FG to begin payment of education bursary to students in 2023 – Perm Sec
Students studying education courses in Nigerian Universities will, from next year, begin receiving a bursary from the federal government.
This is part of efforts to transform the teaching profession and attract the best brains to the sector.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo announced this on Thursday in Abuja at the 2nd Nigeria National Consultation ahead of the United Nations Transforming Education Summit (TES).
United Nations Secretary-General is convening the TES in September 2022, to urgently transform education given the learning crisis experienced around the world.
Mr. Adejo said the government was prioritizing the teaching profession by extending the teaching age of teachers and giving out bursary awards to students.
The UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mattias Schmale said the summit was a key initiative to transforming education to achieve accelerated progress and inclusive lifelong education.
Schmale, represented by the UNESCO Regional Education Advisor, Mamadou Lamine- Sow, said there was a need to ensure children were safe in school and to make education affordable.
Recall that As a way of encouraging more Nigerians to take up a career in teaching, the Nigerian government in October 2021 announced the payment of N75,000 per semester for every student of public universities studying education. Similarly, students of colleges of education are also billed to receive N50,000 per semester.
The minister of education, Adamu Adamu, disclosed this during the commemoration of the 2021 annual World Teachers’ Day.
He said: “Undergraduate students of B.Ed/B.A. Ed/BSc. Ed in Public institutions are to receive stipends of N75,000.00 per semester while NCE students will get N50,000.00 as stipends per semester.
“Federal Government should find the modality through which respective states’ governments could provide automatic employment for NCE graduates at Basic Education level.”
Confirming the development in a telephone interview with Premium Times, the registrar and chief executive officer of the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Josiah Ajiboye, a professor, had said the implementation was to commence in 2022.
