By Ben Adoga, Abuja
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike has revealed that his administration has committed a total of $1.05bn, approximately N177bn, to developing infrastructure in the education sector.
He said this was inclusive of the N3.5bn counterpart funding from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), bringing the total commitment to infrastructural development to approximately N177bn.
The Minister stated this at the sixth International Conference on Learning Cities, which was held in Jubail Industrial City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Wike, who was represented by the Minister of State FCT, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, also noted that Abuja’s annual budget for education development has surpassed the UNESCO benchmark of 26 percent.
Highlighting further the total investment in different sectors of education, Wike said 21 primary and junior secondary schools were renovated completely, while 30 senior secondary schools were also established.
According to the Minister, other areas of infrastructural investment include the tertiary education sector. The FCT Administration has committed N14.52 bn to the completion and launch of FCT University, Abaji.
According to him, “UNESCO generally recommends that member nations have a budgetary allocation benchmark of at least 26 per cent to education.
“This benchmark is intended to ensure that countries can adequately address the needs of their education system, such as teachers, training, infrastructure development, and educational technology.
“It might interest my audience to know that Abuja’s annual budget for education surpasses the UNESCO benchmark.”
Wike reiterated that the city under his watch has invested heavily in teacher training and retraining and educational infrastructure in the territory’s six area councils.
He affirmed that the administration had maintained a total commitment to the Abuja Learning City status as emphasised by UNESCO, adding that Abuja city has adopted a “whole school” approach system that promotes peace, security, and tolerance through knowledge, skills, and global awareness.
The sixth International Conference on Learning Cities (ICLC 6) focuses on strategies to promote climate action through lifelong learning. The conference’s theme is “Learning cities at the forefront of climate action.”
The conference brought together representatives from UNESCO learning cities, policy-makers, educators, researchers, and other stakeholders.
