By Adeola Kunle
The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) is set to begin the implementation of its 10-year Universal Basic Education Roadmap covering 2026 to 2035, with full rollout scheduled for the first week of October.
The Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Aisha Garba, disclosed this in Abuja on Monday during a two-day Consultative Workshop involving chairmen of the 36 State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) and directors of the Commission.
Garba said the new roadmap represents a shift from the implementation of isolated infrastructure projects to a comprehensive approach that addresses the overall needs of individual schools.
She said UBEC was adopting a “whole school approach” to basic education development, under which states would be required to identify and address the critical needs of a school before their action plans could receive approval from the Commission.
According to her, the approach is intended to prevent situations where a few classrooms or pieces of furniture are provided while other essential facilities needed to create a functional learning environment are neglected.
“For any state to do renovation, you have to do a whole school approach. A whole school approach means, you take a school and you look at all the gaps,” Garba said.
She further explained that states would be expected to consider the complete requirements of a school rather than implementing disconnected projects.
“You don't just put in a furniture or you drop two blocks of classrooms and you leave because you want to give out awards. No, you have to take in all the comprehensive needs of that particular school,” she added.
Garba said that where a school requires facilities such as fencing and toilets, those needs would be incorporated into the intervention plan. Similarly, where additional classrooms are required because of projected enrolment, the provision of adequate toilet facilities would also be considered.
UBEC Unveils Digital Management Platform
At the workshop, the UBEC Executive Secretary also unveiled the Basic Education Action Plan Management System (BEAPMS), a digital platform designed to strengthen planning, transparency and monitoring of basic education interventions across the country.
She said the system would support the implementation of the new roadmap and provide communities with an opportunity to participate in monitoring projects carried out in their schools.
According to Garba, the platform would be made accessible to the public, enabling parents and members of local communities to monitor projects, funding and the quality of interventions delivered in schools.
“This will also allow us to bring in the community to be part of the monitoring of the projects that we do on the ground,” she said.
She disclosed that information on the amount of UBEC funding accessed by individual states would be published on the Commission’s website, alongside details of the projects being implemented.
“With that, community can hold us accountable to the money we have accessed from UBEC, and then also the projects we're doing on the ground, as well as the quality of projects we're doing,” she said.
The Commission said BEAPMS had been under development for more than a month, adding that SUBEB chairmen had already been fully onboarded ahead of its full implementation in October.
New Funding Formula Gives States Greater Flexibility
Garba also announced changes to the matching grant formula, saying the revised framework would allow states to direct UBEC resources towards their most pressing education needs.
She explained that the previous arrangement placed considerable emphasis on new infrastructure, which meant some states faced difficulties accessing funds where their immediate priorities involved maintaining, renovating or improving existing schools rather than constructing new ones.
Under the revised formula, states would be able to determine their priorities based on the realities within their education systems.
“The new formula allows each state to look at their own needs. If their needs on the ground is furniture, if their needs on the ground is renovating all schools to ensure that our schools now have fencing, have computers, have furniture, then they are allowed to do that,” she said.
The Executive Secretary added that the revised framework could accommodate other interventions, including enrolment materials and the provision of additional teachers, where increased enrolment makes such support necessary.
SUBEB Chairmen to Shape 10-Year Framework
Speaking at the workshop, the Dean of SUBEB Chairmen, Prof. Shehu Adaramaja, described the consultation as important to establishing a unified direction for basic education delivery over the next decade.
Adaramaja, who is also the SUBEB Chairman of Kwara State, said stakeholders would use the two-day session to examine strategies and initiatives aimed at improving access, quality of service and the overall strength of the basic education system.
“In the next two days, we'll pay attention to all the strategies and the initiatives toward the development of a roadmap for the next 10 years on how to provide access, provide quality service, and of course, strengthen our systems in line with our new basic education management system,” he said.
He explained that the meeting was structured as a practical exercise, with directors of research and statistics expected to contribute directly to the development of the framework that would guide the basic education action plans of individual states.
Adaramaja also noted that UBEC's intervention mandate had evolved beyond physical infrastructure, with other components now being incorporated to improve the overall delivery of basic education services.
Earlier, UBEC Director of Physical Planning, Arc. Nura Ibrahim, said the workshop would provide an opportunity for stakeholders to examine and validate the proposed 2026–2035 roadmap.
He added that the process would benefit from the technical knowledge and practical experience of stakeholders who have been involved in the implementation of basic education programmes across the states.
The new roadmap, digital management system and revised funding framework are expected to form key components of UBEC's approach to basic education development as the Commission moves into the implementation phase in October.
Adeola Kunle
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