Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), announced that special intervention initiatives under the School Base Management Committee will assist 1,147 communities in Nigeria (SBMC).
He stated this recently in Calabar during the national flag off of the southern phase of the 2019 School Base Management Committee-School Improvement Programme.
Mr David Apeh, the Head of Public Relations and Protocol, said in an Abuja statement that SBMC is a platform for improved community participation in education development, quoting Bobboyi.
The executive secretary stated that the flag off activities are critical to successful project implementation, and that they are carried out with the intention of improving project implementers’ capacity to plan, supervise, and deliver on each project component as specified in the memorandum of understanding (MoU).
“I am pleased to announce that SBMC SIP 1147 localities will benefit from the projects in 2019, with special grants of $5 million apiece, as well as macro and micro grants of $2 million and $350,000,” he stated.
It’s also worth noting, he says, that stakeholders in the 1,147 schools and communities stated above have agreed to contributing at least 10% of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) contribution as counterpart financing to ensure the seamless implementation of all the scheduled 2019 projects.
Also read: Nigeria to host COVID-19 Summit with Anthony Fauci as guest speaker
According to the executive secretary, the 2019 funding arrangement includes 527 SBMC-SIP projects from all southern states, with 31 in the special case category, 170 micro projects, and 340 in the micro category.
The Governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade, declared the initiative open and challenged the UBEC management to find a way to make it work.
He advocated for a full revamp of the country’s educational system, emphasizing that the rots in schools today could be eradicated if all hands were on deck, and that the school children’s consciences would be protected.
Governor Ayade also urged for teacher retraining, noting that “those with good education respond to their conscience,” and that “equality and good conscience of education begins with the mind.”
