The ‘Every Child Counts’ initiative recently launched by the Federal Government is a policy initiated in Kwara State by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi as Commissioner of Education under the Bukola Saraki administration, SIGNAL can report.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had last Tuesday announced that the Federal Government’s new education policy will be named ‘Every Child Counts’.
But the Kwara State government, in a statement by Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Dr Muyideen Akorede, commended the Buhari administration for borrowing the Kwara State model and also urged other states to emulate the federal government and adopt other successful reforms introduced by the state government.
The statement reads “The Kwara State Government commends the Federal Government for its adoption of the ‘Every Child Counts’ Education model. Introduced in Kwara State ten years ago by the Kwara State Government under the administration of His Excellency, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, currently the Senate President, to national and global acclaim, ‘Every Child Counts’ was driven by the state government’s recognition of quality education as the bedrock of development and a tested pathway out of poverty.”
“To that end, ‘Every Child Counts’ expanded access to quality education through improved teacher education, repositioning of Colleges of Education to enhance teaching quality, an experiential rather than instructional teaching at basic education level as well as setting and enforcing quality standards in public and private schools.
“The successor administration of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has since upscaled ‘Every Child Counts’ by abolishing tuition fees at Senior Secondary Schools, thus making pre-tertiary education free in the state, improving school infrastructure, prioritizing Science and Technology, and establishing the International Vocational Technical and Entrepreneurial College, IVTEC, Ajase Ipo.
“While commending the federal government for adopting our ‘Every Child Counts’ model, we urge other states to follow suit by adopting other cutting-edge reforms by the Kwara State government such as state-wide health insurance, IGR reforms and the Kwara State infrastructure development fund (IFK) among others.”
Recall that two days after it was launched amidst nationwide fanfare, the ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign of the Buhari administration was allegedly a concept stolen from the originators.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed was accused of adapting the ‘Change Begins with Me’ from another public service campaign after its creators pitched the idea to him in 2015 and he declined interest.
Associates said Akin Fadeyi, a creative artist and former head of communications at Airtel Nigeria, met with Mr. Mohammed in December 2015 to intimate him about ‘Not In My Country,’ an episodic narrative that deploys humour to underscore societal ills and appeal to Nigerians to shun sharp practices.
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