Category: Education

For the next 10 years, the best graduating students of the Insurance Department, University of Lagos (UNILAG) will receive a cash prize of N250,000 courtesy of SGB Insurance Brokers Ltd.

A team from the company, led by the Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Sammy Dalmeida, announced the endowment, instituted in commemoration of the firm’s 20th anniversary on December 1, to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, and other principal officers at the council chambers of the university.

Dalmeida, said the endowment was chosen over other proposed project as the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR initiative).

“Several CSR projects were proposed by the company’s management to the board of directors for consideration, but the board eventually approved to endow an academic prize for academic excellence in insurance at the University of Lagos. We consider it an honour that the University of Lagos has allowed us to support the advancement of the institution’s academic excellence,” he said.

Being an Insurance graduate of the university himself, Dalmeida said the quality education he received contributed to his successful career.  He lamented that poor quality education contributed to the high rate of business failure of Nigerian firms.

He said: “The high mortality rate of businesses in Nigeria underscores the importance of today for SGB Insurance Brokers as an organisation.  According to available statistics, 80 per cent of businesses registered by Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) fail and die within the first five years of operation.

“Lack of adequate skills (technical, management and soft skills), lack of strategy, lack of sufficient funds for working capital, lack of market research, the high cost of doing business, and inconsistency of government policies are some of the major reasons for the high failure rate of Nigerian start-ups. However the human resource challenge of businesses in Nigeria, generally, and the insurance industry, specifically, is a subject that the SGB Brokers is particularly passionate about.”

Applauding the prize worth N2.5 million, the Vice-Chancellor, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academics and Research, Prof. Oluwole Familoni, said it would inspire the students to strive for excellence.

“When you donate a prize, you give students the opportunity to strive for excellence,” he said.

He added that the university was happy to work with the firm, and particularly proud to find that CEOs of all the subsidiaries under SGB Insurance Brokers were UNILAG alumni.

“This is good because UNILAG will be 60 next year.  You are the ones we should be projecting.  We should no longer be saying UNILAG is great because we work there; but that UNILAG is great because of you, its alumni,” he said.

Other principal officers and senior members of the university present were: Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Development Services, Prof. Ayodele Atsenuwa; Dean, Management Sciences, Prof. Emmanuel Oyatoye; Former Dean, Management Sciences and Chairman, Governing Council, Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Prof. Rasheed Ojikutu, among others.

An average of 47.2 per cent of 570,188 classrooms in public primary and junior secondary schools in Nigeria are dilapidated – with some states having over 60 per cent of their schools in bad shape.

The state of classrooms was analysed by education accountability advocacy group, Eduplana, from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) report of 2018.

Of the 570,188 classrooms studied, 406,778 were in primary schools, and 82,113 were in junior secondary school.

Leading the table with the highest percentage of bad classrooms was Nasarawa, which had 63 percent of its 8,979 classrooms in bad condition.

Thirteen states followed with between 50 and 62 percent of their classrooms in dilapidated states.

They are: Kebbi (62%), Taraba (60), Borno (59), Niger (58), Bauchi (58), Kwara (58), Kaduna (57), Ebonyi (57), and Adamawa (55).

Following Lagos, the state with the least percentage of dilapidated schools (30 percent), seven other states had between 31 per cent and 38 per cent of their schools in dire need of repairs.  They are: Anambra, Benue, Jigawa, Kano, Zamfara, Osun and Edo states.

The remaining 15 states had between 42 and 49 per cent of their schools in poor states.  They are: Plateau, Ogun, Delta, Cross River, Oyo, Kogi, Ekiti, Bayelsa, FCT – Abuja, Rivers, Gombe, Enugu, Katsina, Akwa Ibom and Yobe.

Eduplana noted that the poor state of majority of classrooms in Nigeria was cause for concern and should be addressed.

“Bad classrooms from our dataset appear to be a national malaise as it cuts across every part of the country. This needs to be addressed as good classrooms can enhance enrollment in primary and secondary schools via a conducive learning environment for pupils and students alike. Most states in the country have more than 50 per cent of their classrooms in bad shape,” the organisation noted in its analysis.

While Lagos leads the table as the state with 78 per cent of its 14, 618 classrooms in good condition, about a third of classrooms in its primary and junior secondary schools still need attention.

Nevertheless, the organisation noted that the state had shown that it was possible to invest in schools and get good returns.

“Lagos  State with 78 per cent of good classrooms ranks best. This is an indication that bad classrooms can be tackled with appropriate priority by leadership of respective states by ensuring judicious utilisation of funds meant for renovation of schools,” noted Eduplana.

Throwing more light on the dataset, Team Lead, Eduplana Nigeria, Oriyomi Ogunwale told The Nation given the poor level of data collection in Nigeria, the percentage of dilapidated classrooms in Nigeria is likely higher in reality.

“In Nigeria because we have poor data collection, so if the government actually says that 50 percent of classrooms are bad, that means there are still a whole lot of schools not reported.

“What we want government to do is to prioritise school renovation in their respective states so that children can be more interested in learning and be ready to also learn in a conducive environment,” he said.

From rehabilitating schools, and investing in digital education, to upgrading school and public libraries and enhancing internet access, Special Adviser on Education Mr. Adetokunbo Wahab says Lagos is deliberate in grooming its next generation of leaders, KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE reports.

THAT Lagos State has the highest number of classrooms in good condition is no fluke, says Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s Special Adviser on Education Mr. Adetokunbo Wahab.

He told The Nation in an interview that the upgrade of public primary and secondary school structures was a deliberate policy to improve the teaching and learning environment as part of the bigger goal of preparing those who will run the state’s economy in the 21st century.

According to the Lagos State government, the Sanwo-Olu-led administration has implemented over 1,097 school projects, including rehabilitating 322 public schools in the past two years, .

Though the Office of the Special Adviser on Education (OSAE) which Wahab coordinates oversees tertiary education, non-formal education and public libraries, Wahab said the office also got involved in the rehabilitation of schools through the education trust fund.

“There is a fund under OSAE called Education Trust Fund. The trust fund is an intervention such that where there are gaps in infrastructure in our public schools, you can intervene using the fund. So what we did last year was to see how we could help bridge that gap. It requires us to go to EXCO to seek their approval with respect to infrastructure in some of our schools. We also carry along with the Lagos State Infrastructure Asset Management Agency (LASIAMA). This is to augment what the ministry (of education) and Special Committee on Rehabilitation of Public Schools (SCRPS) are doing on their own.

“Interestingly, we also intervened in Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB), which means we touched technical colleges.

“For that of SCRPS, it is supposed to be 11 or 12 schools, while for LASIAMA, it is about nine. In total, it is about 25 that we covered. SCRPS is a special agency for the rehabilitation of public schools. LASIAMA is for upgrading and maintenance of schools. So we had to get the three involved through OSAE using the education trust fund to intervene,” he said.

Speaking on work done within OSAE’s core mandate, Wahab said his office was aggressively rehabilitating school libraries.  He said by month end, the government should have upgraded about 250  school libraries. Already, 198 are ready and provided ICT facilities.

He said the rehabilitation of school libraries, as well as the Eko Digital skills-acquisition initiative, and the provision of internet access to schools, flowed from Governor Sanwo-Olu’s THEMES agenda to exploit the fusion of education and technology for societal good.

“We are very deliberate in our approach. The governor wants Lagos to be a 21st-century economy, and he is laying the fibre optic across the state. Fibre optic means there will be internet infrastructure. OSAE do have the mandate with respect to the library. We have done our study, and we found out that over time, the reading culture has dropped drastically, and if we don’t create an enabling environment, we will not have any moral justification to blame these children for not having a reading culture. So we decided on two options. The first one is to have 11 libraries which we have made 12 now across the state.

“Are they enough? No. We have over 700 public secondary schools, and we decided to go directly to the public secondary schools to revamp the library infrastructure by giving them new ones and equipping them with books and IT infrastructure to complement the books, as well as make it conducive for them. That is why you see us putting air conditioners and generators. The governor has increased the maintenance for each principal to N250,000 a month from the paltry N25,000 we met. We have not been able to cover all the schools. In two and half years, we have covered 198 schools across the state.”

Regarding Eko Digital, Wahab said Lagos recognises the need to equip young people with the technological know-how to run the knowledge-based economy.To this end, he said the initiative trains pupils and students in schools and other youths outside the school system to code and learn other digital courses that would enhance their employability.

He said: “Eko Digital Skills is to prepare students and pupils for the fourth revolution which is IT. COVID has shown us that it is here already. That will give you the skills you need for that revolution. The language of the revolution is cloud, coding, python and digital skills language. We were targeting a million youths.

“Under the Eko Digital, a total of 194,161 youths, students/ pupils have benefitted in the last two years, but it is still a far cry. As it were, we are ploughing back the space and preparing the students for that.”

Wahab said Eko Digital runs a stream for pupils in school twice yearly, and one for those out of school once.  While the in-school stream is open to public and private secondary school pupils, the hybrid stream for those out of school can be accessed from public libraries.

In the last two years, the Special Adviser said interest in Eko Digital has increased exponentially such that registration is over-subscribed.

“It is usually oversubscribed,” he said, adding: “This is why we have to increase it to three sessions in a year. When we started, it used to be one. We now realised that when we had the subscriptions, a lot of people were not happy because they could not be taken on board as there is a limit. So last year, we made it two. This year we made it three sessions to cover everybody. The level is that if you were not able to come in for the first one, you could come in for the second one after the hybrid. So the subscription and over-subscription give us the conviction that people waiting for it, and they are enjoying it.”

Authorities of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Abeokuta, have announced Dec. 20 as the commencement date for the first semester of the 2021/2022 academic session.

The institution’s Head, Public Relations and Protocol, Yemi Ajibola, in a statement made available to newsmen on Tuesday in Abeokuta, asked newly-admitted students to immediately begin registration for the semester.

“All newly-admitted applicants are advised to proceed to their school offices to start their entry registrations immediately.

“By this development, the Learning Management System (LMS), via https://lms.mapolyng.com, will be accessible to only fully-registered students for their lectures from Monday,” he said.

READ ALSO: MAPOLY rector urges students to stop boarding motorcycles

Ajibola urged students to appear decently and adhere strictly to all COVID-19 protocols, warning that defaulters would be sanctioned.

According to him, COVID-19 vaccines are still available for those who have yet to be vaccinated at Rabiatu Soaga Memorial Health Centre within the school premises.

“For enquiry, visit www.mapoly.edu.ng or send direct messages via official social media platforms i.e. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@mapolyinfo) or infoaboutmapoly@gmail.com and info@mapoly.edu.ng,” Ajibola said.

(NAN)

Director, Lagos State Library Board, Mr. Asimiyu Oyadipe, has urged pupils to make use of school and public libraries around them.

He said this during the 2021 Lagos Reads Inter-schools Quiz Competition held at the board’s office in old Secretariat, Ikeja.

Oyadipe said when pupils use the public libraries, they also benefit from special programmes organised by the board to boost the reading culture, even during the holidays.

“Before now, the library board has been doing programmes to promote the reading culture. During the holidays, we had reading programmes. We had a programme in September to celebrate the World Literacy Day; and the World

Book Day in April in all public libraries during which we had children from different schools participating,” he said.

Oyadipe added that the various public libraries had been renovated, particularly Ikorodu and Igbogbo libraries, which are undergoing major repairs.

In his speech, the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Special Adviser (OSAE), Mr. Adeniran Waheed Kasali,  said the state had renovated over 200 public school libraries which now have digital libraries. He said it underscores the government’s commitment to education.

“When it comes to education in Africa, Lagos holds the key. For us thrive on the 21st century, we must nurture the reading culture.

“The third pillar of the Lagos THEMES agenda is Education that is technology- driven.  We have renovated 198 libraries. We are providing schools with digital libraries. It shows commitment to education,” he said.

On her part, the Permanent Secretary, Parastatals Monitoring Office, Mrs Toyin Oke-Osanyintolu, urged the pupils to read as it makes learning possible.

“Reading is the gateway that makes all learning possible,” she said.

Six schools from each of the six education districts participated in the quiz competition that tested their knowledge of physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and current affairs drawn from the SS3 syllabus.

Elo Akete Senior Grammar School lifted the trophy. In second place was Government Model College, while Government College Agege came third.

Representatives of 36 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) operating in the North have cried out over the non-release of many school pupils by bandits and its effect on education in the region.

They shared their experiences during a three-day step-down training on school safety, security and resilience building for CSOs across the six geo-political zones which opened in Abuja on Monday.

The training organised to implement the recommendations from the international safe school conference held in Abuja in October, would equip them with skills to to assess and address safety and security issues in schools.

The representatives of the CSOs said many schools in the Northwest, Northeast and North Central have been shut and parents no longer allow their wards, especially the girls go to school.

Some participants lamented the fate of over 50 pupils of Federal Government College Buni Yauri in Kebbi State who were among over 100 pupils abducted from the school in June; others spoke of pupils abducted from schools in Zamfara, Katsina, Niger, Sokoto and others since September and as recent as days back who were still in captivity.

Representative of Nana Girls and Women Empowerment Initiative, Dr.

Fatima Adamu, called out the government for not providing updates on the FGC Buni Yauri case where her organisation sponsors five girls.

“We are concerned about the girls (and boys) abducted from Federal Government College Buni Yauri. They are still there. My organisation sponsored five of the girls. We got them from the village; we begged their parents to release them because they were sharp. We wanted to make a difference in their village. One of the girls is still there in captivity. Two of them who have been released we interviewed them and they said they were not interested in school again. The most annoying thing is that we are not getting anything from the government,” she said.

Abdul Ganiu Abubakar from Sokoto said as a result of incessant abductions schools have remained shut for three years.

“Parents don’t want to send their kids back to school. They (bandits) put fear in our minds. Education in Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger has been affected. For good three years schools have not opened, he said.

With Nigeria signing the Safe School Declaration with over 100 countries around the world following the October conference, the country has pledged to protect schools, teachers and learners from attack, end military occupation of schools, and ensure continuation of education during conflict.

Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono, representated by Madam Uchenna, said CSOs were important in Implementing the declaration at the grassroots. He therefore thanked the development and Research and Project Centre (dRPC) for partnering with Ford Foundation and the Education in Emergency Working Group (EIEWG) organising the training to domesticate the declaration with CSOs.

“The strategic and critical roles of the CSOs in achieving safe schools can never be overemphasized hence the reason for the voting a day out of the three day of the conference to CSOs activities and now the first beneficiaries of the post-conference activities in the CSO, he said, urging them to continue the advocacy in their localities.

National Coordinator, EIEWG, Dr. Judith Giwa-Amu, said the training was a call to “do something about the helplessness we feel” about school attacks, which she described as painful.

Executive Director of dRPC, Dr. Judith-Ann Walker, said: “We are looking at strategies and learning from an international conference that took place here in Abuja on how you can go back to your various communities and improve the safety of schools for your children and our children.

“They are vulnerable and we are responsible for their safety and there are things that we can do that can make a difference,” she said.

Following the training for CSOs, Dr. Giwa-Amu said 30,000 teachers as well as members of School Based Management Committees (SBMC) and other stakeholders will be trained to implement the Safe School declaration.

“There is a programme under the Global partnership for education under which 30,000 teachers in Nigeria are targeted. It is focusing on distance learning and has a manual with five modules. One of the modules has to with safe school, resilience building.

“Members of the school based management committees will be trained because the community is in the (school’s) immediate environment. So, if they know what to do. We are going to develop school emergency preparedness plan. And these plans are for schools, not for states. So, if school looks at what are the hazards in that environment. What are the risks, is it rape? Is it shooting? Is it abduction? Then the plan is prepared targeting those threats.

The Awori Descendants of Lagos are poised to resist any attempt  to move Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Otto-Ijanikin, to Epe after it is upgraded to a university of education.

Speaking at a briefing last Friday in his palace in Ijanikin, the Akogun of Otto-Awori, Chief Kehinde Abimbola Dawodu-Avoseh, alleged that some groups were behind plans to move AOCOED to Epe because of insufficient land mass when it assumes  university status.

According to him, those groups also said it was impossible to have two universities in the same axis,  citing Lagos State University (LASU) and AOCOED on Badagry Expressway.

Dawodu-Avoseh, however, said such move would attract the wrath of the Awori with far reaching consequences.

” We are very much aware of clandestine moves by some unscrupulous elements to ensure AOCOED is moved to Epe when it becomes a university. They said Epe has more landmass; they also said it is not possible to have two universities in the same area. This institution is going nowhere. Any attempt to do such shall attract the anger of the Awori and the end result will be catastrophic,” he said.

Also speaking,the Oloto of Otto-Awori Kingdom, Oba Josiah Olanrewaju Ilemobade, who noted that expectations were high on AOCOED transmuting to a university, said the institution should not be moved. He added that many universities can be in the same region.

“There is nothing wrong in having many universities in the same area. If Epe needs a university, they can have it. They can make a request concerning that.

“We have been expecting the upgrade of AOCOED, however,we want it to remain here in Ijanikin,” he said.

AOCOED Student Union President, Oladejo Nurudeen Adebayo appealed to Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to forestall attempt to move the institution from it location in Ijanikin.

His words: “We urge Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to make sure our institution remains here. We don’t want it moved to Epe.”

The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) has expressed sadness over the death of Dowen College pupil, Sylvester Oromoni Jnr, under controversial circumstances.

In a statement signed by the National President of the umbrella body of private schools in Nigeria, Chief Yomi Otubela, NAPPS commiserated with the family of the 12-year old.

The statement reads: “NAPPS is saddened by the news of the death of a young promising student of Dowen College and would like to condole with both the family of the deceased student and Management, Staff and Students of Dowen College over this unfortunate incident. We pray that the good Lord will comfort them at this moment of their grief.”

The group noted that it would wait for the outcome of investigations before commenting on the matter.

Also,the Lagos State chapter of Child Protection Network(CPN) has called on the government to ensure those who bullied Sylvester are brought to book.

In a statement, its coordinator,  Mrs. Aderonke Oyelakin, also urged the government to ensure that child protection policies are executed in all schools in the state.

“Most school owners and staff need proper orientation on the protection of children in their care.Thus, we call on the state government to effectively monitor same.

“All schools have full responsibility in respect of their ‘duty of care’ to protect children and to support pupils/students in the school. The teachers have day to day contact with individual children during school terms; they are therefore particularly well placed to observe outward signs of abuse, changes in behaviour or failure to develop.

” Under the Children Act, 1989 ,teachers, teaching assistants and other school supervisors should note that reporting the suspicion of child abuse, ‘in good faith’ exempts them from sanction by the law.

“We demand that child protection policy should be mandatory for every school or places where children are and must be pasted in a conspicuous area within the premises. In case of any mishap or abuse while in the school’s custody, the care givers/teachers and support staff must be responsible and accountable for their safety.

“A few weeks back, a girl in America took her own life because she was being bullied. We thought that was the worst-case scenario until we heard that this boy was allegedly beaten to death by his school mates,” she said.

The Association of Professional Counsellors in Nigeria (APROCON), Lagos chapter has called on the Lagos State Ministry of Education to mandate all private school owners to employ full-time counsellors before they are allowed to operate their schools.

In a statement signed by its chairperson, Dr. Bola Makinde, the group said: “Our strong appeal now is that the Lagos State Ministry of Education should please grant our request to employ and allow full-time counsellors to function in schools.  A letter to this effect was sent by Lagos chapter of APROCON in 2019.  Please mandate all private school owners to employ professionally-trained counsellors before being given approval to operate.”