The Federal Government, on Monday, announced six-point Initiatives as critical areas to prioritize in the ongoing efforts to transform and revitalise the education sector in Nigeria.

Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, who announced this in Abuja during a meeting with the 36 State and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Commissioners of Education, said the review of the roadmap of his predecessor, was not a policy summersault.

The six key priority areas are: promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medical Sciences (STEMM), education, Reducing the Number of Out-of-School Children, Enhancing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), advancing Girl-Child Education, Harnessing Data and Digitalization and Strengthening Quality Assurance Mechanisms.

The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has implemented measures to strengthen School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs) as part of efforts to tackle the issue of 10.5 million out-of-school children in Nigeria.

The Commission highlighted the critical role SBMCs play in boosting school enrollment and ensuring effective management of schools within their communities.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of a two-day capacity-building workshop for SBMC members nationwide, the immediate past Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, stated that the initiative provided a foundation for establishing a national platform to enhance SBMC operations across the country.

President Bola Tinubu has ap­pointed Aisha Garba, an interna­tional development specialist, as the Executive Secretary of Univer­sal Basic Education (UBEC). Garba, a Senior Education Specialist with the World Bank, brings more than twenty-four years of experience driving im­pactful programmes in education for human and economic develop­ment, working in Nigeria, Ghana, Somalia, Kenya, the USA, and the United Kingdom.

With over 15 years of hands-on experience at the World Bank, Gar­ba has consistently led end-to-end design and management of edu­cation programmes and reforms, from conceptualisation to comple­tion and impact assessment.

Apart from being actively inter­ested in and involved in human de­velopment issues, the development specialist will share her rich net­work with governments, develop­ment partners, and communities, as well as the skills she acquired working in fragile, conflict, and vi­olent settings to deliver sustainable solutions in basic education.

Teaching is not about the simple transfer of facts from teacher to student; it is about sparking transformation. For too long, Nigeria’s educational system has focused on rote learning, where students memorise and regurgitate information for examinations.

This approach, while convenient for standardised assessments, fails to equip learners with the skills they need to navigate an increasingly complex world. It should prepare students for life, not just for tests. As an educator, I’ve seen firsthand that true learning happens when students can connect the classroom to real-life experiences.

The lessons that stick are not the ones delivered through long lectures but those rooted in practical application. For Nigeria to reimagine its educational landscape, we must shift from mere instruction to meaningful, transformative learning.

When it comes to addressing the pressing challenges of climate change, my years of experience working on methane mitigation and clean air initiatives across Africa have taught me a critical lesson. This is that real progress requires work at both ends of the spectrum.

Policy and technical solutions are essential at the highest levels of governance, but so, too, is nurturing a generation that understands the urgency of our climate crisis and has the tools to act. The importance of educating young people on climate change cannot be overstated. Schools are not merely centers of academic learning.

They are spaces where values, habits and lifelong perspectives are formed. If we can equip Nigeria’s youth with climate knowledge and practical skills today, we will secure a brighter, more sustainable tomorrow. As I reflect on the climate mitigation journey Nigeria has embarked upon, I see many positive strides at the policy level.

The maiden West African Education Civil Society (WA-ECS) event is expected to develop governance policy for the WA-ECS platform and strategy for policy influencing in the respective member countries.

The conference, which commenced yesterday, has participants from Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in education transformation from Ghana, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Togo, Nigeria, Gambia, Sierra Leone, La Cote D’Ivoire, Senegal, Benin and Mali.

The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), Kofi Asare, underscored the importance of collaboration among CSOs in education in West Africa to build a network to pursue the transformative education objectives set out by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

ECA collaborated with stakeholders to examine the crucial role of higher education in promoting sustainable development in Africa at a forum on higher education in Africa, held from December 10 to 12, 2024, in Nairobi.

Dubbed: "2024 UNESCO Forum on Higher Education in Africa: A Driver for Sustainable Development," the conference is part of celebrating the African Union's Year of Education 2024 under the auspices of UNESCO.

Educational experts, policymakers, members of the business and entrepreneurial communities, ICT and technology leaders, and educators participated in the event, sharing insights and strategies. ECA hosted a parallel session titled “Rethinking Higher Education in Africa for a Sustainable Future,” focusing on the changing dynamics of higher education in Africa and highlighting the need for a demand-driven education system.

Many perceive Africa primarily through the lens of poverty, which, while significant, overshadows the continent's immense potential. Africa's true wealth lies not just in its abundant natural resources but in its largely untapped human capital. According to the World Bank, “Africa’s Human Capital Index score of 0.40 puts the region at 40% of its potential.”

Education emerges as a potent tool that can unlock this potential and drive transformative growth. The World Bank also explains that achieving full education and health standards for everyone in the continent could increase GDP per worker by 2.5 times.

This underscores the transformative power of education in enhancing economic stability and improving living standards across the continent. By prioritizing comprehensive educational reforms, Africa can harness its human resources more effectively, paving the way for sustained economic development and a better quality of life for its people.

PHILOSOPHICAL education could change the school system because the educational sector is in dire need of transformation and an overhaul. This piece situates the problem with basic schooling and explores how philosophical education or philosophy for children (p4c) would deliver the much-needed change.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has a problem of out-of-school children. I call it the problem of out-of-formal-school children because different types of schools, formal and informal, operate in Nigeria. The problem of out-of-formal-school children persists.

According to UNICEF, about 18 million children, that is, 1 in 3 three children in the country, are out of school. Indeed, these children are out of school, but it does not mean that they do not receive any form of education at all. Or that they are out of school in all respects. Strictly speaking, no Nigerian child is out of school. All children attend schools and receive some form of education or the other.

Governments at all levels have been charged to commit more investment to the education sector by allocating more resources to underserved regions to accommodate the growing number of children aspiring to attend school.

The Orangun of Oke-Ila in Osun state, Oba Adedokun Abolarin, gave this charge during the 14th convocation lecture of Achivers University, Owo, Ondo state, with the theme :”Modelling quality Education for the Reach of the Vulnerable”

The monarch urged governments to also pay more attention to focused services to vulnerable populations and improve infrastructure and teacher quality to bridge the educational divide for vulnerable populations. According to him, formal and informal system of education should be integrated into formal education system to increase enrollment in all parts of country in order to achieve equitable and quality education for the most vulnerable populations.

Uganda's education sector is set for transformation as the Uganda Society for Disabled Children (USDC), Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), and the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER) launch a comprehensive study using Citizen-Generated Data (CGD).

This collaborative effort focuses on enhancing public investment, governance, and accountability to foster equitable learning opportunities for all children in Uganda by 2026, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.5. The launch of the CGD initiative in Kampala marks a significant step toward improving educational planning for marginalised groups, particularly children with disabilities.

The study was conducted in the districts of Yumbe, Sheema, and Namayingo, targeting 288 households--144 with children with disabilities and 144 without. This approach aims to gather nuanced insights that traditional government data often overlook.

To improve school inspections and boost student performance, the Ministry of Education and Sports has launched a nationwide two-phase training program. This initiative aims to equip District Education Officers (DEOs) and Inspectors of Schools with skills in using the Integrated Inspection System (IIS).

The focus is on local governments with the lowest Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) and School Performance Assessment (SPA) results from 2023. By addressing these areas, the training is set to strengthen inspectors' capacity to improve teaching quality and enhance learning outcomes across the country.

The Directorate of Education Standards, under the leadership of Assistant Commissioner Judith Akuru, is spearheading this comprehensive program. It targets 21 local governments in central and western Uganda, focusing on building capacity to utilize the IIS and other tools to assess teaching and learning quality effectively.