Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has disclosed that as part of efforts to move the education sector forward, the state government would soon establish an Education Endowment Fund for schools in the state.
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the governor, represented by the Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof. Patrick Muoboghare, disclosed this on Wednesday in Asaba at the Annual Conference/General Meeting of the Institute of Strategic Management, Nigeria Delta State Chapter.
While emphasizing the importance of partnership between the state government and the private sector to improve the economy of the state, he explained that since the education sector was the backbone of any society, the state government was to set up an Education Endowment Fund to ensure that Deltans have access to quality education under a conducive learning environment.
“The education sector is very vital to our economy as there is the breeding ground where our doctors, lawyers even future governors are groomed and nurtured and if we are faced with recession again subventions to schools will be reduced and maintenance of our schools and ensuring that our students get the best education will be restricted but if our schools had Endowment funds with or without the allocations the schools will be well taken care of so with that in mind, the state government will soon be establishing the Education Endowment Fund for schools across the state.
“Our economy although recovering from a recession can only improve when investments are brought into our country and policies that will strategically strengthened our economy are implemented. As a government we have been doing our very best to improve our economy and strengthen our infrastructure but we cannot do it alone, we not only need the partnership of the private sector but we have to ensure that policies that have been strategically designed to improve our economy are implemented. We do not just need strategists, we need to make policies that are innovative and is in line with global trends,” he said.
He commended the Institute for organizing the conference saying, “this meeting is timely and it is my belief that at the end we will have more solutions to tackle the challenges facing our economy”.
The National President of ISMN Dr. Emman Oyeka stated that the conference was designed to discuss innovative ways to address the economic challenges facing the country adding “we need outside the box ideas that will radically improve our economy”.
Delivering the lecture on the theme of the Conference: “Unlocking Opportunities For Economic Development in Nigeria In Line With Global Trends: A Strategic Approach”, Mr. Michael Uwaechie explained that growing the economy would not only involve the partnership between the state government and the private sector, human capital development but ensuring that policies that will ensure the development of the economy to be implemented and seen to fruition.
Governor Okowa was conferred with the maiden “Professor Austin Uwandulu Strategic Management Award” in recognition of his strategic and pragmatic leadership qualities at the event.
Tag: Education
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Delta to set up education endowment fund
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Teachers’ welfare key to reviving education in Nigeria – Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja said reviving the educational sector, with renewed focus on teaching valuable lessons like integrity in schools, will require giving priority to the welfare and training of teachers, who directly create the enabling environment for learning.
Buhari spoke while receiving a delegation from the Arewa House Centre for Historical Documentation and Research at the State House, Abuja.
In a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, the President said the quality of training, welfare and happiness of teachers directly impact on the quality of education children and adults get in schools.
He urged more focus and research on impact of teachers.
The President spoke against the backdrop of a proposal by the Arewa House Centre for Historical Documentation and Research to start an annual, “Buhari Integrity Lecture Series’’.
“If it has to do with integrity, we must go back to history and try to assess the contribution of teachers to education, where teachers treated every child as their own in instilling discipline and sharing of knowledge.
“I have been lucky to be in boarding school for nine years, three years in primary school and six years in secondary school before I joined the military. And if we are talking of good education, it has to start with the teaching in schools, where children grow and the environment of learning,’’ he said.
President Buhari said education cuts across the three tiers of government, and it was important to consider who pays the teachers at every level and if the teachers get adequately compensated to provide quality education.
“We must make education and health a priority relative to the resources available,’’ he added.
The President said the challenge of repositioning the educational sector and cultivating strong moral values in children goes beyond the northern part of Nigeria, and should be pursued holistically at a national level.
“Your nomenclature is Arewa, but the problem of education is a national issue,’’ the President noted.
President Buhari said focus must also be on providing accessible quality education for the privileged and underprivileged in the country, adding “we will have a better society when education is not only for those who can afford to pay expensive fees in schools.’’
In his remarks, the Director of Arewa House, Prof. Idris Shaaba Jimada, told the President that there was a need to inculcate the virtue of integrity that he had stood for over the years, and propagated as an important aspect of development.
Jimada said the Arewa House Centre for Historical Documentation and Research had decided on instituting “The Buhari Integrity Annual Lecture Series’’, which would appraise the President’s position on morality and inspire more people to appreciate integrity as integral to Nigeria’s development.
“Integrity should be taught in our schools as part of civic education, and we are proposing that it starts with you,’’ he said. -
The Story Of Busola Dakolo’s Unknown ‘Cousin’ – Azu Ishiekwene
Azu Ishiekwene
Busola Dakolo has a cousin she has never met and might never even meet. They don’t share blood ties, of course. But like tens of hundreds of victims of sexual abuse, there’s a common thread of grief that binds in a way that only those who feel it know.
Since last week, we have been caught in the throes of the grievous charges of sexual predation levied against the pastor of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), Biodun Fatoyinbo, by Mrs. Dakolo. It’s a sad and pathetic story which has left its victim scarred for nearly 20 years, until recently when she summoned the courage to confront the demon.
But this other victim, whom I described as Dakolo’s unknown cousin, may never be able to tell her own story.
Not now, maybe never. I may never even have been able tell this story for her, if our paths did not cross in a most unusual way. Fate made our paths cross.
Basic education (beginning from primary up to three years of junior secondary school) is supposed to be free. But it’s free only on paper. Schools still find ways to extort all kinds of levies from parents, forcing millions of them from very poor homes to do all kinds of menial jobs after school to help their parents meet up.
Some manage to get through junior secondary school, but the financial toll often becomes unbearable when they have to register for external examinations, the cost of which is higher than the national minimum wage.
It was in the process of finding a way to bridge the gap for these extremely vulnerable ones that OpenFees met with the young girl whom I described in the opening as Busola Dakolo’s cousin. But she’s not, only their stories are similar in an agonizing way. I’ll just call her Asabe.
She’s 15 and an SS3 student of Government Secondary School, Dangara, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Asabe was one of the 97 indigent, but promising students that we identified with the help of school authorities. Each one of the 97 – and God knows how many hundreds of unreached others – has a heart-breaking story of personal struggle against destiny-threatening odds to share.
To paraphrase Leo Tolstoy in Anna Karenina, all destitute students are alike, but each story of destitution carries its own peculiar misery. Asabe lost her father three years ago, at about the time she was moving from junior to senior secondary school. When her father died, she nearly gave up hope. The burden of looking after herself and her two younger siblings fell squarely on her mother.
Her mother was a petty trader, making barely enough to put food on the table on some days. In spite of that, Mama Asabe was determined to see her daughter through school. But she was also concerned about how to keep an eye on Asabe who was in boarding school in Abuja. She made enquiries and later found out there was someone in GSS Dangara, who comes from Ilorin like themselves, whom she could ask to be Asabe’s guardian in school.
Things seemed to go well for a while – and why not? Asabe’s new guardian and staff of GSS Dangara was not just a distant “relative” from Ilorin, he is also married and has children. On the face of it, he is just the kind of guardian in whose care an unsuspecting parent might entrust a child.
Believing that her daughter was in safe hands, Mama Asabe scraped all she could from her petty trade and sent to Mr. Guardian for Asabe’s upkeep in school from time to time. But Mr. Guardian nursed other ideas of his own. He was only waiting for a moment to strike. He was waiting for Asabe’s vulnerable moment.
In September, Asabe’s mother took ill. No one was sure exactly what it was, but Asabe suspects it was dementia. Her mother went out one day and has not returned since that fateful September day. With no father and her mother now missing, Asabe was bereft. Paying fees became a problem. Because of cost, she could also not afford the cost of travelling to her ancestral Ilorin home, where her grandmother stays.
Perhaps she was also thinking of the burden that grandma currently bears. Her grandmother, who is still in Ilorin, took over the care of Asabe’s other two siblings after Mama Asabe went missing. Asabe had to start fending for herself, to lessen grandma’s burden.
Mr. Guardian at GSS Dangara knew when to strike and chose Asabe’s dire moment of need sometime in April. When OpenFees first met Asabe and enrolled her as one of our 97 scholars, she was doing quite well in school in spite of the mountains she had to climb. The alarm bells went off when she failed her JAMB, scoring 144 when her peers on the same programme scored between 292 and 301.
She said that in June, a member of her church called her aside and suggested to her that she might be pregnant. She said she did not know and wasn’t sure. But she remembered that day in April when things might have gone awry.
She had complained to Mr. Guardian that she had leg pain and he gave her money to go and buy a drug, “Chaptetizer cyproheptadine”, from a pharmacy. He administered the drugs, enough doses to knock Asabe off to sleep. In her text message to us later, she said when she woke up the next morning, she found blood stains and was frightened. Mr. Guardian had apparently raped her but warned her never to tell.
When we received the report during the Sallah break, we quickly moved Asabe from her friend’s place where she had taken shelter to a safe and secure place temporarily and followed quickly with a report to NAPTIP, the agency for the prohibition of trafficking in persons.
You would think that everyone up the food chain would be outraged. We thought so. NAPTIP weighed in and invited Mr. Guardian to a meeting over the matter. He turned up kicking and generally behaving in a manner that suggested he would stop at nothing to obstruct the investigation. His employer, GSS Dangara, initially appeared genuinely contrite and determined to root out the randy staff – until the Ag. Director FCT Secondary School Education Board, Nanre Emeje, stepped in.
She pilled obstacles in the way and tried to block access to Asabe, a girl desperately in need of help. At one point, she threatened us and the school authorities took a cue and mounted their own obstacle in our way; only NAPTIP’s unwavering commitment for justice brought relief. Yet, there’s still a long road ahead.
The pregnancy test on Asabe before she was returned to school was negative but her physical appearance has changed remarkable, stoking fears of ectopic pregnancy. Her emotional scar is indescribable, and her future may have been blighted forever. And how many more of such cases litter the land?
Will Emeje spare a thought for this 15-year-old orphan, carrying a burden many times her age and yet living daily in fear and hopelessness? Will Emeje let justice take its course? Who will speak for Asabe, Busola Dakolo’s unknown cousin?
Ishiekwene is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview and member of the board of the Global Editors Network -
CEPEJ charges Okowa, IOCs on education in Delta
A Non-govermental Organization, the Center for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) yesterday charged the state government to pay more attention to the state’s educational sector.
The group also appealed to multinational oil companies operating within the state to channel more of their Corporate Social Responsibility functions to eradicate illiteracy and reduce civil unrest in their operational areas in line with Goal 4 of the SDGs.
National Coordinator of CEPEJ, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, made the plea at the 2019 Comrade Sheriff Mulade Inter-Local Government Quiz and Essay Competitions for Rural Secondary Schools in Warri North, Warri South, and Warri South West local government areas of Delta State held in Warri.
He said; “The importance of Education in the advancement of a nation cannot be overemphasized. Education is the backbone and the live wire of any economy.
“Education is the bedrock of civilization. ‘If you show me any nation that is backward in development, I will show you a nation that has less interest in the educational advancement of the people.’
“If Nigeria, the most populous black race in the world, hopes to meet up with high technological advancement as seen in other civilized countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada, then the country must take education seriously,” the peace ambassador reiterated.
He said the annual competition was aimed at bridging the gap between the riverine rural schools and their urban counterparts so that the coastal schools could have a full taste of what they have been denied over time in terms of academic exposure.
“We want to use this opportunity to promote and sustain the existing peace among the ethnic nationalities in the communities within the three Warri LGAs, particularly Ijaw and Itsekiri people.
“The primary aim of the Center for Peace and Environmental Justice is to promote educational awareness in the riverine rural communities, and to assist the less privileged but highly intelligent students to pursue their education and career in life through scholarship support,” he noted.
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Presidency denies ban of Almajiri System of Education in Nigeria
The Presidency on Friday dismissed media report that the Federal Government had concluded arrangements to ban the Almajiri system of education.
The Almajiri system of education is a form of Qur’anic learning system associated with begging on economic and religious grounds peculiar to some Northern states.
Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement in Abuja, however, said that the prescription of the Almajiri system had remained an objective of the Buhari administration.
”The Presidency, therefore, calls for caution in responses to the pronouncements by President Muhammadu Buhari on free and compulsory basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age in Nigeria, during his speech on Thursday, June 20, at the inauguration of the National Economic Council (NEC).
”The Presidency notes that while the Buhari administration is committed to free and compulsory education as a long-term objective of bringing to an end, the phenomenon of out-of-school children, any necessary ban on Almajiri would follow due process and consultation with relevant authorities.
”Indeed, the Federal government wants a situation where every child of primary school age is in school rather than begging on the streets during school hours.
”At the same time, we don’t want to create panic or a backlash,” he said.
The presidential aide, therefore, frowned at reports that there were plans for massive arrest of parents who denied their children basic education, saying that such reports were definitely out of place.
”Things have to be done the right and considerate way.
”Free and compulsory primary school education is a requirement of the Nigerian constitution and any individual or group not in compliance with this is violating the law of the land and liable to be punished,” he said.
Shehu, who referred to Buhari’s inaugural speech of the NEC) on Thursday, said the president stated that the country’s children have rights and must be given their due rights and protection under the law.
According to him, as many have stated in their views, the Almajiri phenomenon represents a security challenge and a scar on the face of Northern Nigeria.
”In that speech, the President said: “On education, I want to stress in particular the need to take very seriously and enforce very rigorously the statutory provisions on free and compulsory basic education.
”Section 18(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended places on all of us here an obligation to eradicate illiteracy and provide free and compulsory education.
“Section 2 of the Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act provides that every Government in Nigeria shall provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age.
‘‘It is indeed a crime for any parent to keep his child out of school for this period. In my view, when a government fails to provide the schools, teachers and teaching materials necessary for basic education, it is actually aiding and abetting that crime.
“This is, therefore, a call to action. I would like to see every Governor rise from this meeting and rally his local Government Chairmen towards ensuring that our schools offer the right opportunities and provide the needed materials and teachers for basic education, at the minimum.
‘‘If we are able to do this, the benefits will surely manifest themselves.”
He, therefore, observed that the statement by President Buhari ”is well within the law of Nigeria.
”But in addition to relevant consultations, State governors need to put in place structures like schools and educational materials for pupils; otherwise, they also, are complicit in violating the law of the land”.
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Parents risk arrest as Buhari seeks compulsory education for every child
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Abuja urged state governors to “enforce very vigorously” free and compulsory basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age.
A resolute enforcement of free and compulsory education in the country would mean parents failing to enroll their children in school up to junior secondary school, would be arrested and prosecuted as provided by law.
Under the Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act of 2004, it is criminal for parents to fail to send their children to minimum of JSS3.
Section 2(2) of the law says, “Every parent shall ensure that his child or ward attends and completes his – (a) primary school education; and (b) junior secondary school education, by endeavouring to send the child to primary and junior secondary schools.”
Section 4 of the same law says, ” A parent who contravenes section 2 (2) of this Act commits an offence and is liable- (a) on first conviction, to be reprimanded; (b) on second conviction, to a fine of N2,000 or imprisonment for a term of 1 month or to both; and (c) on subsequent conviction, to a fme of N5,000 or imprisonment for a term of 2 months or to both.”
The law derives its stipulations from the constitutional provision for free education for all children in Nigeria.
President Buhari’s remark came months after the education minister, Adamu Adamu, repeatedly warned that the government would begin to prosecute defaulting parents in a bid to reverse the country’s embarrassing huge number of out-of-school children.
Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world. The Univeral Basic Education Commission announced in October 2018 that 13.2 million children were not in schools as they should be.
Despite the high numbers, some state governments have yet to take advantage of billions of naira in counterpart funding provided by the federal government for free basic education.
In March, Mr Adamu said parents were “frustrating” the government’s efforts to reverse the shocking figures.
Speaking on matching grant and other intervention funds for basic education in Nigeria, the minister said N350 billion had been expended on the sub-sector by the Buhari administration in four years, while the preceding government spent N360 billion in six years.
“In the six years preceding the Buhari Administration, between 2009 and 2014, the federal government spent about N360 billion worth of intervention on Basic Education covering textbooks, teacher professional development, construction of classrooms and library resources among others.’’
Inaugurating the National Economic Council (NEC) at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, President Buhari reminded the governors that providing free and compulsory education is a constitutional provision.
‘‘Section 18(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended places on all of us here an obligation to eradicate illiteracy and provide free and compulsory education,” presidential spokesperson Femi Adesina quoted the president as saying.
‘‘Section 2 of the Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act provides that every Government in Nigeria shall provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age.
‘‘It is indeed a crime for any parent to keep his child out of school for this period. In my view, when a government fails to provide the schools, teachers and teaching materials necessary for basic education, it is actually aiding and abetting that crime.
‘‘This is, therefore, a call to action. I would like to see every Governor rise from this meeting and rally his local Government Chairmen towards ensuring that our schools offer the right opportunities and provide the needed materials and teachers for basic education, at the minimum.
‘‘If we are able to do this, the benefits will surely manifest themselves,’’ the President said in his 24-paragraph speech at the inaugural session of NEC.
The president told the governors that successes in the four key areas of education, security, health and agriculture would go a long in lifting Nigerians out poverty, and securing the future for sustainable growth and development.
The president also urged the governors to pay special attention to security, health and agriculture in the next four years of this administration.
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Deny your children basic education, risk punishment – Buhari warns parents
President Muhammadu Buhari says it is now a crime for parents to deny their children basic education in the country.
The president stated this when he inaugurated the National Economic Council (NEC) for the year 2019-2023 at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He also stressed the need to take very seriously and enforce very rigorously the statutory provisions on free and compulsory basic education.
“Section 18(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended places on all of us here an obligation to eradicate illiteracy and provide free and compulsory education.
“Section 2 of the Compulsory Free Universal Basic Education Act provides that every government in Nigeria shall provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age.
“It is indeed a crime for any parent to keep his child out of school for this period.
“In my view, when a government fails to provide the schools, teachers and teaching materials necessary for basic education, it is actually aiding and abetting that crime.
“This is therefore a call to action. I would like to see every governor rise from this meeting and rally his local government Chairmen towards ensuring that our schools offer the right opportunities and provide the needed materials and teachers for basic education, at the minimum.
“If we are able to do this, the benefits will surely manifest themselves,’’ he said.
Buhari noted that the first nine years of basic education were crucial for the development of any child and thus could not be toyed with.
“Ensuring proper education during the first nine years of schooling means that our children start off their lives with some discipline and education.
“They will be safeguarded from roaming the streets, and protected from all the evil influences that assail idle hands and idle minds,” he said.
The president urged the governors to make a firm commitment to be personally involved in ensuring that every child of school age actually goes to school throughout the crucial nine years of basic education.
He said the Federal Government on its part would strive to extend the school feeding programme which would not only encourage school enrolment but also enhance the health and learning capabilities of pupils.
He said the government would also assist states as much as possible to access the counterpart funding provided by UBEC for the development of basic education.
The president also charged state governments to make the security of lives and property top on their agenda.
NEC, which was established by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) as amended, is chaired by the Vice-President.
Membership of the Council includes governors of the 36 states, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Ministers of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Agriculture, FCT and the Minister of State, Petroleum.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Budget and National Planning serves as Secretary to the Council.
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Saraki: Education Crucial for Peace, Security, Rule of Law
President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has reiterated the importance of education in ensuring peace, security and rule of law in any society.
Saraki, stated this while contributing to the General Debate on the theme: “Parliaments as Platforms to Enhance Education for Peace, Security and the Rule of Law” at the ongoing 140th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Doha, Qatar.
He noted that “education is a fundamental human right – central to the development of citizens as well as what contributions they make to society,” according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu.
He added that the National Assembly holds strongly that with the right education, Nigerian youths would be less susceptible to the radicalising influence of terrorist groups and other societal ills, thereby “helping to birth a more peaceful, secure and just society.”
He however regretted that the security challenges confronting the country today are traceable to – or exacerbated by – challenges in the nation’s education sector.
He however stated that even though Nigeria has about 13.2 million Out-of-School-Children – the highest in the world – according to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), the 8th National Assembly has and would continue to work with the Federal Government to address the shortfall with combined strategies to enhance peace, security and the rule of law in the country.
Saraki said: “De-radicalisation programmes for former militants or insurgents have a strong education component, and these have proven very effective for peace-building and security.
“The Presidential Amnesty Programme for ex-Niger Delta militants involved free local and international tertiary education for former combatants. This is in recognition of the fact that education reduces youth restiveness, which in turn promotes peace.
“As part of parliament’s effort to ensure that education is built on solid foundation, we passed The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Amendment Act which guarantees free and compulsory education for all Nigerians up to secondary school level; while also increasing from 2% to 3% the budgetary allocation to universal basic education.
“The law also makes it easier for states to access UBEC intervention funds, as the benchmark for counterpart funding has been reduced from 50% to 10%. This and other legislative interventions will make all the difference, we believe, in basic education in Nigeria.
“The 8th Senate is looking to amend the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) Act 2011 to include Colleges of Agriculture as beneficiaries of the fund, to improve the quality of education in those institutions. We amended the Federal Polytechnics Act to enhance the quality of learning as well as prospects of graduates in the job market.
“The Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Educational Institution Bill, which we have also passed, aims to protect female students from gender-based violations.
“We have acted decisively in the terrorism situation in the north with the passage of the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) Act, which is all about bringing people back from internally displaced camps back to normal life in the region. Children will go back into the school system and peace will return to those areas.
“We do affirm that the rule of law is crucial to viable democracy, and for a successful and peaceful society. Education is necessary in order for people to appreciate where a society is, and where it should be headed.
“No society develops without sustained democracy and the rule of law, which leads to economic development. Even those who are going to invest in a country will only do so when we have sustainable democracy that guarantees stability; that also requires the rule of law.
“Parliament’s actions must therefore be guided by these considerations when we tackle the education needs of our societies. It is only then that we can truly say that we have been able to use education for the enhancement of peace, security and the rule of law,” he stated.
He insisted that it is important for the General Assembly of the IPU to work for sustainable democracy through Parliaments and for better oversight by parliamentarians to ensure that set targets are met.
“Education is not a choice but a compulsory act that must be taken seriously by all citizens, as I am sure you all agree,” he stated.
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ASUU strike: You can’t continue to neglect education sector, Saraki tells FG
The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, has called on the Federal Government to work towards ending the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu expressed concern that the strike had entered its 62nd day and ought to be brought to an end.
He stressed the need for the universities to be re-opened without delay, noting that the education of young Nigerians is being affected negatively by the development.
“In November 2016, the Senate intervened in the strike and met with officials of the Ministries of Education, Labour, Employment and Productivity and ASUU.
“The meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Education, Mr Anthony Anwuka and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Productivity in the National Assembly.
“In the meeting we agreed that the federal government should work to implement the agreement that it reached with ASUU in 2009, and subsequently, we set up a sub-committee to liaise with both ASUU and the government on the issue.
“The federal government must work to address the demands of ASUU because the issue goes beyond negotiations. It is affecting the education of Nigerian students, and disenfranchising many of them from participating in the upcoming general election.
“The youth make up over 51 per cent of registered voters. What does this mean for our electoral process, when young students who are registered to vote in their academic institutions cannot do so because their schools are shut down,” he said.
Saraki assured that on its part, the senate would continue to work to ensure that Nigeria’s education sector is strengthened.
He said the senate was ready and willing to collaborate with the federal government and ASUU to end the strike and ensure that it did not become a recurrent issue.
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Stakeholders underscore need for technology in education
Some education and technology stakeholders have underscored the need for integration of technology in education for effective performance and development.
This was the focus of the Edu-Tech Fire Side Chat Series organised by Smart Kids Zone, an NGO in partnership with Global Innovation Learning Lab and AI6 in Abuja on Friday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme had the theme “Emerging Technologies and The Future of Education.’’
Mrs Olusola Bankole, President, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, FCT Chapter, said technology helped children learn faster and more effectively.
Bankole said from experience, technology made learning more engaging and improved the performance of children.
“When children see this devices and applications, like the Google Classroom, 3D printer, they get excited and want to learn more. I have not met any child who does not like using technology to learn.
“Some of these technology makes for more time management, children can read ahead and come to class to discuss, it makes for more engagement and interaction.”
She added that children with special needs also found it easier learning with technology than writing with pen and paper.
She said many schools found it expensive to deploy technology in teaching, but advised that schools should start gradually and eventually build on it.
Dr Collins Agu, Director, Cooperate Planning and Strategy, National Information Technology Development Agency, called for more deployment of technology to schools at the grassroots.
Agu said projects should be introduced to integrate technology in the grassroots through digital learning process, which he said the agency was doing.
“We need to go to the rural areas and identify their challenges from primary school level.
“The books given to them by UBEC should be digitised and put in some new emerging tools like SCRATCH programming at an early age, so they can easily migrate to mainframe computers as they grow up.
SCRATCH is a visual programming language and online community targeted primarily at children, by coding with ‘blocks’ in the editor.
“For that to happen energy is needed and it is a challenge because energy is a key driver of all these technologies.
“Government and stakeholders can come in and adopt these approaches because digital literacy is key. We have to go to the grassroots to give them this tools that do not cost much and are durable.”
He added that the youth must also be fully integrated into this system to maximise the benefit for the country.
“This is where you drive the knowledge economy because you are shifting from resources to knowledge.‘’
He however said that these technologies should be adapted to suit local contents for sustainability.
Mr Agwu Amogu, CEO, Global Innovation Learning Lab, said that in order to compete with the rest of the world, Nigeria must catch up in adopting emerging technologies.
He said the teachers needed to be up to date on emerging technologies for effective delivery.
“We can have all the learning applications but if the teacher is not on that brain wave nothing happens.
“We want to see how we can create specific training programmes based on 21st century teaching.
“There is a need to have one teacher training institution where any teacher in the country must pass through to learn all these skills.’’
He added that technology should be used to positively engage youths as a way of moving the economy to a knowledge based economy.
According to him, all stakeholders must start this conversation in their little way until it becomes a priority that bring about change in the education sector.
Mr Attah Igoche, CEO, Aiivon Innovation Hub, an organisation that trains students on ICT, said the biggest challenge was scaling down the emerging technologies to schools in the rural areas.
Igoche, however, said the challenge should not prevent the starting of these technologies in schools that are ready.
“We need to make sure that our children are able to compete with children in developed nations especially in the 21st century, because the traditional method of teaching is fast fading away.
“Also whatever programmes being develop must be useful to the children, so when these technologies are introduced to them, they would not find it difficult to use.’’
Mrs Chinenye Udeh, Programme Manager, Smart Kids Zone, said the chat series was an initiative to bring together school owners, parents, government policy makers and tech community to encourage conversation for action.
Udeh said the programme was aimed at bridging the gap between the skills needed in the emerging technology sector and the practical knowledge of future technology professionals in schools across Nigeria.
“These new technologies are shaking up the roles of educators, creating philosophical shift in approaches to teaching and remodelling the classrooms as well as equipping students with 21st century tech skills needed in today’s workforce.”