El-Rufai to Nomads, Farmers: No Alternative to Education, Community Dialogue
By ALEX UANGBAOJE, Kaduna
In order to have peaceful coexistence in the country between farmers and nomads and avert conflicts which has now become a daily occurrence in some parts of the country, Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has stressed that there are no alternative to education and community dialogue.
The governor on Tuesday, emphasised that when there is peace and harmony between the nomads and their host communities, the country entirely will be united.
El-Rufai stated this in an address to a 3 days Professional Capacity Development for Members of the School Based Management Committee (SBMCs) and other officials of National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE).
The Governor who was represented by the Commissioner for Education, Professor Andrew Nok further explained that, in order to improve enrolment, attendance and community involvement in school governance, the State Government has put in place programmes and policies to encourage it’s implementation.
According to him, the measures include provision of basic infrastructural facilities to improve the teaching and learning environment, provision of water and sanitation facilities in all schools in the state.
The governor disclosed that the state is putting in place an urgent recruitment and deployment of qualified teachers to schools in the state and also working hard to develop teachers’ capacity through training and retraining.
He said the workshop, is another testimony of the Commission’s efforts of empowering the communities to acquire practical skills and widen their horizon of seeing governance and educational provision as a collective responsibility.
On his parts, Executive Secretary, National Commission for Nomadic Education, (NCENE), Prof. Bashir Haruna Usman, said global experiences has shown that encouraging the communities around nomadic schools to get involved in running their school can make a big difference.
He said Farmers and Nomads are brothers, and there’s no need for the clashes that’s being experience in some part of the country today. He called for dialogue to address all differences.
“It can help make a nomadic school more efficient, friendlier and more relevant to what parents, children and the whole community need from education.
“Similarly, School Based Management Committees (SBMCs), which are now common features in education reform all over the world, serve as the linkage between the government, the school and the community. They are the channel for bringing resources from the community into the school, and a way of getting a better flow of government resources to schools. SBMCs have become the ‘voice’ of the community in school governance and ownership.
“In the same vein, capacity development of all key players in the School Based Management system (pupils, teachers, parents, women groups, religious leaders, community members, NGOs and government) is crucial.
“Furthermore, for SBMCs to be more effective, SBMC members will need initial training like the one we are gathered here for and subsequent support from the states, local governments and the civil society. This should help SBMC members listen to everyone from their community; be fair and accountable in decision-making; and enthusiastic and mobilize those who can improve children’s education,” he said.
Speaking earlier, the convener of the workshop who’s also the Director of the Department of Social Mobilization and Outreach, in NCNE, Mohammed D. El-Nafaty said the workshop is aimed at accelerating the achievement of Education or All (EFA) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other educational development benchmarks through qualitative teaching and learning in the nation’s nomadic education sub-sector.
He further added that the workshop will create a forum for interaction amongst the headquarter staff, members of SBMCs, Zonal Desks officers, extension staff and NGOs representatives and other stakeholders to evolve best approaches and strategies to be adopted to ensure successful implementation of the NEP at the grassroots.
El-Nafaty added that the workshop will enhance knowledge, skills and competencies as well as build the capacities of members of the School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) to advocate, mobilize and leverage resources and sensitize the nomadic groups and all other relevant stakeholders to support the Commission’s initiatives at the community level.
