Federal government has launched a renewed effort to clear a five-year backlog of unclaimed basic education grants to support improvements in public schools across the country.
Gatekeepers News reports that these grants funded by Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), have remained largely untouched due to many states failing to meet the conditions required to access them
Under Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act of 2004, states must match the federal grant (usually 50% of project costs) and submit an action plan outlining how the funds will be used.
States however, have often failed to provide matching funds, causing billions to remain unclaimed and contributing to infrastructure shortages in schools.
Over the years, as a result, there have been calls for the direct release of UBEC funds to states to reduce the problem of unaccessed funds.
In response, the Ministry of Education has devised a new strategy aimed at helping governors understand the benefits of the grants and how they can transform primary education in their states.
This includes information on teacher training, classroom construction, and reducing the number of out-of-school children.
According to Empired Newswire; letters have been sent to state governors, including detailed breakdowns of the funds available and their potential impact.
In one such letter, Ogun State was informed it could access N7.8 billion in UBE funds for the period between 2020 and 2024.
To access the funds, the ministry asked Governor Dapo Abiodun to “provide an equal amount of N7,816,600,698.99k being state counterpart fund in compliance with Section 11 subsection 2 of the UBE ACT 2004 to enable state access the funds.”
The letter also outlined the potential impact the funds could have on the state’s education system, including the rehabilitation of over 5000 classrooms and the training of over 14,000 teachers.
As of December 2024, 34 states and the FCT had yet to access N263 billion in UBE matching grants for 2024.
However, Borno, Jigawa, and Kano have recently paid their counterpart funds, unlocking access to their allocations.
Tunji Alausa, the education minister, urged the states to provide their counterpart funding as required to access the funds, adding that this renewed initiative would lead to significant progress in basic education nationwide.
