The Kaduna State Government has spent a total of N158.1 billion out of the N225.1 billion budgeted for the education sector between 2017 and 2021, the sector budget trend analysis has shown.

The analysis, indicating a 70.2 per cent performance, was conducted by the Kaduna Basic Education Accountability Mechanism (KADBEAM) in Kaduna on Thursday, to determine the level of investment in the sector.

The event was supported by Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL), a governance programme of the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The analysis showed that N64.8 billion was allocated to the education sector in 2017 of which N14.6 billion was spent, representing 22.4 per cent.

It also showed that N51.7 billion was budgeted in 2018, with actual spending standing at N23.5 billion, representing 45.5 per cent; N42.4 billion was budgeted in 2019 with eventual expenditure of N32.7 billion representing 77.2 per cent.

In 2020, a total of N66.1 billion was allocated to the sector of which N32 billion was spent, representing 48.5 per cent while in 2021 the sector got N62.1 billion of which N55.2 billion was spent, representing 88.9 per cent.

The Chairman, Evidence Technical Working Group, KADBEAM, Mr Martins Dangwa, said that despite the 70 per cent budget performance in the last five years, the sector was still faced with infrastructural decay.

Dangwa identified other challenges as noted by the state education policy to include limited qualified teachers in core science subjects, and inefficiency in education data management system.

PERL’s State Partnership Facilitator, Mr Istifanus Akau, disclosed that the trend analysis was conducted to assess the state government’s commitment in providing quality education services.

“The objective is to understand the budget trend of public sector investment in the education sector, look at the provisions the sector was able to access and implement education programmes.

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“This will enable us to identify priority areas of investment in the sector and gain insight on alignment of policy and fiscal performance in the last five years,” he said.

The Citizens’ Co-Chair, KADBEAM, Mr Tijjani Aliyu, commended that level of partnership and collaboration among critical education stakeholders in the state working to improve the quality of education service delivery.

Aliyu said the budget trend analysis would reveal interventions that were starved of funds for the organised civil society to advocate for improved funding and timely release of allocated funds.

State Lead Facilitator, PERL, Mr Adejor Abel, stated that the governance programme would continue to support conversation between the government and citizens on service delivery.

Abel commended the state government for providing a space for citizens to make inputs into the State Education Policy, Quality Assurance Policy, and other strategic documents to improve the quality of education services.

Also, Mubarak Siraj, State Reform Facilitator, Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) programme, a seven-year FCDO education programme lauded stakeholders’ support to the education sector.

The Secretary, Civil Society Steering Committee, Open Government Partnership, Mr Joshua James, said it was very important for citizens to keep tap with government to ensure that resources were expended in areas of needs.

James said the trend analysis would determine if the government was making the right investment in the education sector or not.

Other issues identified include poor investment on Information and Communication technology, reduced budgetary allocation for overhead cost and poor teacher recruitment and deployment processes.

The Star