TheNewsGuru

Tag: Education

  • El-Rufai commends Airtel for role in developing Primary Education

    Leading telecoms operator, Airtel Nigeria, has commissioned Yahaya Hamza Primary School, one of its newly adopted schools in Zaria, Kaduna State, in line with its commitment of providing opportunities to underprivileged children.

    Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, commended the telco for its role in the development of primary education across the country, during the commissioning ceremony, which held yesterday (27/9/17) in Zaria, Kaduna.

    He thanked Airtel for adopting a school in the State and for its support to primary education in Nigeria.

    According to him, with Airtel’s intervention, the new Yahaya Hamza Primary School has been transformed – complete with 6 blocks, 12 classrooms, desk and chairs, teachers’ offices, white boards, borehole facilities and toilets for male and female students as well as teachers. Students, today, also got complete set of uniforms, bags and books.

    “I urge other stakeholders in corporate Nigeria to emulate Airtel by partnering with the Kaduna State government in supporting educational initiatives.”

    The governor also expressed delight at Airtel’s choice of Yahaya Hamza primary school, noting that it signifies the preservation of the legacies of a great man, a teacher, a role model, a leader and an inspiration, Yahaya Hamza.

    He also said that Airtel’s intervention is a gift that aligns with Kaduna State’s goal of developing primary, secondary and tertiary education.

    “The Kaduna State Government thanks Airtel for offering its widow mite and contributions in our quest to revamp education in the State,” he said.

    Also speaking at the occasion, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, noted that good education is a human right, describing it as a ticket to prosperity since it creates a level field for everyone to succeed.

    He further noted that Airtel’s adoption of schools is not a one-year wonder but a continuing partnership.

    The CEO also used the occasion to request support for Sadiq Usman, a five year old boy whose eyes were removed by suspected ritualists last year.

    “It is tragic and heart-breaking to see an innocent, vulnerable child suffer and go through such excruciating pains. I and My colleagues were deeply moved by Sadiq’s situation and generously supported the call to provide relief.

    “Our support will not just end here, Sadiq is our adopted son and he will continue to be our priority and in our prayers. A child is a trust and every member of society has a responsibility towards children – this we must take seriously,” he said.

    Yahaya Hamza primary school in Zaria, Kaduna State joins the five other Airtel adopted primary schools spread across Nigeria, namely Oremeji Primary School II, Ajegunle, Lagos; St. John’s Primary School, Oke-Agbo, Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun; Community Primary School, Amumara, Imo; Iyeru Okin Primary School, Ilara-Mokin, Kwara and Presbyterian Primary School, Ediba, Cross River State.

    The commissioning ceremony was attended by several dignitaries including the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris and Zaria City representative at the State House of Assembly, Hon. Kasim Iliyasu, among others.

  • Buhari concerned about gale of strikes in health, education sectors – Presidency

    Buhari concerned about gale of strikes in health, education sectors – Presidency

    The Presidency has affirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari is concerned about the gale of strikes in the country and will do the needful to ensure industrial harmony.

    This was revealed in an interview on a monitored programme on Channels Television by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina.

    He was responding to the strike by resident doctors and the ongoing strike by university lecturers.

    He told his interviewer: “Yes, the President is the captain of the team but, then, he has so many other people working with him, who we can say will be the first line of defence when it comes to things like this. For the doctors, it is the Minister of Health first, and that will be done in conjunction with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, who fortunately also is a medical doctor.

    “Of course, for ASUU, you know there is a Minister of Education and that is being done along with the Minister of Labour. So that is the first line of engagement. I think the President is the very last line of engagement.

    “But knowing that the President is the captain of the ship, his interest will be that there is peace and tranquillity in every sector of the economy. So, the needful will be done.

    “Naturally, the President will be concerned because he is here to ensure that every sector of the polity, every Nigerian, gets the best from the polity.

    “Naturally, he should be concerned if there are gales of strikes all around and he will do the best through his aides, through the ministers and those that have been appointed to be the first point of contact on these things. The best will be done.”

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that university lecturers on the aegis of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU on August 8 commenced an indefinite strike action while the National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, commenced theirs on Monday.

    However, the concerned ministers (Health and Education) are in talks with the respective unions to end the strike.

     

  • Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan may not meet 2020 education target – UNICEF

    Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan may not meet the 2020 target of education for children of school age unless a collective involvement of stakeholders with political will is encouraged, the United Nations International Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) has said.

    The UN agency said: “The number of Out of School Children (OOSC) in Nigeria constitutes 20 per cent of the global total and therefore, we have strata of the Almajiris, girls of school age not enrolled, nomadic herdsmen and fishermen children. And those displaced by the insurgency in the Northeast.

    “If Nigeria gets it right, Africa gets it.”

    A UNICEF official, Mrs. Azuka Menkiti, spoke at the weekend in Kaduna at a one-day planning meeting with journalists as a prelude to the flag off of 2017 National Enrolment and Birth Registration Campaign slated for October.

    The meeting was themed: “For a better tomorrow, enrol your child in school today and get free birth registration certificate from the National Population Commission (NPC)”.

    It was organised by the Federal Ministry of Education and Universal Basic Education Commission in collaboration with UNICEF, Nigeria.

    Mrs. Menkiti, in her presentation, titled: “Objectives, expected results and rationale for expanded partnerships, NPopC”, said statistical records showed that over nine million were in Qur’anic system of education, who she noted were also considered OOSC.

    She said the three countries facing the challenge topped the global ranking with alarming proportion of OOSC.

    The UNICEF official added that girls and boys of school age in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan are expected by 2030 to access free education.

    According to Mrs. Menkiti, research identified more girls as being out of school than boys in the North.

    “What we are concerned about is equity, fairness and justice for every child of school age. Every child has a right to be educated without gender disparity.

    “UNICEF is passionate about children in the Northeast, whose education foundation has been threatened,” she said.

    The UNICEF official, however, identified socio-cultural norms and practice, religious beliefs, lack of qualified teachers, inadequate infrastructure and poor governance as responsible for denying the child the right to education among other factors.

    Mrs. Menkiti attributed the poor level of enrolment to poverty, distance and parental ignorance on the benefits of educating their wards.

    Representative of the Federal Ministry of Education Mr. Elisha Francis, who spoke on the Federal Government’s framework on enrolment, said the first tier of government had designed a responsive drive to reaching out to OOSC for integration into the formal school system through effective campaign implementation drive at all levels.

    Francis said: “The drive would consider parental demand for education, influence of change of attitude, inherent benefits, promote equity in basic education delivery, stakeholders participation as well facilitate Nigeria’s attainment of education related SDGs”.

     

  • Oyo to commit 5bn to education, receives 70,000 books

    Oyo to commit 5bn to education, receives 70,000 books

    The Oyo State Government at the weekend disclosed that about N5bn will be expended to repair the dilapidating structures in primary and secondary schools in the state.

    Similarly, the state government has received 70,000 books covering different subject areas such as Mathematics, English, English literature, Physics, Biology, Economics, Algebra, Chemistry among others from a non-government and non-profit organization based in United States, Jewels of Africa.

    The state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology Professor Adeniyi Olowofela, who made the disclosure during a meeting with the state chapter’s leaders and representatives of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Association of Primary School Head Teachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON) and All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) explained that N3b counterpart funding will be spent on primary education, while N1.9bn generated from the students’ levies and state government internally generated revenue will be spent on secondary schools in the state.

    Professor Olowofela noted that every step needed to take for the smooth take off of the rehabilitation of schools in the state has been concluded, stressing that in the next 12 months, majority of the primary and secondary schools in the state would have worn new looks.

    The Commissioner said that the state’s School Governing Boards (SGBs) for secondary schools in the state is yielding positive results with many old students’ associations working on the rehabilitation of structures in their schools while some others have signified interests, adding that the collaborative efforts between the government and stakeholders in the education sector will restore its lost glory.

    Prof. Olowofela assured the representatives of the unions that those issues, which include dilapidated plants, teachers’ promotions, dearth of instructional materials, agonies of retired primary school teachers, alleged certificate forgery, reversion of appointments in the school system among others raised at the parley will be adequately addressed and resolved.

    He appreciated the doggedness and commitment of the unions to ensuring quality education in the state, urging that stakeholders should always put issues in proper perspective and be factual in their presentation to the general public.

    Speaking earlier, the Secretary of NUT, Comrade Waheed Olojede said that the union is not against local government autonomy but the management and funding of primary schools should be domiciled with the state government.

    He said “There is danger in leaving the funding and management of primary school education with the local government. If the federal government does not want the repeat of the suffering of primary school teachers and neglect of primary education between 1990–94, the funding of primary education should not be put under the whims and caprices of local government councils. The government could give the responsibility of management and funding of primary education to Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). We are not against local government autonomy but what we are against total control of funding and management of primary by the local government.”

    Comrade Olojede, who observed that the SGB has lifted some of the difficulties and burden of schools management from the Oyo State Government, commended the state government for its efforts and initiatives to revive the education sector, appealing that the government should address the issues raised in due course.

    While delivering the 70,000 books, the representative of Jewels of Africa, Mr. Deji Haastrup said ‘’Oyo state has always been forward looking and has shown a lot of interest in education and having a large population, the government will have its hands full and as such needs collaboration with the private sector and non-governmental organizations since all hands ought to be on deck to ensure we give the government the needed support to build education which is the foundation of development in the society.

     

  • Good governance, education will enhance African trade- Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says that basic education and good governance will boost intra-African trade. Obasanjo said this at the ongoing 24th Annual General Meeting of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) on Friday in Kigali.

     

    He said that there should be education for all, adding that it was the foundation for development

     

    According to him, at least basic education is required by all to enable citizens to read and write and be useful to himself, his country and his neighbors.

     

    He said it was only when all were educated that the problem of cross-border trade would grow and also hasten the economic integration of the continent.

     

    The former president also expressed concern that lack of good governance in Africa due to massive corruption, impunity, and inconsistency in fiscal policies had impeded the growth of trade in Africa.

     

    “When these stop, Africans will then begin to have basic needs of life and develop trade across borders.

     

    “Thriving shipping companies owned by African countries and harmonized fiscal policies will lead to better life for Africans and a booming cross-border trade.

     

    “A situation where an African fills two separate documents to enter another country will not help African trade, rather it will retard trade and development,’’ he said.

     

    Obasanjo appealed to African leaders to believe in their own, adding that a facility from Afreximbank, African Development Bank, and others owned by Africans was better than obtained elsewhere.

     

    He stressed the need for African leaders to understudy capitalism and learn how to deal with it.

     

    According to him, how will one explain the exportation of raw materials to Europe at a cheaper prize and buy the finished raw material in an exorbitant prize?

     

    He said the World Bank and IMF and other western finance institutions were designed by the western world to sooth the western world, adding that the institutions had “bitter pills an African must swallow’’.

     

    “No one can run away from the institutions’ bitter pills because the pills have been designed in such way that if you swallow it, you will fail and if you don’t, you will still fail.

     

    “During my tenure as president of Nigeria, I told the then Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Charles Soludo that when these institutions come don’t chase them away but just listen to them and learn how to deal with the overtures.

     

    “So, I was able to study capitalism and approached our creditors to do something about my country’s debt, which was in billions of dollars and they listened. A large chunk of the debt was written off,” he said.

     

    Obasanjo said that Africans were not weak but their mindset about themselves had been the problem.

     

    According to him, Africans should desist from saying to these institutions; just help me, I am in a problem without understanding what his country wants before taking a facility?

  • Ogun to shut down unapproved private schools

    Ogun to shut down unapproved private schools

    The Ogun Government has commenced clamp down on illegal private nursery, primary and secondary schools operating in the state.

    The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mrs Modupe Mujota, made the announcement on Monday during a monitoring exercise tagged “Operation praise or shame.”

    Speaking during the exercise conducted in Ogun Central District, the commissioner directed proprietors of schools to regularise their operation within 30 days or be shut down.

    Mujota said the exercise became necessary following discovery that most of the schools were operating without authorisation of the ministry.

    She said that any school shut down would remain shut until necessary regularisation was carried out.

    “The exercise is basically to root out all unapproved private schools that are operating without the authorisation of the ministry.

    “The schools were closed down because they can’t operate without approval/authorization,’’ she said.

    She urged owners of private school not to wait until the government wield the `big stick’’ before paying all necessary dues and levies.

    She advised parents and guardians to enrol their children in government approved schools.

    Mujota ordered the closure of a Tutorial College operating inside a filling station on Ijoko road, off Gas Line area in Ado-Odo Ota LGA.

    She chided the owner of the college for putting the lives of the students at risk.

    She advised the students to stay away from the college until it relocated to a more befitting place and complete necessary registration formalities with the government.

    Also speaking, Mr Bayo Adeyemi Special Adviser to the governor on Education, said the “Praise or Shame” exercise was not aimed at witch-hunting anybody, but to sanitize the system.

    He said that it was criminal offence for any school closed down to re-open without necessary authorisation from the government.

  • Abia Polytechnic recovers N43m from students

    Abia Polytechnic recovers N43m from students

    Abia State Polytechnic has recovered more than N43 million from students who faked the school’s receipts, Prof. Ezionye Eboh, the Acting Rector, has said.

    Eboh, while briefing newsmen in Aba, Abia, on the latest development in the institution, said that more than 700 students were involved in the act of obtaining fake receipts from unauthorised sources.

    He said that the students would be punished, to serve as a deterrent to others.

    Eboh also said that the Police had arrested a woman who operates a business centre near the polytechnic for allegedly issuing students with fake receipts.

    He said that the woman worked for a lecturer and that she was collecting N10,000 and issuing fake stamped receipts to the students, thereby aiding them to evade payment of N50,000 school fees.

    According to the rector, management discovered the forgery when it made it mandatory for students to show their school fee receipts before writing examinations.

    He said that the lecturer had been suspended and that the students involved in the act were being investigated.

    On the issue of the redeployment 10 nurses working in the school clinic, Eboh said that the development was due to the intervention of the governor.

    “If it was not for the intervention of Gov. Ikpeazu, we would have sacked them. But he said they should be retained but re-assigned to places where their services would be needed.”

    He said it was mind-boggling to employ such a large number of such senior nurses earning handsome salaries, in a non-residential campus.

    He said that following their redeployment, the institution was saving N34 million per annum, adding that by plugging several loopholes, the institution had paid five months of 2016 salary arrears.

    Meanwhile, the Abia Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Geoffrey Ogbonna, confirmed to the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday that the name of the woman connected with the fake receipts was Caroline Augustine.

    He said that Augustine had been charged to court and also identified the owner of the business centre as Mr Alwell Nwachukwu-Njoku.

  • Education commissioner calls for establishment of more technical colleges

    Education commissioner calls for establishment of more technical colleges

    Prof. John Eke, the Ebonyi Commissioner for Education has called for the establishment of more science and technical schools in order to boost Nigeria’s technological growth.

    Eke told the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday in Abakaliki that technical education was key to the nation’s technological advancement drive.

    He said that science, technology and vocational training were critical to the development of any society.

    He maintained that functional technical education was required to tackle underdevelopment and socio-economic stagnation.

    “We live in an age where science and technology are the pathways to social, economic and industrial development.

    “To develop alongside other nations of the world, we need to give attention to science and technical education.

    “This is also necessary to empower our people with practical skills.

    “Technology is either stolen or copied and never transferred; hence the need to develop and sharpen the capacity of our scientists, technologists and engineers.

    “These can only be achieved through sound science and technical education,” Eke said.

    He called for adequate funding of technical and vocational institutions as well as the faculty of engineering in the nation’s universities.

    “Nations develop in accordance with the level of the scientific and technological breakthrough they have achieved.

    “Also, scientific and technological advancement determine how great; how wealthy; how powerful and influential a country can be.

    “A country’s military prowess is determined by its level of scientific and technological advancement.

    “This can only be powered through technical and vocational education.”

    Eke also called for the abolition of the dichotomy between graduates of polytechnic and their university counterparts to encourage polytechnic education.

    He said that polytechnics education was more practical oriented in its academic programmes.

    The commissioner added that the country’s quest to achieve self-reliance in science and technology would remain a mirage if the policy was not abolished.

    Eke, a professor of Mathematics Education said that Nigeria’s polytechnic education ranked among the best in the world, in terms of curriculum content and manpower development.

    “Government should review the policy and place graduates of polytechnics at par with their university counterparts.’’

    He added that emphasis on science and technical education would make the Nigerian economy more knowledge-based, where industry and manufacturing sectors would become the major driving force of the economy.

    The commissioner explained that the U.S, Britain, China, Japan, and Russia among other developed nations, achieved greatness because of their sophistication in science and technology.

    According to him, Nigeria too has potential to belong to the league.

    He commended the Ebonyi Government for equipping its three technical colleges with state-of-the-art facilities to enhance teaching and learning of science and technical education.

  • Ethiopia shuts internet access to stop exam cheats

    Ethiopia shuts internet access to stop exam cheats

    Ethiopia has shut internet access until at least June 8 to stop cheats from posting high school exam papers on social media, a government official said on Thursday.

    Hundreds of thousands of students will take the tests throughout the country. The Grade 10 exams began yesterday and will end tomorrow.

    The Grade 12 tests will begin from June 5 and end on June 8.

    Last year, exam papers were widely posted online, prompting the government to reschedule the tests, which are the main public exams for 16- and 18-year-olds to secure places at university and on vocational courses.

    “The shutdown is aimed at preventing a repeat of leaks that occurred last year,” Mohammed Seid, public relations director of Ethiopia’s Office for Government Communications Affairs, told Reuters.

    “We are being proactive. We want our students to concentrate and be free of the psychological pressure and distractions that this brings.”

    Mohammed did not give a precise date regarding when the shutdown would be lifted, but added it would last throughout the exam period.

    He said only access to social media outlets was cut off and that services such as airline bookings and banking requiring internet access remained intact.

    A Reuters witness confirmed that WiFi and cellular internet access has been cut off. Access at embassies and international organisations remained intact.

    It is not the first time that Addis Ababa has pulled the plug on the internet. At the height of protests in late 2015 and 2016, Ethiopia imposed a blanket ban for weeks before disrupting only social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter.

    At that time, rights group Amnesty International slammed the disruption as an “intent on stifling expression and free exchange of information”.

    Critics say Ethiopia, an important Horn of Africa ally of the West sandwiched between volatile Somalia and Sudan, often clamps down on freedoms under the guise of national security. The government denies the accusations.

  • 2nd Year Anniversary: ASUU rates Buhari low on education, economy

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday said the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration performed low in education and economy since assuming office two years ago.

    The union noted that it will be difficult for any Nigeria university to effectively compete globally with the attitude of Buhari not to allocate enough funds as prescribed by UNESCO to support education.

    This was revealed in a statement by Dr. Deji Omole, chairman, University of Ibadan chapter of the Union.

    Omole further stated that university workers have expressed terrible moments under Buhari with payment of fractional and amputated salaries, non-release of revitilisation grants in line with FGN/ASUU agreements and 2013 Memorandum of Understanding, and non-payment of academic earned allowances.

    “On education; the govt has performed poorly as the budgetary allocation to education suffered a serious decline as against what the APC government promised. The government promised minimum of 15% but instead of moving towards that we are actually moving backward.

    “Fractional salaries are paid to workers even though the cost of living is now more than triple. Non release of revitalization grant in line with ASUU/FGN agreement and MOUs , non payment of earned academic allowances . in fact no Nigerian university will be able to compete effectively with other universities abroad with the attitude of this government towards public funded education.”