Determined to upgrade dilapidating schools infrastructures and facilities, the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Education, on Friday inaugurated Committee for Drafting PPP Guidelines and Implementation for Basic and Secondary Levels of Education.
Inaugurating the Committee in Abuja, the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, noted that most infrastructure and facilities in schools are dilapidated and needed to be revived.
Pointing out that government alone cannot embark on the projects, he harped on the need for Public Private Partnerships to augment governments' budgetary provisions.
Stressing on the need to leverage on the PPP collaboration, the Minister said the fund will help to "improve, modernize, advance and sustain our educational system, and we're not oblivious of this significant infrastructure deficit that has been going on in our various institutions, universities and colleges of education,"
According to him, TETFund has stepped in and is doing significant jobs and attracting private sector money, involvement into education sector, tertiary.
While people are showing interest in some form of relationship, concessioning, managing some of our federal tertiary institutions, he said the story is not the same for unity schools.
He said "But if you go around all these unity colleges, they have not seen any significant investment in infrastructures. Some of these, Unity schools, don't have water. The condition is a problem.
Towards tackling the problem, the Minister said that the President gave significant amount of money in the 2025 Budget for extensive infrastructure improvement in colleges that covers areas of improvements in classrooms, physical infrastructure improvements of the buildings, security operators of the office, as well as electrification of the school by building several solar community grids at the schools.
For the problem to be adequately tackled, the Minister said there is need to be innovative and be creative, which led to the setting up of the committee.
He urged the committee headed by the Minister of State for Education to think outside the box to get the initiative right.
"Because we can't continue to do the same thing and expect different results if you have to improve." the Minister added
Thanking the Committee for accepting the assignment, he said that the committee will have to come up with clear guideline on the PPP arrangement.
The terms of reference for the committee include "To develop a minimum benchmark of the PPP project requirements, in the education sector, taking cognizance of all benefits to FME/FGN;
"Review Existing Frameworks: Examine current PPP policies, legal frameworks, and best practices in Nigeria and internationally.
"Identify gaps in the recently adopted checklist/ step-by-step guide for PPP projects in the education sector and recommend necessary amendments.
"Develop a comprehensive PPP Guidelines: Draft detailed guidelines for the identification, structuring, and execution of PPP projects in the education sector.
"Identify stakeholders in a PPP project. Define roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders, including FME, private sector partners, and regulatory bodies.
"Define Evaluation Metrics: Establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for monitoring the performance and impact of PPP projects.
"Propose mechanisms for periodic review and updates to the guidelines."
Other members of the committee are Director, Special Duties Department (DSD); Director Legal, Director Procurement, Director Basic Education, Director Senior Secondary Education
Also in the committee are representative from the office of HME; representative from the office of HMSE; representative from the office of the PSE; representative from ICRC; representative from Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Deputy Director (PPP).
For the secretariat, two officers from the Department of Special Duties, Baridi Kagior and Aguma Nkiruka, will take charge.
In his welcome remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan, who was represented at the inauguration, said that the PPP collaboration will provide viable solutions to the existing infrastructural problems.
He said that it will unlocking funding for infrastructural development in the schools.
Speaking on behalf of the committee, the Director Senior Secondary Education, Hajia Binta Abdulkadir, appreciated the Minister for his insight and driving transformation in the education sector.
According to her, PPP arrangement will go a long way to reform secondary schools.
On the Minister, Dr Alausa, she said "We are seeing something different. You are really taking the bull by the horn"
Stressing that setting up the committee is a welcome development, she said that the Committee will not take the assignment for granted.