The Ministry of Education has reported 28 states which did not access the N64.8 Universal Basic Education Commission funds in the country to the Federal Executive Council.

Also, the Federal Government is currently working on a mechanism that would allow states which have not accessed the money to get it.

The Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission, Dr. Hameed Bobboyi, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja, during a meeting with state chairmen of State Universal Basic Education Board.

It was reported that only nine out of the 36 states and FCT were able to access the funds in 2015.

Meanwhile 28 states could not access the funds either because they failed to provide the matching grants or because they could not afford to pay counterpart funds required to access the money.

While blaming some states for failing to take basic education seriously even before the present economic challenges affecting the country, Bobboyi said the government was worried about the numbers of out-of-school children in the country and the poor quality of basic education teachers.

He stressed that for states to be able to access the funds without meeting the requirements, the UBE Act 2004 must have to be amended.

Bobboyi said, “The Federal Ministry of Education and the relevant agencies has been doing quite a lot to ensure that the funds that are not accessed are accessed by the states. This case is before the Federal Ministry of Education which is taking up the issue with the Federal Executive Council and I think when FEC makes its decision, these things will be available for each and every person to know just where we stand on this issue.

“There are two parties involved here and I think we should understand that the major reason for instituting the matching grant of the UBE Act is to ensure that you build sufficient resources for the basic education sector where whatever the Federal Government brings, the state governments will also match those funds and that is how the funding formula was developed.”