.
“Recently, the state government announced free and compulsory qualitative education at basic and secondary school levels in the state, the effects of which is an increase in enrolment in our public schools throughout the state.
The state government has also adopted proactive measures to enhance collaboration with relevant stakeholders in the education sector, to address the effects of OOSC,” he said.
Makinde commended the World Bank and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for their financial and technical supports for the state.
“Oyo State, as one of the beneficiaries, will ensure judicial use of the funds provided to improve literacy and strengthen accountability,” he said.
Earlier, Dr Nureni Adeniran, the Executive Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), said that the programme would eradicate child abuse and other vices in the society.
“The BESDA programme will help eliminate child abuse and child labour; improve health and hygiene, promote self-reliance, increase economic growth and enhance the nation’s social strength, while eliminating the incidence of out-of-school-children,” he said.
He, therefore, urged parents and guardians to ensure literacy of their wards and tasked teachers to be dedicated to their duties so as to revive the education sector.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World Bank had granted a $611 million facility for the BESDA programme, to support the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme in the state.
It is also to facilitate the implementation of the 2016/2019 Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) on OOSC.
NAN also reports that the programme is currently being implemented in 17 states in the country.
While 13 states were selected from the North-West and North-East zones, the remaining four states were Niger (North-Central), Ebonyi (South-East), Rivers (South-South) and Oyo (South-West).
The selection of the participating states was based on the prevalence of out-of-school children, estimated at about 13.2 million in the country. (NAN)