National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is set to verify the Better Education Service for All (BESDA) programme to increase equitable access for out-of-school children in Nigeria.
Semiu Adeniran, the statistician general of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer, NBS, said this at a workshop of the training of trainers for the second round of the BESDA verification in Abuja, yesterday.
It was gathered that BESDA is a programme-for-result, funded by the World Bank to support an increase in access to basic education by increasing equitable access for out-of-school children.
The programme is also aimed to improve literacy and strengthen accountability for results in basic education in Nigeria.
“BESDA, as you are all aware, is a results-based programme that allows states to earn rewards for achieving results under stipulated Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLI), with NBS serving as the independent verification agency under the programme.
“This round of the verification is the second and final for the project. The first round was successfully implemented with over 54,017 schools and non-formal centres visited physically for the verification.
“This represents approximately 82 per cent of the frame initially planned for, with the uncovered balance largely due to insecurity and issues with the frame.”
According to him, the training is a culmination of months of planning and preparation for the main verification which has included several activities.
Adeniran said the activities consisted of a pre-test exercise, which was conducted in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Niger State, and a robust pilot study conducted in nine states.
He said this was to help gauge the level of preparation for the main exercise, among others.
The statistician general said the verification was not only important to the BESDA programme itself, but also the statistical system in Nigeria.