NAN-H-63
MOU
By Isaac Aregbesola
Abuja, Nov. 14, 2016 (NAN) The U.S. on Monday said it had signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Sokoto State Government to support its education sector.
A statement by the U.S. Embassy, Abuja, said the MoU was signed by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Mission Director, Michael Harvey and Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State.
Harvey said the five-year MOU set out the shared and individual commitments for collaboration in the education sector to be made by both USAID and the Government of Sokoto.
The MoU, he said, provided a framework for mutual accountability for education activities in Sokoto State.
According to him, the MOU supports the Sokoto State Government’s goals and targets in its education sector’s strategic plans and establishes a preliminary plan for joint monitoring and evaluation of progress.
“The United States commends Sokoto State for its extraordinary efforts to provide greater learning opportunities for its children.
“This MOU will expand the partnership between USAID and Sokoto State to improve its primary education,” Harvey said.
He added that USAID supported Nigeria’s efforts to improve the quality of and access to basic education.
According to the mission director, presently, USAID implements two activities that support the state government’s efforts to improve its education sector.
He said the activities included the Northern Education Initiative Plus and the Leadership, Empowerment, Advocacy and Development (LEAD).
“These activities build state and local government capacity and systems that will teach approximately two million primary school children how to read.
“They also allow nearly 500,000 children the opportunity to attend classes in community-based learning centres by the year 2020,” Harvey said. (NAN)
IAA/COF/YAZ
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Edited by Oluyinka Fadare/Yusuf Zango