SBMC to boost enrollment in nomadic schools- NCNE boss

The Executive Secretary, National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE), Prof Bashir Haruna Usman, has charged members of School Based Management Committees (SBMC) in the North-east zone to use the platform of the Committee to boost enrolment, retention, progression and transition in nomadic schools.

In a statement made available to Blueprint in Abuja Tuesday, signed by the public relations officer of the commission, Mr Fidelis Idoko, Prof Usman handed down the charge during the training of executive members of SBMC drawn from the six states in the zone in Gombe state.

Speaking at the backdrop of the 2019 annual workshop on capacity development of SBMCs organised by the commission in Gombe state on Tuesday, Usman noted that the rationale for the training was to ensure quality teaching and learning in nomadic schools, as members of the committee were to be equipped with knowledge and skills to monitor activities in the schools and report untoward findings to relevant authorities.

He decried the increasing spate of ethnic and religious conflicts between the pastoralist and the sedentary populations in the country, calling for peace “to ensure sustainable development and quality education in our communities.”

He charged members of the committee to join hands with the Federal Government under its National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) aimed at encouraging the pastoralists to adopt ranching method of livestock production, even as he narrated the process the federal government used in arriving at the plan and assured Nigerians that the plan would foster peace and harmony between the farmers and the pastoralists.

The NCNE boss appealed to states in the zone to double effort in curbing the menace of out of school children prevalent in the region. He also implored the states to employ more teachers in nomadic schools as the ratio of a teacher to 78 pupils is unacceptable and falls below the standard that guarantees effective learning in the schools.

At the occasion, the Chairman of NCNE Governing Board, Prof Gidado Tahir,  represented by a member of the Board, Mohammed Bello, observed that the SBMC guarantees community participation in the management of nomadic schools in their area.

Prof Gidado observed that as membership of SBMC consists of pupils, teachers, parents, community leaders and social groups interested in education, it would give the community a sense of ownership of school. This he noted would boost their interest positively in the affairs of the schools, even as he charged participants to dedicate themselves to the training; so as to acquire the requisite skills and competence.

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