The federal government expressed worry on Monday over the ineffective implementation of policies in the education sector.

The permanent secretary, federal ministry of education, Andrew Adejo, expressed concern during the 67th National Council on Education (NCE) meeting held in Ikeja.

The theme of the NCE meeting is “Addressing the Challenges of Policy Implementation: A Panacea for the Achievement of the Education 2030 Agenda.”

Mr Adejo, who was represented by Obianuju Anigbogu, the director of Educational Planning, Research and Development (EPR&D), federal ministry of education, said that there was a need to ensure proper implementation of education policies for a robust sector.

The theme, “Addressing the Challenges of Policy Implementation: A Panacea for the Achievement of Education 2030 Agenda,” is apt because our policies are usually well-crafted but are faced with ineffective implementation,” he said.

The permanent secretary said the educational policies faced delays, a lack of regular review to reflect national needs and aspirations, and a lack of consistent monitoring and evaluation to check policy implementation.

”When policies that guide a nation are not implemented at the appropriate time, the consequences are backwardness, underdevelopment, unemployment for graduates, poverty and insecurity.

“However, to tackle the challenges of policy implementation, all hands must be on deck,” Mr Adejo said.

According to him, over the years, successive governments have been confronted with numerous challenges, which primarily centre on the paucity of funds for funding education programmes and activities.

He, however, said both the federal government and many state governments had begun to prioritise funding education, as witnessed in the budget estimates, already before the National Assembly and some state governments.

The permanent secretary hoped other states would also emulate such a budgetary example for the good of the nation.

”It is not enough to have adequate funds to show improvement in our education sector; we must all commit to putting in our best to ensure that programmes are delivered appropriately to reach the desired beneficiaries.

”To make policies more concrete and valuable, policy implementers, curriculum planners, curriculum developers and policymakers must imbibe realistic policies so that the country’s education makes them less dependent on others for survival by analysing reliable factors that obstruct or accelerate the implementation process.

”Effective monitoring and evaluation of the National Council on Education (NCE) decisions has also been identified as a game-changer in actualising policies; this will not only make our educational system functional but globally competitive,” he said.

Mr Adejo urged stakeholders to make meaningful contributions that would offer possible ways of addressing the challenges facing effective policy implementation in the education sector and also push the sector towards the achievement of the Education 2030 Agenda.

Also speaking, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State said the NCE was a major stakeholders’ forum designed to brainstorm and collectively articulate ideas towards improving education service delivery in the country.

Mr Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by Jamiu Alli-Balogun, the Lagos State commissioner for basic and secondary education, charged educators in the education sector to ensure they turn out graduates who are fit for the labour market.

”As we jointly deliberate on critical issues about the educational development of our children to proffer lasting solutions to identified problems,

”I seize this opportunity to remind us all, either as career professionals or elected officials, to expand our thoughts and strive to produce self-reliant youths through our educational system.

”We must re-engineer and reposition our education policy-making and implementation strategy to deliver graduate students who will blend with labour market demand.

”It is in pursuit of this goal that we are here gathered as stakeholders to exchange ideas and agree on some proposed reforms,” he said.

The governor said the theme of the NCE meeting was apt as it gave an avenue to co-create and collaborate towards enhancing the quality of teaching and learning.

He said this would provide more refined educational models and proffer lasting solutions to the challenges of policy formulation in the education sector.

(NAN)