IN what has become a familiarritual, the Federal Government in Abuja has yet againinaugurated a new Task Team for the implementation of the recently submitted recommendations of the Presidential Task Team on Education (PTTE). The team, headed by the Ministers of Education Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai and Minister of State, Chief Nyesom Wike as Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively, is expected to ensure the complete implementation of the recommendations of the Prof. Pai Obanya-led Reform Committee, which was raised in January this year.The development is coming on the heels of a fresh move by the Federal Ministry of Education to push for the pruning down of the large parastatals under it, to ensure effectiveness in service delivery. The minister, who dropped the hint when she led a delegation of the ministry's officials to appear before the Education Committee of the House of Representatives on Monday, said it had become imperative in order to curtail duplication of duties by the parastatals as presently composed.Besides the two ministers, other members of the committee included the Permanent Secretary in the ministry and his counterparts from the office of the Secretary to then Government of the Federation (SGF) and Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF). Obanya serves as Technical Adviser to the committee. Also on the committee are the Chief Executives of the National Universities Commission (NUC); Tertiary Education Fund (TETF); Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), National Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Petroleum Development Technology Fund (PTDF), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) and the National Information Development Agency (NITDA).Others include the National Examinations Council (NECO); West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB); National Board for Technical Education (NBTE); Nigerian educational Research and Development Council (NERDC); National Teachers Institute (NTI); Federal Ministry of Finance, National Planning Commission (NPC); Chairmen of Forum of Commissioners of Education, SUBEB and Principals of Unity Colleges with the Director of Tertiary Education in the ministry as the Secretary to the committee.It is on record that the leadership of the ministry, under the erstwhile minister and now vice president (African Affairs) of the World Bank, Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwisili embarked on a similar venture in 2006, which produced a far-reaching reform, which was later ditched by the succeeding administration in 2007.Rufai, said the functions of the committee was to propose the modalities for the smooth actualization of the recommendations of the Obanya-led PTTE committee, noting that their choice was not by accident, but based on the need to have trusted and tested individuals to run the system.Rufai said: 'This is because government's expectations and indeed the expectations of all Nigerians, who are critical stakeholders in the education sector are very high, and we will not let them down. At this juncture, let me remind you that, education sector is central to the transformation agenda of the president administration. It is against this background that we will be unveiling in the next few weeks, the four-year strategic plan for the development of the sector.'The document, which will clearly identify our intentions over the next four years, could be regarded as the education component of the transformation agenda. Therefore, the work of this committee is to clearly link with this important document, which will serve as the basis for the actions we will take to transform the sector and ultimately our society in the near future.'It is therefore, expected that the necessary actions required for the actualization of all approved recommendations in the PTTE report would be concluded in six months. As we work towards the actualization of these noble goals for our society, I count on the support of all in the ministry, its agencies and wider education stakeholders to enhance our success.'Among some of the recommendations for implementation, according to the minister, are the production of a compendium of all the education sector laws; reversion of the 6-3-3-4 system to its original intentions and adjustment of its structure to the one year Early Childhood Education (ECE) for five years olds (1-6-3-3-4). Others include the updating the National Policy of Education to include all new sub-sectoral policies, covering gender, ECE, information and communication technology (ICT); HIV/AIDS among others.Also included is the need to amend outdated laws of the ministry; re-structuring the functions of its departments with specific attention to ensuring that professionals head departments and parastatals, as well as expanding the mandate of UBEC to become Universal Basic and Secondary Education Commission, to incorporate the hitherto absence of Secondary Education component into an appropriate agency. The UBEC Act may be amended to incorporate all levels of pre-tertiary education.The committee is also expected to develop an education tracking mechanism; streamline the omnibous functions of the National Teachers Institute (NTI) by re-focusing it to be a Teacher Professional development Agency (TPDA); streamline the over lapping functions of the ministry and institutionalising education sector strategic planning. The bureaucratic process for the approval and actualization of the National Teacher Education policy is also to be completed.The committee is also challenged to resolve all political and financial issues pending that are impeding the implementation of the Teachers' Salary Scale as well as addressing the challenges of the Federal Unity Colleges (FUCs) by putting them under the management of UBEC after its Act has been amended. Rufai declared that until that the UBE is amended, the status quo should be maintained.The minister, at the House of Representatives last Monday, said the ministry was worried by duplication of services and non efficiency of some parastatals under it. She revealed that the ministry planned to prune the number of parastatals from the present 22 to 17.She further stated that the federal government has been working assiduously to revitalise technical and vocational education, to ensure that graduates of the nation's education sector are not liabilities but assets to the society.Ruqayyatu, who spoke on Mr. President's transformation agenda of putting things in their right perspective, maintained that human resources were paramount in the transformation agenda and without the education sector being in its rightful place, no other sector can make any meaningful impact.Wike assured that the new set of leadership in the ministry was committed to ensuring that recommendations of committees were implemented to the letter. His words: 'Sometimes, a Presidential Task Force may be set up and then the report of that committee may not come until the tenure of that administration expires.'He commended the president for the courage in ensuring that there was a prompt response to the recommendations of the committee.He described the task ahead of the committee members as enormous and challenging, noting that it would depend on the Committee for sector to move forward. 'It will be wrong for us that having this opportunity to see that we are part of those who would have moved the sector forward and then we lose this golden opportunity, history will not forgive us,' he observed.The Chairman, House Committee on Education, Farouk Lawan, assured the minister of continuous support and partnershipHe said: 'I know that most of the challenges we have faced in this country, not only in the education sector, but inall facets of our national development, is not the absence of reports, but the will to implement the outcomes of those reports. And this is not peculiar to education. I'm sure if you go to the libraries of most parastatals, universities, you will find a lot of studies and reports on how to reform and improve the education sector, but what was lacking in the past is the will at the highest level. As long as the will does not come from the highest level, then it will virtually become impossible for any meaningful improvement of reform to be implement.''Any Nigerian on the street would tell you that the solutions to the problems bedevilling the education sector are well known to the key stakeholders in the polity. But he would also argue that what has been lacking is implementation and now that the task is before you, you must recognize the fact that Nigerians would look up to you to succeed. They will support and pray for you, but ultimately, if you fail, the total responsibility will also be on you.
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