NAN-H-95
Reforms
By Kate Obande
Abuja, Nov. 17, 2016 (NAN) The Joint Education Stakeholders Action Coalition (JESAC), an NGO, says it will mobilise its members to vote for only education friendly political leaders in elections, to ensure reform in the sector.
Mr Ike Onyechere, the National Coordinator of the Coalition, made this known in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that the coalition comprising over 20 million members, was endorsed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to unify and elect leaders who are ready to restructure the education sector at all levels.
Onyechere explained that the endorsement letter, signed by Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, the NLC General Secretary, described the initiative of the coalition as worthwhile in the quest to improve education in Nigeria.
He added that the mobilisation efforts included the organising a consultative conference scheduled to hold from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2 in Abuja.
“The JESAC initiative is committed to the mobilisation of 20 million members of the coalition to bond, campaign and speak with one voice with their votes in support of education-friendly political leaders.”
He said that the coalition would reject education unfriendly candidates at national, state, municipal and ward elections.
Onyechere stressed the urgent need for the sensitisation and mobilisation of education stakeholders in this period of recession and scarcity of resources.
He said that commitment to education reforms and welfare of academic and non-academic staff was being relegated to the background of priorities of political leaders.
“This period of recession should be a period of out-of-the-box thinking and more committed efforts to resolve the leadership, governance, policy, infrastructure, motivation, welfare, funding and corruption issues.
“These are the factors that have hampered that capacity of education to fulfill its mandate of raising leaders and workers with character to shun corruption and skills to deliver transformation.
“Instead, the current reality is lack of commitment and even diversion of bailout funds meant for payment of long overdue salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff.’’
The coordinator emphasised that the 20 million members were ready and waiting at the ballot box with their collective votes for the next election.
He said that the coalition’s choice of candidates to support or reject depended on their relative scale of compliance with its charter of education reforms.
Onyechere explained that the charter was a set of 100 minimum education reforms that qualify candidates for JESAC support at all levels of election. (NAN)
KTE/JPE/NKO
============
Edited by Joseph Edeh/Nkechi Okoronkwo
===============================