By SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri –
Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAy) States in collaboration with UNICEF on Tuesday organized a one day official dissemination of Manual on building resilience in the education sector with support from the global partnerships for education functionaries and related sectors.
UNICEF Chief of Field Office Maiduguri, Ms Phuong T. Nguyen, said the purpose of the meeting with the states Commissioners of Education was to formally present the manual on education in the north East which was a composition of how to build resilience in the education sector in collaboration with stakeholders.
Ms. Nguyen thanked all the participants for honouring the invitation and noted that the manual would be very useful and as a tool for guidance and counselling towards sustaining education and ensuring continuous educational support and assistance during emergencies.
She stated that plans are in progress to extend the program to other states of the north East which have been affected by the insurgency as well as other parts of the country.
She also assured that all the observations and corrections made during the presentation of the manual during the meeting were noted and would be addressed in the subsequent meetings of the partners and stakeholders.
The Borno State Commissioner , Lawan Abba Wakilbe in his remark while endorsing the manual, observed that there were lop holes in the manual and omissions in the areas of disaster, early morning signs, security and others in n terms of sustainability of education during emergencies.
He also suggested for the review and update on the compilation of the manual to incorporate each states issues in education as educational background of every state affected by the Boko Haram insurgency differs and Borno being the epic center of the crisis was not adequately carried along or incorporated in the first manual compiled and published .
The state commissioner advised UNICEF to recompile the manual while commending the efforts and sacrifices of the resource persons and other partners in the compilation of the manual. He pledged to give out an input when next Borno State Government or SUBEB is contacted to make contributions.
The Yobe State Commissioner on Basic Education, Dr. Mohammed Sani El Bature, said that this was his first time of seeing the manual and claimed he has never been contacted about the compilation of the manual.
However,he said the event was historic and endorsement of such manual has become necessary despite the observations which suggested that the manuscript could have been presented to the states concerned to make input before final compilation and publication.
El Bature suggested for all hands to be on deck in order to improve the quality and standard of education during emergencies like the insurgency.
He further observed that several issues have been discussed on education but all are yet to be addressed especially in the areas of recruitment and others, while soliciting for all programmes to be brought to their notice.
The Adamawa State SUBEB Executive Secretary, who represented Adamawa State Commissioner of Education, Mrs. Wilbiner Jackson, said they have been part of the compilation right from day one and have been fully active in the compilation of the manual.
He added that Adamawa state really played a great role in the compilation and production of the manual, stressing that the manual is a product of wide consultations and dialogues with educationists, scholars and related agencies as well as security forces
In his closing remark, the Borno State SUBEB Executive Secretary, Professor Bulama Kagu complained that some sections of the compilation or manual needed to be rviewed while others deserved to be aligned with the issues of education in each locality or state if the goals and objectives of the dissemination and partnership is to be achieved .
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