The Universal Basic Education Commission has revealed that 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory have not accessed the 2024 Universal Basic Education matching grant.
The UBEC Executive Secretary, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, disclosed this on Monday during the Senate Committee on Education’s (Basic and Secondary) oversight visit to the commission in Abuja.
“Only Katsina and Kaduna states have accessed their first and second quarters of the 2024 matching grant,” Bobboyi said.
Providing details, he noted that while most states had accessed grants for previous years, several states were still lagging behind.
“For the 2020 UBE matching grant, 34 states and the FCT have accessed it, while Abia and Ogun have not. In 2021, 33 states and the FCT accessed it, but Abia, Imo, and Ogun did not. For 2022, only 29 states and the FCT accessed the grants, leaving Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo, Ogun, and Oyo behind,” he explained.
Bobboyi further revealed that N263.04 billion was allocated to UBEC in 2024 under the Appropriation Act, out of which N219.20 billion (83.33 percent) had already been released.
Bobboyi praised the North West zone for achieving 100 percent in accessing the grants. The South-South zone followed with 97.92 percent, North Central with 97.76 percent, North East with 97.57 percent, South West with 92.28 percent, and South East with 85.37 percent.
He identified key challenges hindering basic education in Nigeria, such as a lack of political will from some state governments, low budgetary allocations at the state and local levels, and poor teacher quality. He also highlighted the need to address the high number of out-of-school children and the non-compliance with the directive to teach history in schools.
Senators raised concerns about these challenges. Senator Victor Umeh lamented the high number of out-of-school children in the North despite higher budget allocations. Senator Sunday Katung stressed the importance of reintroducing history into the school curriculum.
The Senate Committee Chairman, Senator Lawal Usman, commended UBEC’s efforts but urged the commission to act on the committee’s recommendations and strengthen its operations.
Bobboyi assured that UBEC would continue working to address the challenges and improve basic education across the country.
