WorldStage Newsonline—The Federal Government of Nigeria has flagged off the 2018 National Personal Audit (NPA) of all the basic education institutions.
A total of N138 billion matching grant was said to have been released for the program from 2015 to date.
Speaking during the flag off of the NPA in Abuja, on Monday, Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, said the NPA being coordinated by Universal Basic Education Commission(UBEC) was to establish reliable basic education data planning.
“As enshrined in section 9(f)and 9(I) of the UBE Act, 2004, the commission is mandated to carry out in concert with the states and local governments at regular intervals, a personal audit of teaching and non-teaching staff of all basic education institutions in Nigeria,” he said.
He said the 2018 NPA will cover both public and private basic education institutions in the country, adding that the NPA will establish strong foundation for the emergence of sound management information system within the basic education sector.
Adamu said, the NPA will strengthen the current National Educational Management Information System(NEMIS)a key pillar of the nation’s educational planning architecture.
Executive Secretary, UBEC Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, said UBEC embarked on the 2018 NPA, a key mandate to provide comprehensive data gathering of all public and private basic education institutions in the country. To provide a baseline data required for proper educational planning in the sub-sector.
Bobboyi listed the aim of the 2018 NPA as, to create a reliable database on pupils enrolment; determine the number and quality of teaching and non teaching staff in the sub-sector; determine the adequacy or otherwise of infrastructural facilities in school system.
Others include, provide an authentic mapping for schools in the country using the Geographic Information System to identify gaps within the system and enhance effective planning; work in collaboration with National Population Commission to determine number of out of school children and to advice government.
He said, the NPA will be in two phases, with the first phase to start from Monday 30 of April to Friday 26 May 2019 covering South-East, South-South and South-West; while the second phase commence 3rd to 26th June 2018, covering the North-Central, North-East and North-Western parts of Nigeria.
“Let me emphasis that this exercise has no connection with auditing financial accounts of schools and educational establishment nor verifying salary payments and other expenditure,” he said
In his remark, Chairman Governing Board, UBEC, Dr. Mahmud Mohammed, said that 2018 NPA had its unique features which broaden the scope and reliability of data gathering exercise.
“The audit covers basic education institutions in the country, including private ones. It’s vital, for the purpose of educational planning and human capital development to have a good idea which school our children are attending and how best to interface with these schools in order to deliver quality education,” he said.
