The allocation to education in the 2022 budget proposal shows President Muhammadu Buhari has taken small steps towards fulfilling his pledge to increase expenditure on education by 50 per cent between 2022 and 2023.

But despite the increase over last year’s figures, the proposal, when measured as a percentage of the total spending plan, falls short of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) benchmark of 15 to 20 per cent of the annual budget which the president recently committed to achieving.

Three months ago, at the 2021 edition of the global summit on education co-hosted in London by the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Buhari committed to ensuring Nigeria meets the UNESCO international benchmark after years of failure.

At the summit in late July, the Nigerian leader was among 19 heads of state and government who pledged to increase their education spending.

The global event saw Mr Buhari committing to increase Nigeria’s annual domestic education expenditure by 50 per cent over the next two years and by 100 per cent by 2025, beyond the 20 per cent global benchmark.

Buhari, who pledged in a document titled; “Heads of State Call to Action on Education Financing,” said the effort would ensure that Nigeria’s investment in the sector meets the globally accepted standard of 20 per cent of budgetary allocations.