By Adamu Yusuf
Senate has passed for second reading a bill seeking to amend the National Senior Secondary Education Commission Act to strengthen the administration, coordination, funding and delivery of public senior secondary education in Nigeria.
The bill followed the presentation of its general principles by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central), during plenary on Tuesday.
Leading the debate, Senator Bamidele said the proposed legislation was aimed at improving senior secondary education in the Federal Capital Territory, federal unity colleges and armed forces senior secondary schools.
He described senior secondary education as critical to national development, providing a foundation for higher education, technical and vocational training, skills acquisition and the preparation of young Nigerians for productive participation in society.
However, he identified inadequate infrastructure, insufficient instructional materials, poorly equipped laboratories and disparities in educational facilities as major challenges affecting the sector.
Senator Bamidele explained that the proposed amendments would strengthen the institutional framework for delivering educational interventions through improved coordination, transparent funding mechanisms and stronger collaboration among federal and state governments.
He said the establishment of state and FCT education boards would bring intervention programmes closer to the institutions and communities they were intended to serve, while targeted support for federal unity colleges and armed forces senior secondary schools would address their infrastructure and learning resource needs.
Senator Bamidele stressed that effective implementation would require clear operational guidelines, transparency, monitoring, financial accountability and prudent utilisation of public funds.
He urged his colleagues to support the bill, describing it as an important step towards improving access to quality education and strengthening institutional accountability.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, subsequently referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Education (Basic and Secondary) for further legislative consideration, directing it to report back to plenary within four weeks.
Editing by Khadija Kubau
