The National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA-NIGERIA), Ondo and National Commission for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (NATCOM-UNESCO) yesterday, held a partnership meeting aimed at fostering collaboration in the development of education in Nigeria. The Director General of NIEPA Ondo, Professor Olivet Jagusah mni, gave the indication in a statement on Thursday, 29th July, 2021, when he received in audience the Secretary-General, NATCOM-UNESCO, Mr. Olagunju Idowu who came to monitor the modus operandi, achievements and challenges of NIEPA NIGERIA, Ondo. He informed his visitor that his cardinal mandate was to produce a reliable educational Institute for the purpose of training, research, information dissemination and policy making during his stay at NIEPA.
The Director General who was represented by the Head, Training & Research Department of NIEPA, Dr. Sunday Oduyemi Adegbesan, further told the visiting team that NIEPA has empowered education sector operators in Nigeria through the provision of specialized and relevant skills in planning, administration and management of education over the years. He added that, the Institute under the current management, is presently undertaking a radical review of its research and capacity building mandate to allow for more creativity and internationalization of education. Adegbesan appealed to NATCOM-UNESCO to assist the Institute in areas of providing funds and relevant paraphernalia to cover large mass of school level education managers and planners in other to meet the Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) target.
In his goodwill address the representative of the General-Secretary, National Commission for UNESCO (NATCOM-UNESCO), Mr. Kayat S. L. explained that, the aim of the partnership is to produce an effective and more functional NIEPA in Nigeria and beyond. “it is a source of worry for the Federal Ministry of Education and other IDPs like ours that NIEPA is lagging behind in achieving its mandate”. This he adduced, has led to the patronage of quacks for training and re-training needs of education sector workers thereby depreciating their quality. He therefore requested the Director-General to open a line of communication by nominating a focal person or team for the Institute that could work with NATCOM-UNESCO. The monitoring Specialist assured NIEPA that the areas of collaboration presented will be critically looked into and given the necessary attention by the Secretary-General.
The event saw the NATCOM-UNESCO team taken on an inspection tour of the Institute’s facilities.