NAN-H-47
Budget
By Kate Obande
Abuja, Jan. 9, 2017 (NAN) The Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA) has called for greater participation of citizens in the budget making process to ensure that people’s needs were captured.
Ms Chioma Osuji, the coalition Policy Advisor, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
Osuji said that a bottom to top approach should be adopted to allow more Nigerians to participate in the 2017 budget proposal that would aid the nation’s development.
“There should be increased participation of citizens in the budget formulation and monitoring to promote development.
“The process should be bottom to top approach to ensure that we are budgeting according to our identified needs,’’ Osuji said.
She urged government to prioritise teachers’ development and welfare in the 2017 work plan to guarantee quality education and improve learning outcome in the year.
According to her, quality education cannot be assured with unqualified and low motivated teachers.
The coalition policy advisor also decried the deplorable state of some government schools, describing it as worrisome.
Osuji urged the three tiers of government to rise up and tackle the issue of infrastructure decay in the nation’s public schools to improve literacy level.
She said that the poor condition of schools had given rise to proliferation of private schools with a good number of them not meeting the required education standard.
The advisor urged government to make teaching and learning environment conducive for students and teachers, and also called for introduction of vocational studies into the curriculum.
“Government should ensure that we have conducive school environment to improve learning outcome.
“Stakeholders in the education sector should be committed in implementing a lifelong learning system in our schools and should not leave it as policy document.
“This will enable students after secondary school to acquire skills that will sustain them or make them gainfully employed with or without university degree,’’ Osuji said.
She explained that for Nigeria to compete globally, citizens need to be motivated to become entrepreneurs. (NAN)
KTE/AOS/GOK
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Edited by Bayo Sekoni/Olagoke Olatoye