Justina Asishana – Minna

 

Niger State government said it has expended N404 million to train 8, 893 education managers and teachers on various teaching and leadership skills.

This was disclosed by the Executive Chairman of Niger State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB), Dr Isah Adamu, during a briefing to kick start the training in Minna.

Adamu said the exrecise is a master training programme that would cascade to other schools and accommodate more teachers.

“The state is spending N404 million on the training and N8, 893 education managers and teachers will participate in the training.

“Managers and teachers will be equipped with skills and resources to effectively teach reading, writing and other necessary training required.

“N3,513 will undergo training on jolly phonics; 2,650 in cluster training for primary school teachers; 1,125 for science and mathematics teachings; 360 in ICT; and 300 caregivers and teachers on the use of reggio approach.

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“Others are 210 for leadership training for head teachers; 200 for training for quality assurance officers; 160 for cluster training for the JSS classes; 150 for cluster mechanism; 125 for leadership training for education managers; and 100 for IRS/CRS teachers,” Adamu added.

Adam noted that the state is having problems with teachers mastering their subject specialisation saying the training is also aimed at addressing the gaps.

He stated that 533,580 pupils are expected to benefit from the training.

“We hope that 533,580 pupils will benefit as a multiplier effect of the teachers trained. We are hoping to scale it up in the next programme depending on the resources at our disposal’’.

 

By Damola Kola-Dare

 

The President, Association for Formidable Educational Development(AFED), Hon Emmanuel Orji has appealed  to Rivers State Government  not to close down low cost schools as such will portend danger to the country.

Orji, who made this plea in a statement, noted that the 13 million out-of-school children in the country remained a cause for worry, adding that shutting down low-cost schools would only compound the problem.

He insisted that the association, which over the years has brought these schools together to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in education, is worried.

Orji said: “With the number of out- of-school children in Nigeria at over 13million, which is almost the population of two to three countries in West Africa put together, it is embarrassing to wake up every year with the news that a government has no other business to do in education other than the news of shutting down schools.

He noted that over 5000 private  schools operated in the state, saying: “The governor set up a committee for Accreditation of Private schools.

The committee chairman at a briefing acknowledged that over 5,000 private schools were in the state.

“The committee, however, received a total of 2511 applications, out of which 1415 were given full accreditation, 659 received interim accreditation while 437 were denied accreditation. This implies that 2074 private schools will cater for a state with an over 10,000,000 population,” he said.

While decrying the situation, Orji said: “Assuming one goes by the over 5,000 private schools statistics, it simply implies that about 2,500 schools will not operate anymore in Rivers State. This appears to be a kegof gun powder waiting to explode.’’

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He noted that “if each of these schools has a minimum average  of 15 staff(academic and non academic), 37,500 people will lose their jobs instantly. And if these staff have at least two dependents, another 75,000 people would have been rendered hopeless”.

He said if these schools had a minimum of 120 students on the average, then over 300,000 children would be out of school in Rivers.

He chided the government for not providing adequate facilities to cater to the upsurge in the population of public schools, hence, the low cost schools should remain.

Orji added:”The fact remains that government does not have sufficient facilities to accommodate this surge as government schools are already saturated in the state, also, these children who were predominantly in low fee charging schools cannot afford the high fees of the many of the accredited schools due to the high level of poverty in the land.”

He also disclosed that the association is in partnership  with the Polish government,  the British government, Newcastle University, Buckingham University, the government of Lagos state, Ogun and Anambra.

By Segun Omolayo

 

Revving up on idioms, let us consider another set of commonly distorted idioms, namely: behind closed doors; be/stand head and shoulders above somebody or something; he who pays the piper calls the tune; armchair analyst; and put off the evil day.

The familiarity and everyday occurrence of these terms are shared characteristics, plus their frequent and reckless abuse. That reminds us to try to master these special properties, if we want to be counted among the schooled users of the English language, not just instinctive writers, who many a time may not know why they are right where they are right and why they are wrong where they are wrong.

Behind closed doors

Many are enamoured of this idiom when reporting high-level meetings, consultations, strategy sessions and the like. Our concern here is that the idiom is often mangled as in the statement below:

The House of Representatives continued the session behind closed-door. 

It does not matter that your reader may rightly guess your meaning. But you must bear in mind that accuracy is essential when deploying idioms, especially as people tend to resort to such expressions because they want to be colourful and elegant. While that is allowed, you must not mis-educate and keep your reader guessing.

And please be reminded, therefore, that behind closed doors is the correct term for the sentence and message in consideration, NOT closed-door, which is a rather bizarre invention.

Behind closed doors is used to describe something done “without the public being allowed to attend or know what is happening” or to refer to something done “in private” (“Pop” Errors). See its application in the correction below:

The House of Representatives continued the session behind closed doors.

Please do not say that the difference between the correct and the incorrect expressions is just an unwarranted hyphen. This little matter makes a big difference between the stickler for correct usage and the slapdash instinctive writer.

Be/stand head and shoulders above somebody or something

With re-assured lexical swagger, not a few distort this term, especially when they want to wax lyrical and sound erudite and important. Again, the elite are the chief purveyors of such bombasts, as the following statement suggests.

The party leadership stands shoulder high above its political opponents. . . . .

You must be familiar with this kind of grandstanding rhetoric from political actors, particularly in Nigeria where fusillades of political vitriol in press statements are daily fare. To be sure, lexical exactitude takes the backstage in such moments.

“The English idiom so mangled in the statement is be/stand head and shoulders above somebody or something, meaning “to be much better than people or things;” or “far superior to” (“Pop” Errors). In other words, to correctly convey the sense of the party leadership’s superiority to their rivals, the statement should run thus:

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The party leadership stands head and shoulders above its political opponents.

OR

The party leadership is head and shoulders above its political opponents.

You would do well to note the plural word shoulders in the idiom and apply it in that form whenever you are using the expression.

He who pays the piper calls the tune.

You are our witness that this famous idiom is daily twisted in thousands of speeches and written messages. The idiom is perhaps more famous for its notorious abuse; wherever you turn, you encounter someone asserting the authority of somebody with the help of this idiom, but mostly incorrectly invoked.

Again, arrant carelessness and the unquestioning adoption of what is popular, correctly or incorrectly, may explain the festering notoriety in this context and in respect of so many other idioms. The condition of writers with this habit tends to get aggravated where they have role models considered infallible from whom they take their cues.

Haven’t you heard people saying, my professor says this, my professor says that, even when you know his teacher has taught him nonsense? Such followers will forever write this kind of egregious error:

He used the occasion to douse the doubts of cynics who believe he who pays the piper dictates the tune.

He who pays the piper dictates the tune is not correct. It is a distortion taken too far, having assumed orthodoxy with age-long misusage. The correct form of the idiom is: He who pays the piper calls the tune. It is used to mean “the person who provides the money for something can also control how it is spent” (“Pop” Errors). Usually, you use it “to stress who is in charge of something” (ibid.).

Armchair analyst/critic

A typical twist of this idiom is:

I am not an armed chair analyst. 

The distortion here is comical and meaningless. The correct expression is: an armchair analyst, NOT armed chair analyst. Our writers’ companion explains: ‘You are an armchair analyst when you know “about a subject through books and television, rather than by doing it for yourself.”  By the same token, many are derided as armchair critics.’

Put off the evil day

The significance of this entry is that, like the other idioms we have discussed, you see this mutilated every day – and nobody flinches in horror! More or less, this idiom has been re-written, as in:

Amnesties will, therefore, be another attempt not only to create an opportunity for anarchists, but to further postpone the evil days.

But we are complaining! The reason is, the re-write is not the same thing as its original, unadulterated form, which is put off the evil day. We are advised that “when you put off the evil day, you change a bad thing “to a later time or date” (“Pop” Errors).

Our Reporter

The Edo State Government has called on parents and guardians to send their wards back to the classrooms as schools across the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state have resumed full academic activities.

In a statement, the Acting Public Relations Officer of Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Mr. Daniel Odion, said school activities for second term kicked-off on Monday, the 13th of January, 2020.

The statement reads: “This is to inform all parents and guardians in Edo State that school activities for Term two kicked-off on Monday, the 13th of January, 2020. Headmasters and teachers are already fully available in all schools to get the best out of the term.

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“This term, various subjects will be taught across all classes, as the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) programme came to an end in December 2019. As a result, pupils will return to the regular timetable in term two. The TaRL programme across all the schools in the state have led to pupil’s growth in English and Mathematics and has improved in great measure the learning abilities of the pupils.”

“Parents and guardians are encouraged to send their wards to school as academic activities have commenced fully. Over 1 million textbooks have been delivered and this term, more than 700,000 additional textbooks will be distributed to all schools”, it added.

According to Odion, “SUBEB is working tirelessly to ensure that schools have the right instructional materials, learning environment for pupils to get the best educational experience this session, even as they prepare for promotional examinations in Term 3.

“The SUBEB Chairman advises parents and guardians to ensure that their wards come to school early and on time. Edo Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST) schools begin at 7:30 am and close at 1:45 pm each day.”

The first edition of Oyo Unity Cup being sponsored by the Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare will debut at the Soun Stadium in Ogbomoso town.

The tournament will draw participants across the 14 Federal Constituencies of Oyo State, the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigerian Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

The 16-team competition will run for three weeks and will produce four group winners following the draws of competition.

The Minister said the aim of the tournament was to promote grassroots football and discover new talents in Oyo State.

“Don’t forget Seyi Olofinjana was discovered in this manner in Ogbomoso and he went on to play for the Super Eagles,” he said. “There are many Olofinjanas in Oyo and the tournament will unveil them. This is just a starting point.”

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Members of the Organising Committee for the competition while acknowledging the kind gesture of the Minister noted that the tournament would boost football clubs in the state and help discover young talents in the state who will then be exported to the national and international scenes.

Coaches from the 14 Federal Constituencies, the NUJ and the NYSC also commended the Minister who is billed to attend the opening match of the tournament to be held in Ogbomoso on January 25.

 

Damisi Ojo, Akure

 

Nineteen students of the Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU), Ikeji-Arakeji will on Friday receive First Class honours at its 10th Convocation ceremonies.

The Vice-Chancellor of the university,Prof Kola Sonaike disclosed this at Ikeji-Arakeji on Monday at a news conference

According to Sonaike, 501 students would be given first degree certificates across 23 undergraduate programmes of the institution while 27 students would be awarded postgraduate certificates.

The graduands are 19 in the first class honours, 175 have second class honours upper grade, 225 second class honours lower grade and 82 have third class grade.

Another category of 27 students will be awarded postgraduate certificates.

He said seven of them will have postgraduate diploma certificates while the remaining 20 will be given Masters degree certificates,” he stated.

Sonaike said six eminent Nigerians will be conferred with honorary doctorate degree awards on Friday.

He said recipients have actively engaged themselves in the pursuit of service for the global community and humanity.

They include Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of House of Representatives, Governor Isiaka Oyetola of Osun and his Oyo state counterpart, Seyi Makinde.

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Others are Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly,Mrs Victoria Samson, the Managing Director of Bovas Company Ltd. and Mr Emmanuel Aderemi Awode, the Chairman of Chemstar Group of Companies, Lagos,” he said.

The VC noted that the best graduating student, Joseph Temitope, in the university had a CGPA of 4.80.

Sonaike described the university as entrepreneural-based institution with quality and best teaching.

He explained that JABU was aimed at building up job creators and self-sufficient student,adding that they
are determined to ensure continuous improvement in the quality of our academic programmes for the production of highly qualified and skilled graduates who will be self-reliant and job creators.

The VC said “Our university is structured into five colleges, comprising 23 programmes, and fully accredited and the college of postgraduate studies with 25 programmes at postgraduate diploma, masters and doctoral levels,” he explained.

He said the institution’s staff welfare was also paramount to the management, adding that all deserved staff got promoted and that salaries were paid regularly without any salary backlog.

Our Reporter

 

Diagnosis: To learn about the nature of your child’s headache, your doctor will likely look to:

• Headache history. Your doctor asks you and your child to describe the headaches in detail, to see if there’s a pattern or a common trigger. Your doctor may also ask you to keep a headache diary for a time, so you can record more details about your child’s headaches, such as frequency, severity of pain and possible triggers.
• Physical exam. The doctor performs a physical exam, including measuring your child’s height, weight, head circumference, blood pressure and pulse, and examining your child’s eyes, neck, head, shoulders and spine.
• Neurological exam. Your doctor checks for any problems with movement, coordination or sensation.

If your child is otherwise healthy and headaches are the only symptom, no further testing usually is needed. In a few cases, however, imaging scans and other evaluations can help pinpoint a diagnosis or rule out other medical conditions that could be causing the headaches. These tests may include:

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRIs use a powerful magnet to produce detailed views of the brain. MRI scans help doctors diagnose tumors, strokes, aneurysms, neurological diseases and other brain abnormalities. An MRI can also be used to examine the blood vessels that supply the brain.
• Computerized tomography (CT) scan. This imaging procedure uses a series of computer-directed X-rays that provide a cross-sectional view of your child’s brain. This helps doctors diagnose tumors, infections and other medical problems that can cause headaches.
• Spinal tap (lumbar puncture). If your doctor suspects that an underlying condition, such as bacterial or viral meningitis, is causing your child’s headaches, he or she may recommend a spinal tap (lumbar puncture). In this procedure, a thin needle is inserted between two vertebrae in the lower back to extract a sample of cerebrospinal fluid for laboratory analysis.

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Treatment

Usually you can treat your child’s headache at home with rest, decreased noise, plenty of fluids, balanced meals and over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers. If your child is older and has frequent headaches, learning to relax and manage stress through different forms of therapy may help, as well.

Medications

• OTC pain relievers. Acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) can typically relieve headaches for your child. They should be taken at the first sign of a headache.

Use caution when giving aspirin to children or teenagers. Though aspirin is approved for use in children older than age 3, children and teenagers recovering from chickenpox or flu-like symptoms should never take aspirin.

Aspirin has been linked to Reye’s syndrome, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition, in such children. Talk to your doctor if you have concerns.

• Prescription medications. Triptans, prescription drugs used to treat migraines, are effective and can be used safely in children older than 6 years of age.

If your child experiences nausea and vomiting with migraines, your doctor may prescribe an anti-nausea drug. The medication strategy differs from child to child, however. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about nausea relief.

Caution: Overuse of medications is itself a contributing factor to headaches (medication overuse headache). Over time, painkillers and other medications may lose their effectiveness. In addition, all medications have side effects.

If your child takes medications regularly, including products you buy over-the-counter, discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor.

• Source:https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-condition