Arc. Sonny Echono, the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust fund (TETFund), has become a fellow of the Nigerian Association for Educational Administration and Planning (NAEP).
This follows the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) Arc. Echono received on Tuesday from President Muhammadu Buhari.
At the inauguration on Wednesday in Abuja, the National President of NAEP, Professor Hauwa Imam, said the award was in recognition of his track records of leadership in the education sector, quality assurance and service delivery in Nigeria.
Professor Imam said other distinguished administrators in the education sector were also awarded as fellows to encourage excellence in policy implementation.
She explained that the programme was organised to enable scholars and practitioners to fashion out new strategies for effective policy implementation.
‘’Over the years, the Nigerian education system has been plagued by problems, not because of the absence of good policies, but the implementation of the policy,’’ Prof Imam stated.
The Executive Secretary of TETFund Arc, Sonny Echono, said the fellowship is a worthy recognition of efforts to restore a culture of planning in the general administration of the education sector.
The fellowship of the Nigerian Association for Educational Administration and Planning is a worthy recognition of what one was able to play in the sector; we worked very hard to restore the culture of planning, not just in terms of our curriculum and delivery system but also in the general organization of the educational sector so that we can have a steady and synchronized relationship from both basic to secondary and to tertiary.
Echono said the new career path policy approved by the federal government has made it compulsory for those who aspire to be administrators of educational institutions to possess the necessary professional exposure and registration.
‘’We also believe that those are entrusted with responsibility for administering our institutions should have not only academic qualifications but also have professional knowledge and skills, and also continually develop themselves, to horn these skills, to imbibe good practices, improve accountability prudence and judicious use of resources at their disposal,” Echono said.
