IEPA Seeks Nigeria’s Support for its UNESCO Category II Bid

The IEPA delegation with Permanent Secretary and other Senior officials of the Ministry in Abuja

PRESS RELEASE          

ABUJA, 30TH JULY, 2019               

IEPA SEEKS NIGERIA’s SUPPORT FOR ITS UNESCO CATEGORY II BID

A team of experts from the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA), visiting Nigeria to seek support and collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education, has met with the Permanent Secretary and other senior officials of the Ministry in Abuja. Present at the meeting were representatives of the Director-General of the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA).

The team also used the opportunity to call on the UNESCO Representative at the Multi - Sectorial Regional Office in Abuja to explore opportunities for fundraising for the Category II Platform.

The Government of Ghana through the Ghana National Commission for UNESCO is seeking the UN Agency’s partnership to upgrade the status of the IEPA to a Sub-regional Centre of Excellence with the mandate to:

  1. Build and strengthen the capacity of educational planners, administrators, and leaders in the West African sub-region.
  2. Support education ministries within the sub-region to undertake sector-wide planning, policy development, and implementation.
  3. Undertake cutting-edge research and consultancy, and promoting innovation in education service delivery.
  4. Create a platform to mobilise education experts in the Sub-region to interrogate educational issues and provide policy advice to Ministries of Education of Member States.

It is expected that the 40th Session of the UNESCO General Conference (November 2019) would approve the UNESCO Category II bid and thus making it the 95th UNESCO Category II Centre of Excellence in the world. The IEPA team was led by Prof. George K. T. Oduro, former Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast.