Lawmakers seek penalty for defaulters of basic education policies

State houses of assembly in the North East and South South are seeking for amendment to the Universal Basic Education Act and SUBEB laws to provide for penalty against non-adherence to basic education policies, programmes and plans.

The lawmakers from the two regions, who also berated the state of inadequate facilities in public primary and secondary schools, made the call in a communiqué issued at the end of a workshop for members of Education Committees of State Houses of Assembly (North East And South South) organised by UNICEF in Abuja recently.

The lawmakers observed that despite the trillions of naira spent on provision of basic education, millions of children are still out of school in Nigeria, adding that there have not been adherence to existing basic education plans by states.

“The UBE Act and SUBEB law do not provide sanctions against non-adherence by operators in basic education,” the communiqué read.

They also noted some of the challenges of basic education to include poor legislative oversight, inadequate number of qualified teachers which has compromised the universal standard of teacher-pupils ratio and inadequate funding related to poor drawdown of UBE funds by states among others.

They however recommended that House Committee on Education should step up oversight functions for high quality projects execution and policy implementation in the basic education system.

“There should be greater level of collaboration between agencies of government and other stakeholders to ensure effective implementation of UBE. State governments should prioritise the payment of salaries and incentives of teachers to boost their morale and make the profession attractive,” the communiqué said.

“The House committee members resolved to enact appropriate legislation and enhance budgetary allocation for effective educational standard,” the communiqué said.