Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have been charged to strengthen their capacity in education budget tracking and proper implementation at the States and Federal level.
They were given the advice at a two-day capacity building workshop for members of the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA), Friday in Abuja.
The workshop had participants from seven Northern states namely; Kastina, Benue, Kano, Adamawa, Taraba, Plateau and the FCT.
Mr Duke Ogbureke, National Moderator, CSACEFA, said the aim of the workshop was to provide its members with budget tracking and analysis skills, to enable them function optimally at their respective states.
“For our members to be able to do their work effectively in tracking and monitoring education budget, they need the skills.
“The education sector has not been getting the required funding it should get and then the little that has been allocated in the budget is mostly not released.
“The ones that are released, it is important we know how well they are being used,” he said.
He urged the participants to ensure they network and familiarise themselves with stake actors and policy makers to push for an increase in education funding.
“If we really want development to happen in this country, we need to do something drastic in education funding and implementation,” he said.
Also speaking, Mrs Odinakachi Ahanonu, Policy Advisor of the CSACEFA, added that the workshop is meant to increase the knowledge of participants on tracking education budget and ensure proper implementation at all levels of education.
“We want our members to engage governments at the state level to see how to reduce the out-of-school children in the country.
“Presently, Nigeria records 20 million out-of-school children and one of the challenges that has made this figure high is insufficient education funds, especially at the basic level.
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