By Philip Yatai

Kaduna Basic Education Accountability Mechanism (KADBEAM) is partnering with Kaduna State Assembly Committee on Education on implementation of the 2022 education budget.

KADBEAM’s Assistant Secretary, Mr Joshua James said this when members of the group visited the Chairman, House Committee on Education, Mr Suleiman Dabo in Kaduna on Wednesday.

James said that the partnership was key to improving the budget performance of the education sector, which he said had not been doing very well over the years in spite getting the highest allocation.

According to him, the education sector got a total of N69.8 billion, representing 25 per cent of the N278.6 billion budget for 2022.

He said that the partnership would strengthen oversight function and advocacies for timely release of the funds for implementation of various education projects and programmes planned for the year.

He described KADBEAM as “a permanent dialogue platform” between the government and citizens on basic education in line with the co-creation principle of Open Government Partnership (OGP).

“Our mission is to introduce KADBEAM to you and seek your support and partnership in improving the budget performance of the education sector for the delivery of quality education in the state.

“The state has been doing very well in budget allocation, but too well in making the funds available for the education ministry and other agencies to implement projects.

“We are confident that the situation will improve with the strong support of the House Committee on Education and the leadership of the House in general,” he said.

He commended the leadership of the house for reflecting some of the citizens’ recommendations during the public hearing on the 2022 budget as reflected in the approved budget.

Also speaking, Mr Fine Ocholi, the Chairman, Advocacy Technical Working Group, KADBEAM, thanked the chairmen for working with citizens to improve the quality of service delivery.

He said that KADBEAM, made up of citizens and government partners, would be willing to work with the committee to improve access to quality education in the state.

Mrs Hadiza Umar, Citizens Co-Chair, OGP, also commended the chairman of the committee for opening his doors to partner with citizens and other stakeholders working in the education sector.

Responding, Dabo assured leadership of KADBEAM for the partnership and support, stressing that such synergy was required to improve service delivery in the education sector.

“For me, dialogue and interaction among critical stakeholders, particularly between elected government officials and the people they represent, are critical elements to drive the needed change.

“I am open for this kind of partnership, you can count on me on this.

“Together we will work to improve the availability of resources needed to transform our education sector for good,” Chairman, House Committee on Education said. (NAN)