In August 2012 I joined DFID Tanzania as the Education Advisor, based in Dar es Salaam. My role is to support DFID's education programme co-ordination and management, which includes both budget support and project finance. Tanzania has made impressive gains in enrolling more children in school, but in recent years the quality of learning and the resultant learning outcomes have been disappointing. Since joining DFID full time in 2007 I have worked in Northern Nigeria and Zimbabwe (seconded to the European Union Delegation), both assignments with a focus on education policy and programming.
The rainy season is now in full swing and Northern Nigeria is rapidly greening once more, with crops of maize and millet growing fast. I’ve survived my last domestic flight through a brewing storm, with turbulence so bad it dumped most …
That's me under a tree, trying to figure out why the school behind me wasn't currently a place of learning. A recent visit I made to a ‘middle belt’ (ethnically mixed area with both Muslim and Christian inhabitants) Local Government …
If in March the weather was ‘unsettled’, in April it was most certainly stormy - both politically and climatically. I’m writing this post at dusk in the Kano airport ‘waiting room’ (lounge would be too grand a word), as this season’s first …
My last post focused on the vagaries of travels in Nigeria. I’m pleased to report that since then I did manage to make it all the way to Enugu and back safely, even if a little ‘shaken’ (‘but not stirred’ …
It’s been a turbulent week in Nigeria, both politically and meteorologically, which has contributed to the challenges of my work in quite different ways. Arriving in Abuja mid-week for meetings, the car radio news unexpectedly announced that the Federal Government Cabinet had …
Just before Xmas, as reported on my 'back to basics' post, Kano State was just starting the data entry of the annual school census that the Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN) programme had been supporting. My managers are always …
On the road the other day and decided to swing by and see how the rain harvesting scheme at Gidan Mutan Daya primary school, Katsina was getting on now, over 3 months into the dry season. When I last visited the tanks had just …
Every year, like kids on a school trip to the zoo, DFID lets its education and health advisers all meet up to take stock and share their experiences over the past 12 months. Last week we gathered in Nairobi to …
The Universal Basic Education Intervention Fund (UBE-IF) established in 2005 is a key initiative to try to channel more of the Nigerian oil revenues directly to States to spend on schooling: classrooms, books and teacher training. Early implementation was plagued by fund …
Another leader making waves, this time of education reform, is the Hon. Commissioner of Education in Kwara State, Mr Bolaji Abdulahi. DFID education programmes have been working in Kwara since 2007 and we have constantly struggled to keep up with his …
Recent Comments