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Tag: Schools

  • Minister calls for removal of sex education in schools

    Minister calls for removal of sex education in schools

    The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu,  has called for the removal of sex education from the basic education curriculum.

    He made this known at the Ministerial Session of the 66th National Council on Education (NCE) meeting in Abuja on Thursday, November 3.

    The Minister said, immediately he saw Sex Education in the curriculum, he called the attention of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) Executive Secretary to see that it was expunged. According to him, sex education should be left in the hands of parents and religious institutions and not to be taught in schools in a manner that would further corrupt little children who are already having access to phones and technologies.

    He emphasised that Nigeria was a religious country and as such the morals and values taught in the Church and Mosque in addition to efforts of the parents were enough to bring up a child with solid character.

    “While I accompanied the President on his recent trip to the New York, one highly placed government official called my attention to certain materials on sex education being used in schools, and I almost collapsed because I never expected that.

    I am one of those persons who believe that sex education should not be taught in our schools. Rather, such knowledge and experience should shared through other means that are known to man.

    For me, there are three ways through which sex education could profitably be impacted on adults. First is instinctual. Instinct will be the first teacher for you as regards sex and several other things when the time comes.

    The second way is through the process of socialization. Many other things that are not taught in schools or at home comes through the process of socialization which most often, are acquired through interactions or engagements with peers.

    Then the third way is through the religious and cultural instructions. From all indications, the increasing advocacy for sex education in schools is targeted at undermining and destroying the moral and religious fiber of our society. Regrettably, it’s being promoted through the social media and other forms of westernization.

    Many Nigerians seem to believe that all that comes from the western world is the best because they have advanced in technology. Even the technology is not totally good. The only thing technology does to our lives is speed. It doesn’t make one a better person or something else.

    We don’t have any thing better than the religious beliefs and values we have in Nigeria, and we all love our religions. Unfortunately, religion has been misinterpreted and we have allowed it to reshape our lives negatively. We can’t afford to loose our religious values, otherwise, we would loose everything and doom would beckon.”

  • Banditry: Parents withdraw children from schools out of fear in Zamfara

    Banditry: Parents withdraw children from schools out of fear in Zamfara

     

    The banditry activities ravaging Zamfara State for over a decade have forced indigenes of the state to be suspicious of any strange face, especially in rural areas.

    Many people living in the Damba area of Gusau, the state capital, have been vacating the axis as it has become a bandits’ den, with terror attacks being unleashed unabated.

    Many parents have withdrawn their children from schools for fear of being kidnapped.

    Some residents in Gusau, the state capital, have expressed serious fear that with the rate the bandits were operating in many villages inside Gusau Local Government Area, they may eventually penetrate the Gusau metropolis.

    The banditry activities have collapsed almost all sectors including education as many parents have withdrawn their children from schools.

    A student of the Federal Polytechnic, Kauran Namoda Local Government Area of the state, popularly known as Kingsley said he was supposed to have completed his Higher National Diploma (HND) in four years but he is now spending six years due to insecurity.

    “Every time the school management would close down the school and send students on compulsory break,” he lamented.

    According to him, it was no longer news that the education sector had totally collapsed in the state especially when the education calendar has been totally altered due to the insecurity situation.

    Between 2019 to date, available records, revealed that four government secondary schools have been attacked by the ravaging bandits and hundreds of students were kidnapped even though none was killed.

    The local governments where these four government secondary schools were located are Anka, Bakura, Maradun, and Talata-Mafara.

    This development has no doubt, caused a lot of setbacks in the education sector in the state, a development that led many parents to withdraw their children from boarding schools across the state.

  • BREAKING: Jigawa Govt closes schools over security threat

    BREAKING: Jigawa Govt closes schools over security threat

    The Jigawa Government has ordered the closure of all schools across the state.

    The Commissioner for Education in the state, Dr Lawan Yusuf who confirmed the development to newsmen in Dutse on Wednesday, cited security threat as reason behind the closure.

    Yusuf said the schools were closed on Wednesday morning after the state received intelligence report about possible attacks on schools across the country, particularly in border states.

    According to reports students, including those in boarding schools, were released to go home.

    Among the schools visited included Dutse Model International School, Government Commercial Secondary School, Dutse Capital School, and Nuhu Muhammad Sunusi Government Day Secondary School.

    Personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), were seen patrolling schools in Dutse.

    Schools in the state were scheduled to close on Friday after completing third term examination.

    However, the students who were still taking examinations were told to go home, a development that caused apprehension among residents of Dutse, the Jigawa capital.

  • IGP orders water-tight security around schools, hospitals across Nigeria

    IGP orders water-tight security around schools, hospitals across Nigeria

    The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba has ordered the deployment of water-tight security arrangements to cover all schools, hospitals, health workers, and critical national infrastructures around the country.

    The IGP has equally ordered regular patrols, stop and search, raids, and show of force by tactical commanders to clamp down on pockets of crime and criminality recorded in some states of the federation.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports this was contained in a statement released on Sunday by CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, Abuja.

    The IGP gave the directive while reviewing the general security situation of the nation via reports from commands and formations across the country.

    The IGP has however tasked strategic police managers at various levels to prioritize the use of intelligence gathering networks, particularly traditional/local intelligence to locate criminal hideouts and flush them out before they strike.

    He has equally charged all officers and men to be on the offensive, and take the fight against crime to the doorposts of suspected criminal elements, including bushes and uncompleted buildings, profile them, and charge those found wanting to courts accordingly.

    “Against the backdrop of this development, Nigerians are hereby urged to cooperate with the Police as many police operatives will be seen at strategic areas, routes and communities, in order to suppress the antics and criminal activities of men of the underworld.

    “The IGP has however warned officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force to be civil, professional and humane in the course of discharging their duties.

    “The Inspector-General of Police has therefore reiterated his commitment to the protection of lives and property of well-meaning members of the public by decimating the activities of rogue criminal elements, particularly those who target schools, hospitals, and other critical national infrastructure, in a bid to strike fear into the hearts of good citizens in the country.

    “He has similarly charged police officers to protect with courage and serve with compassion in line with his administration’s policing theme,” the statement reads.

  • Why we must build a resilient education system – Gbajabiamila

    Why we must build a resilient education system – Gbajabiamila

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep Femi Gbajabiamila, says there is a need for Nigeria to build a resilent education system to guarantee uninterupted learning, even in difficult times.

    Gbajabiamila made the statement at the launch of “Back to School Jump Start Project” on Friday in Lagos.

    The project was a collaboration between the Office of the Speaker and the National Lottery Trust Fund to digitise teaching and learning in schools.

    The Speaker, represented by Rep. Ademorin Kuye (APC-Shomolu) , said the COVID-19 pandemic and the attendant lockdown in 2020 impacted education negatively.

    He said many students were shut out of school during the COVID-19 lockdown as they could not access learning owing to poor digital infrastructure in schools.

    Gbajabiamila said the Jump-Start Project, therefore, aims at digitising the teaching and learning process and inculcating a culture of basic hygiene in schools across the nation.

    “The reason for tagging the first leg of the Jump-Start project as “No School Left Behind in Surulere” is to address the widening of the educational disadvantage heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “While the health implications of the pandemic are all too obvious ,its consequences for education are subtle, but nonetheless, devastating.

    “For students in Nigerian public schools, the lockdown in 2020 was a huge setback.

    “Thus, the Jump Start Project is designed to mitigate the disadvantages caused by the lack of digital infrastructure in public schools, as well as ensure that there are no breaks in teaching and learning in the event of future pandemics”, he said.

    The Speaker desscribed education as the best possible investment in people, saying “It is the silver bullet that lifts people out of poverty, encourages a broader perspective that expands their worldview”.

    He said the National Assembly was committed to building back a better and stronger education system, resistant to the eventualities of the “new normal”.

    Gbajabiamila also said he was personally committed to improving the lives and livelihoods of his constituents through education.

    The Speaker commended the National Lottery Trust Fund and the Social Impact Healthcare and Education Foundation (SHE) for partnering his office on the project .

    He said the first phase of the project would see 46 junior and senior schools in Surulere 1 Federal Constituency recieving E-learning equipment such as laptops, android tablets, phones, stationery and sanitation materials.

    “As you are aware, the project should span the six geo-political zones, and it is our fervent wish that the National Lottery Trust Fund will support the project to achieve this objective and achieve our goals”, he added.

    He thanked the people of Surulere for their consistent support, promising that he would continue to redeem his electoral promise to deliver democratic dividends in the area.

    In his speech, Dr George Akume, Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, thanked the National Lottery Trust Fund and Gbajabiamila for coming up with the project.

    Akume, represented by Dr Bello Maigari, Executive Secretary, National Lottery Trust Fund, said the project was in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to boost the learning capacity of students through the use of technology.

    “Today’s event underscores the commitment and determination and promise of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to improve the capacity of students to learn and excel in their studies”, he said.

    Akume said the government would continue everything necessary to improve the standard of education in the country.

    He warned all lottery licencees to settle their liabilities with the fund or risk the revocation of their licences.

    In his remarks, Maigari commended Gbajabiamila for partnering with the fund on the project.

    Maigari, whose speech was read by Mr Sule Tegina, said the project would boost the capacity of schools in the area of digital teaching, learning and sanitation.

    “The programme, which seeks to help improve the current capacity of schools in the area of good hygiene practice through the provision of basic sanitary and standard modern teaching and modern learning aids for promoting standard, is in tandem with global practice”, he said.

    He said the mandate of the fund was to take custody of 20 per cent of national lottery and gaming operations to execute development projects.

    Benefitting schools were presented with e-learning devices, sanitation materials as well as a cheque of N100,000 each at the programme.

    Officials of the National Lottery Trust Fund later proceeded to Gbaja Maternal and Child Care Centre in Surulere, where they presented some medical equipment to the facility in conjunction with the Office of the Speaker.

  • Lagos Govt fumes as schools flout 2nd term resumption date

    Lagos Govt fumes as schools flout 2nd term resumption date

    Primary and secondary schools in Lagos State have flouted the directive of the State government to resume 2nd term on Tuesday 4th January 2022, drawing the wrath of the State government.

    The Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA) has frowned at the non-compliance with the stipulated academic calendar by some schools in the State, just as it begins the compilation of names of those that refused to comply with the Tuesday 4th January, 2022, resumption date.

    The Director-General of OEQA, Mrs. Abiola Seriki-Ayeni reiterated that part of the mandate of the Office is to develop a harmonised school calendar in conjunction with stakeholders in the education sector and ensure compliance, stressing that the monitoring exercise embarked upon by the officials of the Agency was to appraise the level of compliance with the resumption date, students’ presence and COVID-19 safety protocols.

    Revealing that some schools disobeyed the directive, the DG explained that the Y2021/2022 harmonised school calendar was developed in conjunction with stakeholders in June 2021 to ensure uniformity in the education system. She said the agreement was communicated to all schools and associations to ensure equal educational standards and learning systems.

    The Director-General, who decried noncompliance with the approved resumption date, said: “Last term, it was observed that despite extensive sensitisation on the importance of having a synchronised school calendar, many schools refused to comply with the mid-term break as mandated in accordance with the academic calendar”.

    “During our recent exercise to monitor the level of compliance with Tuesday 4th January, 2022 resumption date, we observed that the level of compliance was low. We are going to notify the schools that have not adhered to the academic calendar with ‘Notice of Non-Compliance’ stickers and issue letters of invitation to the Administrators to visit our office in Alausa where further disciplinary actions will be taken”, the Director-General stated.

    She emphasised the need for all schools, public and private, to comply with the academic calendar in order to ensure that an equal system of learning in all schools in Lagos State is achieved.

    Seriki-Ayeni, therefore, urged school owners to communicate effectively with parents to prepare their wards early for resumption, stating that it takes an entire term to prepare for an upcoming term.

    The Director-General also implored school owners to focus on values in schools and engage parents, students and staff on the need to come to school prepared in order to have a strong start.

  • Oyo State government announces resumption date for state schools

    Oyo State government announces resumption date for state schools

    The Oyo State Government on Tuesday said that all public schools in the state would resume for the second term 2021/2022 academic session on Monday, Jan. 10.

    The Executive Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (OSUBEB) Dr Nureni Adeniran announced this at a New-Year Prayer session with members of staff of the board

    He said the resumption date was approved by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, adding that the board, in its usual practice, would monitor compliance across the state.

    Adeniran urged parents to prepare all learners for resumption, adding that they were all expected back in school as academic activities would start the same day.

    He appealed to the Head Teachers and all stakeholders to ensure strict compliance with all COVID-19 safety protocols put in place by the state.

    The Oyo SUBEB chairman vowed that the welfare of members of staff would remain top priority of the management in 2022.

    Adeniran noted that the Gov. Seyi Makinde- led administration believed workers deserved their pay on regular basis.

    He said this had informed the board’s decision to approve disbursement of loan forms to members of staff.

    “The loan will be disbursed to beneficiaries, depending on their grade level,” he said.

  • Ogun announces new date for school resumption, asks parents to sign undertaking

    Ogun announces new date for school resumption, asks parents to sign undertaking

    The Ogun State Government has announced a new date for 2nd term resumption of primary, secondary and technical schools in the State.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the State Government has also asked parents and guardians to sign an undertaking before their children and wards could be allowed in schools.

    Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology in the State, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu made this known in a statement on Sunday.

    According to the statement, instead of the earlier announced January 4th resumption date, schools are now to resume on Monday, January 10, 2022.

    Arigbabu said the new date became necessary due to a series of pre-resumption activities put up by the Education Ministry to further reposition education in the state.

    The statement had it that it was necessary for parents and guardians to sign the undertaking that they would willingly abide by all laid down rules and regulations in schools in the State, following recent occurrences.

    Recently, some schools in Ogun State went under attack as parents and students hired thugs to brutalise teachers, who must have punished their children for any unruly behaviour.

    Also, some videos went viral recently wherein young schoolgirls were seen smoking and videoing themselves.

    To put an end to any deviant act in schools and technical colleges, the Ministry of Education asked students and their parents or guardians to visit their schools between January 4 and 10 to sign an undertaking of willingness to abide by the laid down rules and regulations while also supporting and enforcing discipline in schools.

  • UN decries global attacks on schools, says dangerous trend must stop

    UN decries global attacks on schools, says dangerous trend must stop

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday call on the global community to say with one voice that “attacks on schools must stop’’ and that schools be safe for schooling.

    Guterres made the call at a virtual event to commemorate the International Day to Protect Education from Attack globally celebrated on Sept. 9.

    “Schools must be places of learning, safety and peace,” he said, lauding education as not only providing knowledge and skills but also transforming lives and driving development for people, communities and for societies.

    Nevertheless, he added, “year after year, this fundamental right comes under attack”.

    The top UN official encouraged the participants to imagine being a child in a classroom eager to learn, or a teacher dedicated to shaping the minds of the next generation.

    “Now imagine the horrors inflicted by conflict on learning”, he said, painting a picture of schools being targeted, destroyed – or used for military purposes – and of children facing violence, exploitation, even being recruited to fight – simply because they want to study.

    The secretary-general cited the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack.

    He revealed that between 2015 and 2020, over 13,000 reports of strikes on education, or the military use of educational facilities, had been recorded around the world.

    “And this threat is not lessening, as the horrifying events in Afghanistan are showing us so starkly,’’ he said.

    Guterres reminded that these were not numbers on a page, but thousands of individual lives and individual futures.

    “The loss is incalculable,” he stated.

    The UN called on all countries who had not yet done so, to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration – an inter-governmental political commitment to protect students, teachers, schools and universities, from the worst effects of armed conflict.

    Endorsed by 111 States to date, the Declaration outlines concrete steps for governments to protect schools and learning.

    “We urge Member States to go beyond their commitments under international law and put in place national policies and laws that protect schools and learners,” the UN chief said.

    He flagged the need to “hold perpetrators accountable” by making attacks on schools “unacceptable and punished” in every country and jurisdiction, the world over.

    The UN chief called for increased global support for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), who are “working around the clock” to protect education, students, teachers and schools in some of the most dangerous places around the world.

    “While great strides have been made in recent years, more must be done to protect the right to education for all,’’ he said.

    “As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I am proud to stand with you in this important effort, because when we protect education, we protect the future,’’ he said.

  • Matawalle orders indefinite closure of Zamfara schools after fresh abduction

    Matawalle orders indefinite closure of Zamfara schools after fresh abduction

    Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, on Wednesday ordered the immediate closure of primary and secondary schools in the state following the abduction of a yet-to-be ascertained the number of students in the state.

    The Zamfara State Commissioner of Police, Ayuba Elkana, conveyed the governor’s directive while addressing journalists on the new security measures in the state.

    “I wish to inform the general public that His Excellency the executive governor of Zamfara State has ordered the closure of all schools within the state, both primary and secondary schools that are existing here are now closed with immediate effect,” the Commissioner said.

    The Zamfara State Government’s decision is indefinite, the commissioner added during the briefing in Gusau.

    “It’s a threat, you know the bandits will like to go back to kidnap these students, so for their safety the schools have to be closed until peace is restored in the state.”

    When asked how many students were abducted, the commissioner of police said, “I don’t know.”

    The government also restricted movement – from 6pm to 6am- in 13 local government areas. But for Gusau, the capital, movement restriction will be from 8pm to 6am.

    Gunmen had stormed the Kaya Day Secondary School in Maradun Local Government Area of the state and whisked away several students.

    The latest kidnap is happening five days after the students of the College Of Agriculture and Animal Science Bakura earlier abducted in the state regained their freedom

    Zamfara, just like other states in the northwest and north-central have been facing serious security challenges by bandits – believed to hole up in Rugu forest, which straddles Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara and Niger states – to increasingly attacking schools, seizing students to extort ransom from parents.

    Kidnappings are just one of the challenges facing Nigeria’s security forces, who are battling a grinding Islamist insurgency in the northeast and separatist tensions in parts of the south.

    According to the UN, some 950 students have been kidnapped across Nigeria since December.

    While most of the hostages have been released after negotiations, some are still being held.