UBEC unveils template to enhance fund disbursement

The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has announced plans to introduce a new template to address disbursement challenges in the Federal Government’s counterpart funding for the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme.

UBEC Executive Secretary, Dr Aisha Garba, made this known on Tuesday in Abuja during an interactive workshop on the new templates for preparing work plans to access UBE intervention funds.

The workshop was attended by Chairmen of State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) and Desk Officers from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Garba explained that the proposed template, currently under review and validation at the workshop, is expected to eliminate existing gaps and barriers that hinder state governments from accessing intervention funds.

She noted that the federal government, through UBEC, has recently realigned basic education delivery around four strategic pillars to promote greater access and improved quality of education across states and the FCT.

They are: expanding access to UBE, particularly for rural and underserved communities; enhancing the quality of teaching and learning nationwide; strengthening accountability and efficient use of basic education financing.

Others are; optimising monitoring and institutional systems for effective service delivery.

“In line with these pillars, the New Hope Education Project of the current administration is a performance-based initiative that rewards states that utilise their resources judiciously in achieving these goals,” Garba said.

She added that the need to align with these pillars has necessitated the development of new templates to guide SUBEBs in preparing work plans for accessing UBE intervention funds.

Also speaking, the Deputy Executive Secretary (General Services) of UBEC, Tunde Ajibulu, stressed that the realignment of basic education delivery made it necessary to introduce the new templates.

“This interactive workshop is timely, and we expect you, as implementers of basic education in your respective states, to contribute meaningfully and help develop effective and practical templates,” he said.