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Tag: Students

  • 55 High School students test positive for Covid-19 as Ghana partially opens schools

    55 High School students test positive for Covid-19 as Ghana partially opens schools

    Fifty-five (55) persons at the Accra Girls Senior High School (SHS) have tested positive for COVID-19, the authorities have confirmed.

    A joint statement issued by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ghana Educations Service (GES), dated Monday July 13, 2020 said the infected persons comprise students and staff at the school.

    The development comes weeks after schools in Ghana partially reopened in June.

    The cases were detected after 314 persons at the school were tested for the virus, 259 persons tested negative.

    “Following the first report of COVID-19 cases in some Senior High Schools in the country on 6th July, 2020, the Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Education Service instituted a number of measures to determine the extent of the outbreak and containment measures,” the statement said.

    “Accra Girls Senior High School has recorded most cases from the first report to date.

    As at 13th July, 2020, a total of 314 persons (student and staff) from the School have been tested.

    Out of these, 55 have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 while 259 persons tested negative”.

    Actions taken after positive tests According to the statement, all the infected persons have been segregated from other students.

    Also, all their contacts have been identified and tested.

    Other measures include taken by the authorities include; • Restriction of number of students that attend dining at a particular time • Enforcement of social distancing protocols, enhanced hand hygiene practices and the proper use of the facemask • Disinfection of the entire school has been carried out • Adequate PPEs have been provided to health staff stationed in the school • Education on COVID-19 prevention and control has been intensified within the school • Counselling and psychological support is being provided to the students • The school has designated a quarantine and isolation centre • Parents and guardians of affected student have been duly contacted • Staff of the school have been reassured.

  • [UPDATED] 2020 admission: JAMB announces cut-off marks for varsities

    [UPDATED] 2020 admission: JAMB announces cut-off marks for varsities

    The 20th Policy Meeting on Admissions to Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria has approved 160 and above as the national minimum benchmark for admission for the year 2020 into public universities.

    The meeting held virtually, on Tuesday, also approved 140 as minimum Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination score for admission into private universities.

    READ ALSO: FG lists conditions for reopening schools, varsities

    For public polytechnic, 120 UTME score was approved, while 100 was approved for Colleges of Education, innovative enterprises and institutes.

    During the meeting, JAMB Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede, urged tertiary institution heads not to increase admission screening charges above N2000.

  • COVID-19: Students in Wuhan return to school

    COVID-19: Students in Wuhan return to school

    Chinese youngsters in the global virus epicentre of Wuhan filed back to class on Wednesday, wearing masks and walking in single file past thermal scanners.

    Senior school students in 121 institutions were back in front of chalkboards and digital displays for the first time since their city — the ground zero of the coronavirus pandemic – shut down in January.

    “School is finally reopening!” posted one user of Weibo, China’s Twitter-like short messaging platform.

    “This is the first time that I’m so happy to go back to school, although I have to sit a monthly examination on the 8th.”

    Teenagers sat at individual desks spaced a metre (3.3 feet) apart, seeing their teachers in the flesh after months of distance learning.

    Wednesday’s back-to-school was the latest step in a gradual normalising of life in Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province.

    The city, where the coronavirus appeared late last year before spreading around the world, was locked down for 76 days and only reopened last month.

    Only the province’s oldest students were present on Wednesday — vocational students and seniors who are due to take the make-or-break university entrance exams.

    Return dates have generally not been confirmed for junior and middle school students, although some localities have allowed their return as well.

    Officials in Wuhan say students and staff must all have had virus tests before going back to school, and campuses have been disinfected and cleaned.

    In preparation for reopening, some schools spaced out their desks and organised smaller class sizes, according to local media.

    Thermal scanners greeted everyone walking through school gates, and anyone with a high temperature was not allowed in.

    State-run China Daily said some places arranged staggered arrival times for teachers and students.

    Armed police officers were seen standing guard at the entrance of Wuhan No.17 Middle School, with officers also pictured outside other schools around the province.

    Elsewhere in China, schools that have been closed or online-only since January began gradually reopening last month, with Beijing and Shanghai letting some students return last week.

    China’s major cities are gradually returning to normal after imposing strict travel restrictions and closing huge swathes of the economy to control the spread of the virus.

    In recent months infections nationwide have dwindled, and there have been no new cases reported in Hubei province for over a month.

    Over a five-day holiday to start the month, there were 115 million domestic trips, with many tourist sites reopening — although with limited attendance.

    Shanghai Disneyland will reopen next week, the entertainment giant said Tuesday, with enhanced safety measures including temperature screening and social distancing.

    However, most foreigners are still banned from entering the country as China works to contain infections being brought in from overseas.

    Chinese nationals returning home must undergo 14 days of quarantine.

     

  • UNIABUJA suspends 24 students indefinitely

    The Vice-Chancellor of University of Abuja, Prof. Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah has approved the suspension 24 students indefinitely for their alleged involvement in cultism.

    According to a statement by the Head of Information and University Relations, Dr. Habib Yakoob, on Friday, the VC directed that the students be made to appear before the Students Disciplinary Committee for further investigation.

    The statement reads: “It will be recalled that the Police on 15th March 2020 arrested 46 students suspected to be cult members, following a tip-off from the University Safety Office in close collaboration with the community vigilantes, while they were planning to conduct initiation in Gwako Village along Gwagwalada Road, Abuja.

    “This is the first batch of arrested students to be suspended by the university management. Out of the 24 suspended students, who cut across various faculties including Science, Arts, Social Science, 7 were in 400 level; 10 in 300 level; 6 in 200 level and one spill-over student.

    “The affected students have been directed by the university authority to handover all property in their possession and vacate the hostels immediately.

    “The Vice-Chancellor, who relied on the University Law clearly spelt out to the students during their orientation exercise, and for which a matriculation oath was taken, has also directed that the students be made to appear before the Students’ Disciplinary Committee for further investigation.

    “The University Management wishes to reiterate that it has zero tolerance for cultism and other related misconduct in the University, and is determined to, after due diligence, punish any staff or student who violates the university rules and regulations.

    “The university community is urged to be vigilant at all times and accordingly report any suspicious activities within the university that could undermine the safety and peaceful co-existence of its members.

    “The University administration assures students and staff of the university of its maximum protection, and that measures have been put in place to arrest any other suspect to serve as a deterrent to others.”

  • BLACK SUNDAY: Many feared dead, several boarding students injured in Lagos explosion [Videos]

    BLACK SUNDAY: Many feared dead, several boarding students injured in Lagos explosion [Videos]

    Several persons were feared dead following the explosion at Ashoba (near Abule Odo) in Amuwo Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos.

    Also, reports on the incident revealed that students of Bethlehem Girls, a boarding school in Amuwo were seriously injured in the unfortunate incident.

    The aftershocks of the explosion were reportedly felt in Okota area of Lagos.

     

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B9wSFWfjMA1/

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B9wQ7qMDqOl/

  • Gunmen abduct five female students, teacher, gate men in Niger

    Gunmen have kidnapped five female students, one teacher and two gate men of Tular Academy, Moruba, in Mariga Local Government Area of Niger.

    The Commissioner of Police in the state, Alhaji Adamu Usman, disclosed this when he led a combined team of police and military personnel on a visit to the school to assess the situation.

    Usman said the incident occurred on March 1, at about 1:45 a.m. at the school’s premises.

    He said the assessment visit was to enable the Police Command deploy additional security tactics to tackle insecurity effectively.

    He said the command had already launched a manhunt to track down the attackers and rescue the victims.

    “We have since deployed Special Technical Squad and Armed Anti-Kidnapping Squad to identified areas with a view to rescuing the victims unhurt,’’ the commissioner said.

    He said in spite of the huge land mass of the state, security agencies working in the area were working in synergy to curtail security challenges.

    According to him, the existing inter-state security agencies collaboration has greatly assisted in achieving most of the successes recorded in dealing with the security challenges in the state.

    Usman lamented that the bandits capitalised on the telephone network problem in the area to attack the primary school in the night.

    He explained that because of the problem, the command only got to know about the incident 24 hours after the attack had occurred.

    He also blamed the porous nature of the school and poor location as factors that enabled the bandits to strike.

    The commissioner warned that no amount of pressure and intimidation would deter the command from discharging its constitutional mandate of safeguarding lives and property of the people of the state.

    He appealed to people in rural communities to report to the nearest security agencies any persons or groups of people with questionable character for prompt security response.

    He also advised the rural dwellers to form local vigilance groups which would be screened by the Divisional Police Officer of Mariga toward complimenting the efforts of security agencies.

  • Five students rape ‘sick’ Biology teacher to coma

    Five secondary school girls have reportedly raped a Biology teacher to coma at Ayetoro-Itele, a community in Ogun state.

    The local police were contacted on Thursday morning when the man’s neighbour broke the news after he found the man helpless and near-lifeless in his room.

    According to the man’s neighbour, five girls within the range of 16 and 18 walked into the man’s room, a one-room apartment, where the teacher was recovering from an undisclosed ailment.

    The unsuspecting teacher, who was certain they were students as they had notes and textbooks on them, wrongly imagined that they came to pay him a quick recovery visit.

    According to the report, in his feeble state, the teacher hasn’t attended classes since recent resumption. The teacher (name withheld) claimed that he was easily overpowered as his co-tenants have all gone for their various trades, except the neighbour that called the police.

    Narrating the ordeal, the neighbour said; “I heard voices from his room, although faint because our rooms are far apart. I thought he was merely having some conversation, I also heard moans but who would think that something like that was happening. I found him naked a few minutes after the girls left as I wanted to check on his health and then called on the police”.

    The man was immediately rushed to the hospital.

    Police confirmed that an investigation has begun to catch the said culprits.

  • Rape: 6 secondary school students denied bail

    Rape: 6 secondary school students denied bail

    An Iwo Road Magistrates’ Court in Ibadan on Friday denied bail to six secondary school students who were alleged to have raped a female colleague.

    The students: Akeem Abee, 17, Olaiya Faruq, 16, Kazeem Awal, 16, Ajao Waris, 17, Alamu Boluwatife, 17, and Dauda Mubarak, 17, are facing trial for conspiracy and rape.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Chief Magistrate, Mr Taiwo Oladiran, said the magistrate court does not have jurisdiction to hear the case.

    Oladiran said : ” We all have powers; the issue of their age range of between 16 and 17 years is very important.

    ” If we have a very good correctional centre for minors where they can be corrected, they would have been held there.

    ” Even though the defendants are minors, they are to be remanded at Agugu police station pending receipt of legal advice from the Oyo State Directorate of Public Prosecution,” he said.

    The magistrate , thereafter, adjourned the matter till Dec 13 for mention.

    Earlier, the defence counsel, Mrs Christy Gbadeyanka, had asked the court to take the pleas of the defendants and grant them bail, citing some precedents.

    She argued that defendants were minors and keeping them with criminals would affect them negatively.

    Gbadeyanka said the defendants had learnt their lesson while in the police custody.

    She added that the defendants would not jump bail if released to reliable sureties, adding that the sureties would ensure they were available for their trial.

    The defence counsel also submitted that the defendants were first time offenders and had no previous criminal records.

    At the arraignment of the students, the Prosecutor, ASP Sunday Ogunremi, had alleged that the defendants on Nov. 17 at 6.00pm at Lagelu Grammar School, Ibadan, had unlawful carnal knowledge of one female student.

    He said that the offences contravened Sections 516 and 485 of the Criminal Code Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State, 2000.

  • Senate directs UNIMAID to suspend fee hike for students

    Senate directs UNIMAID to suspend fee hike for students

    …mandates Committee to carry out investigation

     

    The Senate has directed the management of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) to stay action on the recent increment of tuition fees for students attending the institution.

    The upper chamber on Tuesday also mandated its Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFUND to investigate the matter in a bid to finding lasting solution to the issue.

    The Senate’s decision to wade into the hike in fee by the institution was reached following a motion considered during plenary.

    Sponsor of the motion, Senator Abubakar Kyari (APC, Borno North) bemoaned the recent decision by the UNIMAID management to increase the registration and other fees of the school from N25,000 to N129,000, an increase of over 400 percent.

    “Half of the men in North-East Nigeria have received no education at all, and this figure rises to over sixty-one percent for women. It is imperative that schools in the North-East should remain of strategic national interest with overwhelming National Security importance,” Kyari said.

    He said education remains a repellent and potent tool to defeat Boko Haram and also revamp the North East from under development and poverty.

    According to the lawmaker, sixty-two percent of Nigerian children who are not in school live in Northern Nigeria.

    Senator Kyari added, “Borno State has the highest number of people that don’t have access to education due to the Boko Haram crisis in particular.”

    The lawmaker, therefore, called on all stakeholders to rise to the occasion to ensure that the fee increment is reversed due to the greater need to propagate empowerment through education at tertiary levels.

     

    Accordingly, the upper chamber, in its resolutions, mandated its Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFUND, to also engage the Ministry of Education and stakeholders such as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), with a view to reaching consensus on a harmonised fee for all universities across the country.

  • Nigerian universities breeding zombie students – Falana

    Nigerian universities breeding zombie students – Falana

    Mr Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on Friday has called on all Nigerian universities to allow student unionism thrive so as to produce graduates who will be critical thinkers and not robots or zombies.

    Falana, a former student unionist at Obafemi Awolowo University, said this while delivering the 9th Convocation lecture of Caleb University, Imota, Lagos, titled: “Managing Freedom and Illusions of Achievement”.

    He lamented that instead of producing critical thinkers, our universities have specialised in producing robots, as the lack of student unionism in public and private universities is breeding zombies.

    The legal luminary noted that students and staff unions would contribute meaningfully to the search for solution to the myriad of problems confronting the country if they are allowed to operate without fear of proscription.

    “Our first generation universities were citadels of learning, as they promoted ideas and encouraged students to challenge the status quo.

    “It is on record that some of the best legislators in the country were former members of the students’ parliaments.

    “There were progressive lecturers who spoke truth to power without harassment from the management of tertiary institutions,” he said.

    According to him, there must be a deliberate policy on the part of progressive students to take the National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS) back from the government.

    Falana said effort must also be made to re-position NANS to defend and protect the interest of students.

    “The other day, an alumnus of a private university was charged for cultism and cyber crime, denied bail and detained in a prison for many months for criticising the facilities in his alma mater.

    “Six lecturers have just been dismissed in another state university for exposing mismanagement of the funds allocated to the school.

    “To cover up such corrupt practices and other iniquities, the management of the university have subjected all academic and Non-Academic staff to swear to an oath of secrecy,” he said.

    The SAN said the laws of the land and the rules and regulations of every tertiary school should be observed and respected by all and sundry.

    According to him, it is only by following laid down rules that impunity and abuse of office could be fought and defeated in the society as a whole.

    Falana, however, charged Nigerian graduates and youths to team up with people of like minds to engage in political activities.

    He said the politics of the country should no longer be left in the hands of professional politicians who have proven themselves incapable to address the crisis of underdevelopment.

    The eminent lawyer said the development of Nigeria depends on its great human assets, especially the youth, as you cannot develop a knowledge economy without huge deliberate investments in human capital in the areas of education and health.

    Falana said that the future of Nigeria is not oil but the economy has to be opened up and expanded to create jobs because without industrialisation the economy could not develop.

    Prof. Nosa Owens-Ibie, Acting Vice -Chancellor, Caleb University, said that the institution churned out 733 graduates compared to 409 and 477 graduates it produced in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

    Owens-Ibie said out of the 688 graduates, 556 are undergraduates and 179 postgraduates.

    He said 24 students made first class at the undergraduate class, 235 made second class upper, 255 made second class lower, while 40 graduates made third class.