This blog post is a forum for a range of perspectives on issues related to global efforts to improve the quality of education. We are particularly interested in issues and experience related to improving learning outcomes and the contribution that education makes to inclusive economic growth, poverty reduction and better institutions.
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’ …
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 …
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 …
An issue I’ve been struggling with in Nigeria for sometime is getting reliable information on how many children there actually are and, of course, how many go to school. Just before Xmas I was delighted to see the work underway …
Kano does not get many tourists – visas are awkward to come by and the overland route north across the Sahara to Europe has been closed for years due to insecurity. Recently I headed across to Zinder in Niger, the francophone desert …
Nigeria is currently going through its own mini World Cup fiesta. After many months of doubt, deliberation and dubious ‘readiness reports’ the FIFA Under 17 World Cup is on and much of this football crazy nation are intensively following the super …
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