The Oyo State education sector has witnessed a new air, as the Seyi Makinde-led administration has collaborated with the Oyo state wing of the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA) and the World Bank.
This was revealed in a statement by the State Coordinator, Dr Oluwabulola Olatunji and the immediate past State Coordinator of the coalition, Mr Moshood Folorunsho, they both represented the coalition at a two-day strategic meeting on the execution of the project and ways to effectively revamp education in the state, held from May 4-5, 2021, in Ibadan.
They spoke at length on the necessity for transparency and openness for the laid down objectives of the project to be achieved. They said: “I believe that only transparency, accountability and real public participation, as well as un-bureaucratic openness, can make GPE2-TESS Project achieve its set objectives and make the desired impact in Oyo State.”
The meeting saw the distribution of status updates of the application process on the Education Sector Plan Implementation Grant (ESPIG) and also state requirements specified by the Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) were discussed in detail. Expectations of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and Policy Makers’ role in the prompt achievement of Disbursement Linked Results (DLRs) and the disbursement of their Grants were also discussed.
The meeting was declared open by the Oyo State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Barrister Olasunkanmi Olaleye, but before the opening, the National Project Coordinator of GPE 2- TESS Project, Dr Mrs Folake Olatunji-David, on behalf of the Minister for Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu welcomed the participants, who were drawn from the three benefitting states – Oyo, Adamawa and Katsina (OAK), to the meeting.
Dr Folake said that the World Bank and the Federal Ministry of Education collaborated to transform the education system in Nigeria using the OAK States as the leading States. Saying that other states of the federation will then follow the example set by the states.
She urged the OAK states to be steadfast and set realistic targets during the appraisal meeting that is slated between May 10 and 21, 2021. Closing her statement, she added that governors of the OAK states had signed an agreement with the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) to raise the budgetary allocation of the education sector to 20% and implementing the agreement showed commitment and sincerity on the part of the governors.
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