Kaduna Seeks to Sustain FCDO-PLANE Gains as Programme Enters Transition Phase
By Uangbaoje Alex, Kaduna
The Kaduna State Government, development partners and civil society organisations have reaffirmed their commitment to sustaining the gains of the Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) Programme as the UK-funded education initiative begins its transition towards closure.
The commitment was made during the FCDO-PLANE Transition Workshop held in Kaduna, where stakeholders reviewed the programme’s achievements, discussed lessons learnt and identified strategies for institutionalising key education reforms across the state.
Declaring the workshop open, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Abubakar Sani Sambo, described the transition as an opportunity to consolidate years of investments in strengthening the state’s education system.
He expressed appreciation to the United Kingdom Government through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for its sustained partnership, noting that the PLANE Programme had significantly improved access to quality, inclusive and safe education in Kaduna State.
According to the Commissioner, the programme has trained more than 6,300 teachers in foundational literacy and numeracy, built the capacity of nearly 700 head teachers, strengthened mentoring by School Support Officers and supported the distribution of over 707,000 teaching and learning materials to 699 public schools across the state.
He also highlighted the establishment of 87 Community Learning Hubs and the training of more than 6,400 School-Based Management Committee members, describing community participation as critical to improving learning outcomes.
Prof. Sambo said PLANE had supported the development and review of several education policies and strategic documents, including the Basic Education Strategic Plan, Teacher Professional Standards, Safe Schools Policy, School-Based Management Policy, Early Childhood Education Policy and the Out-of-School Children Policy.
He announced that the Kaduna State Executive Council had recently approved key education policies, including the Life Skills Policy and the Early Childhood Education Policy, describing them as major milestones in the state’s education reform agenda.
The Commissioner stressed that Kaduna would continue investing in teacher development, digitalising the education system, strengthening evidence-based planning and implementing policies developed under the programme to ensure the reforms outlive PLANE.
In his keynote address, Ian Attfield, Senior Education Adviser at the British High Commission in Nigeria, explained that although PLANE was originally designed to run until 2028, reductions in the United Kingdom’s international development budget necessitated an earlier conclusion of the programme.
He said the transition should not be viewed as the end of a partnership but as the beginning of greater government ownership of education reforms.
Attfield noted that the UK’s development cooperation had evolved from a traditional donor-recipient relationship to one focused on partnership and systems strengthening, aimed at enabling governments to sustainably deliver quality education.
He commended Kaduna State for recording some of the strongest education outcomes among PLANE-supported states, describing the state as a model of education leadership and innovation.
According to him, Kaduna’s commitment to education planning, policy development and data management has positioned it to benefit from future opportunities, including the Federal Government’s HOPE Programme and additional financing from the Global Partnership for Education.
He also praised Kaduna’s outstanding performance in education data reporting through the Digital Nigeria Education Management Information System (DNEMIS), saying accurate and timely data remain essential for effective planning and accountability.
Earlier in his welcome address, Sam Achimugu, Programme Lead for PLANE, said the workshop was organised to ensure that the achievements of the programme are sustained after its scheduled conclusion on 1 March 2027.
He noted that Kaduna had emerged as one of the best-performing states under the programme, attributing the success to the strong commitment of the state government and education stakeholders.
Achimugu said discussions during the workshop would focus on sustaining key reforms, strengthening collaboration and supporting government efforts to continue interventions such as teacher recruitment, institutional capacity building and improved learning outcomes.
Also speaking, Simeon Olatunde, Secretary of the Kaduna Basic Education Accountability Mechanism (KADBEAM), commended the FCDO, PLANE and implementing partners for strengthening foundational learning, education governance, teacher development and community participation in Kaduna State.
He said sustaining the programme’s achievements would require strong government ownership, continued investment in education, active community participation and sustained collaboration among development partners and civil society organisations.
Olatunde reaffirmed KADBEAM’s commitment to promoting evidence-based advocacy, social accountability and citizen engagement to ensure every child in Kaduna State has access to inclusive, equitable and quality basic education.
The workshop brought together officials of the Kaduna State Ministry of Education, the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), development partners, civil society organisations and education stakeholders to develop practical strategies for sustaining the reforms initiated under the FCDO-PLANE Programme and advancing education outcomes across Kaduna State.
