SSANU Laments Paltry N403bn Allocation To Education Sector In 2016 Budget

>>The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has decried the allocation of a paltry N403 billion to the education sector in the 2016 budget as it does not meet up to the 26 per cent United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) standard. In a communiqué signed by the SSANU National President, Comrade Samson Ugwoke, after a four day workshop and National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, at Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin, the allocation was described as disappointing and extremely low for positive impact on the educational sector. The communiqué stated: "NEC in session noted with disappointment that the educational sector still remains highly underfunded, as the 2016 budgetary allocation to the educational sector is still extremely low. "NEC, notes that many countries with less incomes and population than Nigeria, place more premium on budgetary allocations on education and finds it ironic that a government that promised to employ 500, 000 teachers can devote so grossly meagre sums to the educational sector." The association stated that if the federal government believed that more than oil or any mineral, its human resource was its greatest asset, then a supplementary budget should be made to cater for the shortfall in the funding of education in the 2016 Budget. The communiqué also reminded the government over the renegotiation of the SSANU/FGN 2009 agreement and said continued delay will not be good for the university sub-sector.