The Jigawa State Government, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has trained over 90 key officials on Result-Based Budgeting to improve funding efficiency in the education sector.
Speaking at the three-day workshop in Katsina, UNICEF Education Specialist, Mr. Muntaka Mukhtar, said the initiative was part of UNICEF’s intervention to strengthen education financing in Nigeria.
“We want to ensure that we support the government in achieving adequate, efficient, equitable, transparent and accountable financing for education. UNICEF appreciates all that governments allocate more resources in their budget to ensure that education is supported,” Mukhtar stated.
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He explained that the training was designed to help government planners and finance officers prioritize education resources for impact.
“We also want to make sure that at least governments can look back and see the amount that goes to the child, or how they can do the analysis to the benefit of the child. We want to ensure that with adequate education financial support, the state government will focus on two of the greatest monsters bedeviling education — the increased number of out-of-school children, and the situation where children are in school but not learning”, he added.
According to UNICEF, the essence of Result-Based Budgeting is to ensure that every allocation counts, guaranteeing that resources directly improve learning outcomes.
Over 90 participants including education planners, finance officers, budget officers from ministries, and representatives of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) — were engaged in the workshop to enhance accountability and transparency in the use of education funds.
One of the facilitators, Mr. Vahyala Kwaga, stressed that the training would reshape financial management in Jigawa.
“We expect to see better management of finances, better expenditure and improved education in Jigawa,” he said.
On his part, the Permanent Secretary of the Jigawa Ministry of Basic Education, Baffa Abubakar, urged participants to implement the lessons learned.
“You should make sure that you form a network that will help you align and certainly answer questions that may come during your normal working activity,” he advised.
With UNICEF’s support, Jigawa aims to make education financing more transparent, accountable, and impactful — a step that could drastically reduce the state’s out-of-school children crisis.
Jigawa Govt, UNICEF Partner to Tackle Poor Education Budgeting, a move that stakeholders say could transform the way education funds are allocated and spent.
