Director General Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Hon. Abubakar Musa has expressed readiness of the State Government to partner relevant stakeholders to achieve Goal 4 for Quality Education among other 17 global goals of the SDGs.
He stated this during an official visit paid on him by a delegation from U.S. Agency for International Development; USAID/LEARN to Read in Minna, recently.
The Director General who was represented by the Executive Director Operations, Arc. Jibril Nusa said Goal-4 of the SDGs vis-a-vis Quality Education is among the priority area of Farmer Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago led administration which according to him serves as a motivating factor to according basic education the needed attention.
“If we must succeed in our effort of building a brighter future for our children in the overall interest of progress and Development, we must set a solid foundation for the education of our children especially at the basic level.
We are aware that USAID/LEARN to Read will contribute to improvement in the reading outcomes of more than 3.5 million children in 5,900 schools. Additionally, building the capacity of more than 35,000 teachers, headteachers, and school support officers to support early grade reading among our children.
To us as a critical stakeholder, it is a laudable initiative which we consider as a golden opportunity that would help us scale up educational impacts hence the need for a robust partnership and collaboration between our respective Agencies.
Over the years, we have engaged in supporting educational development at both urban and rural communities through construction and renovation of blocks of classrooms, provision of chairs and desks for both teachers and pupils across the three geopolitical zones in the state” Abubakar Musa explained.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr. Dan Ibrien explained that the purpose of the visit was to explore areas of collaboration with the SDGs particularly in engendering early grade reading in mother tongue among school children.
He said LEARN to Read project was ready to partner with the SDGs in area of empowering various schools in the state with early grade reading materials in mother tongue with a view to equipping children with requisite reading skills.
Highlight of the event was a presentation of SDGs 17 global Goals, souvenirs and group photographs.