I write to you today as a concerned citizen deeply passionate about the future of our nation’s education system. It is with utmost respect that I address this open letter to Your Excellency to bring to your attention the pressing need to consider the scrapping of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme and in its place strengthen the operations of Local Education Authorities (LEAs).
The UBE programme was introduced in 1999 with the noble intention of providing a standardised free and compulsory education for all Nigeria children. Numerous academic studies have pointed out its ineffective operation as it failed to accomplish its objectives. Over N15 billion Jonathan’s Almajiri schools rot away, the World Bank donated $611m to Nigeria under the Better Education Service Delivery for All programme, about $100m was spent in the National School Feeding Programme as part of efforts to address the issue of out-of-school children, but unfortunately the rate of out-of-school children continued to increase from 10.8 million in 2019 to 20 million in 2022 as indicated by UNESCO.