Every school needs community support. Research has proven that schools with community support thrive better than those without such support. In Nigeria, the School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) is set up to increase citizen participation in school management as part of the efforts of school reform in Nigeria. SBMCs are established by government to act as an essential link between schools and the communities they serve. They are intended to contribute to school development planning and decision-making at the school level for improved learning outcomes.
However, there are insufficient community systems to support schools and help bridge the gaps in primary education, where the systems exist they are not adequately skilled to manage the formal schools in their localities. The schools within the communities are left to run without a plan thereby leaving the school to exist with little or no achievements.
Oando Foundation partners with the School Based Management committees to make them become empowering institutions which contribute to transformative education. This does not only improve the quality of education at local level, but enhances acriptcess to education and strengthen local systems of education governance.
Taking into consideration the peculiarities that exist in all the geo-political zones where it operates, the Foundation focuses on facilitating the establishment of SBMCs in schools where they are non-existent, capacity building of the committees to effectively exercise their roles and responsibilities. The foundation also promotes gender balance in the composition and establishment of SBMCS in Northern adopted schools, whilst taking into consideration the peculiarities of each geo-political zone where we operate.
In turn, SBMCs in adopted schools have championed the active mobilization of out of school children in their local communities, working with village heads and local community groups to ensure children are enrolled in school. They also support programme implementation through supervision and in-kind contributions for overall success.
Oando Foundation has trained over 1,133 SBMCs across our adopted schools to date.
