NIGERIAN EDUCATION INNOVATION SUMMIT (NEDIS) 2016

Basic education in Nigeria is facing a broad range of challenges which have contributed to the nation’s failure to achieve the now-expired Millennium Development Goals for education, and will make it harder to achieve the education targets associated with the new Sustainable Development Goals. Despite efforts to improve the educational system in Nigeria, learning outcomes have shown little progress for the country as a whole. An estimated 10.5 million Nigerian children are out of school – one-fifth of the global population of out-of-school. On the positive side, innovations to improve education, particularly in the non-state sector, are continually emerging. Many of these interventions are focused on increasing access to quality education for Nigeria’s poor. While these interventions are very promising, the reach of most is often limited to initial project areas and even fewer go on to influence, and become institutionalized in the larger system.

On the international scene, there is widespread concern that the vision to achieve inclusive and equitable quality education for all, as articulated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are not being achieved as quickly and effectively as hoped. An estimated “100-year gap” exists between education levels in developed and developing countries, and if business proceeds as usual in the education sector, this gap is not projected to close . Developing countries, of which Nigeria is included, have to strategically consider the most efficient and effective pathways to achieving the sustainable development goals for education. The Nigerian government and other education sector stakeholders must begin to collaboratively consider systematic approaches to ensuring education innovations have greater impact to benefit more children, and foster policy and program development in sustainable ways.

The Education Partnership (TEP) Centre in collaboration with ExpandNet developed a white paper titled “Scaling Up Educational Interventions in Nigeria: A Call to Action” to make a case for systematic approaches to scaling up as the pathway to increase the impact of successfully tested education interventions. The paper is directed at decision makers for education development projects including implementers, researchers, policy-makers, programme managers, technical-assistance providers, donors, community leaders and advocates of all kinds. As a follow up to this, The Education Partnership (TEP) Centre conceptualised the Nigerian Education Innovation Summit to bring together stakeholders from education and other development sectors to discuss how systematic approaches to project implementation and the development of scale-up strategies can lead to greater expansion and institutionalization of education interventions. The objectives of the summit were to:

1. Reach consensus on the main challenges and solutions for scaling up successful innovations to address access to and quality of education in Nigeria
2. Provide a venue for education sector stakeholders to review draft white paper on designing and implementing education interventions in ways that promote sustainability and successful expansion and institutionalization of initiatives
3. Expose a diverse group of education sector stakeholders (e.g. social innovators, policy makers, donors, implementers, researchers, etc.) to global guidance on scale up and how such guidance is being applied in Nigeria

The two-day summit organised by TEP Centre and ExpandNet took place in Abuja from 18-19 July, 2016 with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation which has sought to nurture learner-centered secondary education models that equip economically marginalized girls in particular with core skills to help attain livelihoods, resulting in more successful transitions to adulthood.

For more information on the Nigerian Education Innovation Summit (NEDIS) 2016,  CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD COMMUNIQUE 

For more information on the scaling up white paper, CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD WHITE PAPER 

1  Robinson J.P. and Winthrop R. (2016) Center for Universal Education at Brookings Institution. Millions Learning: Scaling Up Quality Education in Developing Countries

Article originally posted at the TEP Centre Website