FG to reform primary education

By Martin Paul
Abuja

The federal government said yesterday in Abuja that plans are in the pipeline to reform primary education in line with global and 21st Century practices.
Minister of education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, said at a maiden meeting with the permanent secretary, directors and other top officers of the ministry that the reforms would be through regulations and incentives.

“We would incentivise enrolment into primary education by working with states and local governments to work out modalities for offering free meals to pupils, as well as work together with states to enact laws that will make it mandatory for all school-age children to enrol.
While assuring that all regulations relating to staffing, capacity building and quality assurance would be reviewed, the minister added that the “Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) would be reoganised to respond to this emergency”.

He said the core problems of the education system, although interrelated, varied from one level to the other, stating that the crisis of underfunding gave birth to other problems.
Adamu listed poor infrastructure, lack of laboratories with equipment, poor condition of service for teachers, the menace of brain-drain, poor enrolment and access as well as crisis of regulations, which had turned the system “into a jungle, where everything goes”, as the problems.

“The ministry of education, under my leadership, will confront these problems with all the seriousness, commitment and strong political will to ensure that we address them once and for all”, Adamu stated.
While assuring that he would not interfere with the running of the ministry as a civil service, he called on the directors to join hands to run the system with the change mantra.
“I want to express my readiness to work with each and every one of you in the ministry without any inhibition. I would run an open door policy that will allow for free interaction and I will hold each and every staff in trust”.
The EFCC letter was entitled “Investigation Report on N10m bribery allegation against the chairman, Code of Conduct Tribunal, Abuja”.

Meanwhile, in another document, the Former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke SAN while responding to a request by the then Secretary General of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, said that the CCT chairman cannot be removed from office by a mere fiat of the executive arm of the government.
Adoke in a letter dated march 25, 2015 told the SGF that the process of removal of CCT chairman was cumbersome and tedious because of the uniqueness of the law that backs the appointment.
He explained that both of the Presidency and the National Assembly shared the power to remove the CCT boss or any of the tribunal members.