Stories by David Agba
Abuja
Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Benjamin Ezra Dikki has called for the urgent reform of education in Nigeria to ensure enforcement of standards at the primary and secondary levels.
Dikki noted that though there are regulatory institutions for tertiary education like the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) among others to ensure the enforcement of standards, this was lacking at the primary and secondary levels.
Receiving a team from the World Bank, led by Guillemette Jaffrin that paid a courtesy call on him yesterday, the DG said the lack of regulation at these levels has resulted in falling standards at the foundation level of education in the country.
He attributed the incidence of crime and other anti-social behaviors plaguing the country to the falling standards of education at the primary secondary levels.”It is disheartening that students finish secondary schools and cannot read or write properly”, he stated.
Dikki said the Bureau is hamstrung to undertake reforms initiatives at the primary and secondary level because of constitutional provisions.
The DG said already the Federal Ministry of Health and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) have commenced a joint preliminary review of the sector legislations to reform the sector.
Leader of the World Bank team, Guillemette Jaffrin said the Bank was concluding the review of its activities in Nigeria within the week and decided to visit the Bureau to have its inputs.
