'Nigerian education investment does not reach students'

Investments in the Nigerian educational sector have to be redirected so as to ensure that the benefits reach students and schools.

Vicky Colbert, the Founder and Director of Fundación Escuela Nueva, and co-creator of the Escuela Nueva pedagogical model, said this in a recent Daily Trust interview.

Colbert noted that government spending in the education sector is often expended at the administrative level, instead of the school level where the real students are.

"The money being invested in the education sector has to go to the students because many times the money goes to the administration," Colbert said.

"Of course, administration is an important component in the sector, but education has many dimensions-students, teachers, administrators, communities and families."

The Columbian educationist called for a new action plan without which the original purpose of the investments cannot be met.

"Therefore, we have to innovate the way education is delivered in classrooms and it’s very important if we take the school as a unit of change," she added.

"Otherwise, we can spend a lot of money in meetings but nothing happens in the schools.

Colbert's Escuela Nueva pedagogical model is renowned for its effectiveness in improving the quality and relevance of basic education in underprivileged schools across the globe.

She was awarded the 2013 WISE Prize for Education.