The National Association of Women in Colleges of Education (WICE) has urged the Federal Government to allocate at least 26 per cent of total budget for education sector as recommended by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

This was disclosed at the 26th yearly conference of WICE, themed: ‘Challenges of global crises on Nigeria education system,’ held at Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka, Lagos.

Speaking at the event, a professor at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture (MOUA), Umudike, Patricia Mbah, said government should provide adequate financing for the sector.

She identified low budget allocation, poor quality of teachers, poor welfare, lack of infrastructure, unstable curriculum, ineffective virtual learning, unequalled access to education opportunities and poor academic achievement as major challenges confronting the sector.

Mbah said there is need for government to improve teachers’ motivation, student’s readiness and growth of domestic technology.

She said: “Government needs to invest in technology in both private and public schools. There is a need to partner with various stakeholders such as Internet Service Providers, phone providers, educational professionals and others, to inspire the needed invention, which will help in enhancing learning outcomes. The cost of this technology adoption has to be low to achieve inclusive education.

“Government must be serious in revitalising education, while educational managers and curriculum planners should be given full mandate in planning and implementation.”

Speaking on the workshop tagged: ‘The place of mental and physical health in the workplace,’ provost, FCE (Tech), Dr. Wahab Azeez, urged working class adults to be well-informed on their fitness to achieve set goals of their respective organisations.