By Thompson ABISOLA
The Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA) has commenced training for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on the monitoring of implementation of the 100 million dollars Global Partnership for Education (GPE) grant.
Malam Kabiru Aliyu, CSACEFA’s National Moderator, said on Thursday in Kaduna at the two-day training that the grant, donated by the World Bank was being spent in five states in North-West Zone.
Aliyu explained that the fund was aimed at cushioning the effect of low enrolment; improving access and quality of basic education in Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Sokoto states.
He said the project would pay particular attention to girl-child education which over the years accounted for the highest number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
The moderator said its appraisal document, and the project implementation manual had as a component, third party independent monitoring and verification of the project by CSOs.
According to him, the training for CSOs in the five GPE states is designed to quip them with the necessary skills and capacity, and develop a work plan for monitoring the implementation of the GPE project.
“We will equally train the School-Based Management Committees to also come on board with a view to ensure transparency and accountability in government business.
“Beyond the GPE project, we want to ensure transparency and accountability in budgeting and administration in the education sector.
“At the end of the training, we will develop a unified tracking document that will be feeding government with information and data and advise the government on best way forward,” he said.
Also, Mr Achede Joseph, National Project Coordinator, Nigeria Partnership for Education Project (NIPEP), described the effort as a necessary step toward ensuring transparency and accountability in implementation of government programmes.
Joseph explained that the education partnership comprise USAID, World Bank (grant agent), DFID, UNICEF, Federal Ministry of Education, Universal Basic Education Commission and the five benefiting states.
He restated NIPEP’s support for the monitoring process, adding that “providing quality education is a collective responsibility of all”.
Malam Dahuru Anchau, Director of Public Schools, Kaduna State Ministry for Education, Science Technology, said that tracking the implementation of the project would ensure efficient use of government resources.
Anchau, who is the coordinator of the project in the state, said children deserve quality education, adding that every available resources should be put to good use.
