The National Assembly on Thursday hosted stakeholders across the world, including UNESCO officials, as they seek legal backing to establish the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration(NIEPA), located in Ondo State, western Nigeria.
The Institute was established in 1992 by the Nigerian government in collaboration with UNESCO/International Institute for Educational Planning(IIEP) as a Staff College for Planners and Managers in the Nigerian education sector and West Africa region.
Declaring the public hearing open, President of the Nigerian senate Ahmad Lawan described it as an opportunity for leaders to ensure that the institute becomes as effective and as efficient and as professional as possible.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education (Basic and Secondary), Senator Ibrahim Gaidam, said the Bill 2022 sought to give legal backing to already functioning institutions.
Senator Gaidam said the institute was established in 1992 with a three-fold mandate which was intended to move forward the professionalisation of educational planning and administration.
The sponsor of the bill, Senator Ayo Akinyelure said “sadly despite the institute’s enormous potential and its long years of existence and operations, it does not have an enabling law to regulate its activities to strengthen and entrench its core mandates.
Dominica Nwabufo
