The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Education

  • ‘Sports vital to education’

    A school owner, Mrs Udenwa Obi, has said  education is incomplete without sports.

    Speaking at the eighth biennial inter-house sports competition of her school, Headstart Private School, Isolo, Lagos, Mrs Obi said sports help pupils to develop physical and mental toughness.

    ”We count it a great privilege to be witnessing yet another sporting event. Education is incomplete without sports, it is an integral part of learning that stimulates mental and physical toughness, hence it is essential for today’s youthful generation.

    ”Participating in organised sports offers the chance for the youth to enhance their physical and social skills. Sports offer children a change from the monotony of their daily life to a more healthy and active life,” she said.

    Chairman of the occasion, Mr Segun Babalogbon, who spoke on sportsmanship, urged the pupils to learn to win or lose with dignity.

    ”With sportsmanship, it makes us to unite, come together and cheer one another up. Sport must be honoured with honesty, sincerity and fairness. If you fail, you have to be strong and strive hard,” he said.

    The event featured march past, picking balls, tiny tots, filling the bottles, dress to school, lime and spoon, filling the basket, sack race, tire race, high jump, relay race, 100m, 200m, chubby race, taekwondo, among others.

    Blue House emerged winner of the competition with 20 gold, 12 silver and 12 bronze medals.  Red house came second with 16 gold, 20 silver and 17 bronze medals, while yellow house came third with 13 gold, 12 silver and 16 bronzes medals.

  • Driver recognition, motivation and education

    I was moved to write on this topic because of the two incidents that occurred about two weeks ago. The first involved a disgruntled driver who protested by setting on fire the school bus he was driving with 52 children.

    The second was the collision of two buses which led to the untimely death of about 60 passengers.

    There has been hues and cries about the high rate of accidents but the needed attention is not being paid to the drivers who constitute about 70 percent of the human factors responsible for road crashes.

    I have carried out research on employers’ attitude to drivers but the results are very far from what obtain in so other countries. A lot of employers do not see drivers as human beings or workers that need recognition and encouragement.

    The fact remains that drivers are among the most relevant staff needed for the survival and growth of any organisation whether the organisation owns vehicles or their staff use public transport.

    An error on the part of other staff of an organisation can be corrected without claiming lives but an error on the part of a driver can be very catastrophic. The life of the president can be easily terminated through an error on the part of his driver. The life of the best technocrat can be terminated through driver error. The life of the richest man can be terminated through driver error. The life of the most guarded or secured person can be terminated through driver error. The list of damages that can emanate from driver error is endless. Why then should some employers downgrade their drivers as if they are nonentities?

    Some look and address their drivers as illiterates and fools. This is a very wrong assessment and attitude. Driving is one of the most complex, if not the complex in the whole world mainly because of the numbers of the organs of the body simultaneously involved and the likely consequences of errors on the part of drivers. High level of knowledge, skills and wisdom are needed to drive safely in all situations. Therefore, whether safety conscious drivers are lettered or not, they are highly intelligent for successfully perceiving hazards, analysing the likely impacts and taking appropriate decisions that guaranteed safety in the face of the actions and inactions of other road users.

    Sometimes ago while doing a research, a driver lamented that his monthly salary when broken down is less than N2,000. The same driver spends an average of N800 on transport, works Monday to Saturday, eats N100 snacks most of the days, married with children, pays rent for a room apartment and drives a N15 million worth of vehicle in the organisation. The driver said, no matter the number of times his boss eats, he never for once gave him a leftover. He preferred to take the remnant home for his dogs. The total amount his boss has ever dashed him as gift for the five years he has worked with him is less than N5,000.

    The driver told me that most of the time he drives his boss within or outside the town, he sleeps in the car. He said he used to be so filled with anger on how he was being maltreated that he would sometimes press down the brake suddenly without any reason but just to disrupt his sleep. He said he thought of the damage he could do to the organisation.

    Many organisations have no provision of hotel accommodation for their drivers when outside their station, thereby compelling the drivers to sleep inside the vehicle. This habit fuels malaria, muscle cramps and fatigue for drivers which could hinder safe driving. Drivers are very vital in any organisation and should, therefore, be so recognised.They should be well- motivated in terms of salaries, housing allowance, transport allowance, overtime allowances, out-of-station allowances, hotel accommodation no matter how small or cheap the hotel room is, accident-free allowance and any motivation.

    Read also: 19 killed, 38 injured in Katsina road accident

    The emotion of a driver has a very strong influence on the visual, cognitive and physical effectiveness of the driver. Employers must ensure their drivers are well trained and updated regularly because of the dynamism in vehicle technology, ccupational health and road traffic regulations, among other factors. While the accredited driving schools  should focus more professional attention on driver training and re-retraining, the regulatory authorities should focus more attention on monitoring and certification of organisations (not drivers) for compliance to driver recognition, motivation and training.

    With the above well-considered and acted upon without compromise by the employers of drivers, drivers, professional or accredited driving schools and the regulatory authorities, a lot will be achieved in the reduction of road traffic crashes, injuries and deaths on the roads.

  • The parlous state of our education

    SIR, In order to make basic education accessible to children of indigent parents, most states in the country have adopted free education policy. They adopted and started implementing free education policy for primary school pupils to reduce the number of out of school children in Nigeria. But is the free education policy for public primary and post- primary school students working effectively in Nigeria?

    It took little Miss Success Adegor’s outburst in a trending video for us to know that headmasters and headmistress in some public primary schools have introduced illegal levies in their schools. Their introduction of those illegal levies has made nonsense of the free educational policy declared in those states. The seven-year old Success Adegor was sent away from school owing to her parents’ inability to pay examination fees for her.

    In some states in the country, primary school teachers flunked competence tests given to them. They couldn’t pass tests meant for primary four pupils. Sometime, in the recent past, the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam el-Rufai, angrily sacked those illiterate teachers, who flunked the competence test. His action sparked off protests and attracted condemnation to him. A primary school teacher’s inability to pass a primary four quiz underlines the deep rot in our educational system. It shows that the quality of education obtained in most public primary and post- primary schools in the country has nose-dived to an abysmally low-level. Shouldn’t the federal government declare emergency in the education sector?

    But the precarious state of our school system is traceable to corruption, which is endemic and systemic in our country. Here, in Nigeria, merit is subsumed under nepotism, clannishness, and the factor of consanguinity when it comes to recruitment of teachers into schools. That’s why people who have no business being teachers are teaching our pupils and students in public schools. Not only are they destitute of knowledge, they also moonlight, abandoning the pupils and students placed under their care.

    But a government that places high premium on education should ensure that those aspiring to become teachers are subjected to rigorous academic, mental, and intellectual tests to ascertain their suitability for the teaching jobs. Again, a case should be made for the return of teachers’ training colleges in the country. In the past, teachers’ training colleges located in various places in Nigeria trained and groomed teachers in the methodologies of teaching. Those that attended the schools were equipped with pedagogic skills and adequate knowledge of primary school subjects, which they would deploy to effectively impart knowledge to pupils.

    Now, it is obvious to us that our government’s neglect of educational issues is at the root of the problems bedeviling our schools. As our public schools are in bad state, so are many privately-owned schools. Since government bodies concerned with the establishment and monitoring of private schools are negligent and remiss in their duties, there is proliferation of privately-owned primary and post-primary schools in the country. Those schools are not worthy and fit to be called schools in the true sense of the word. And good schools that offer quality education to students have priced their school fees above the financial capacities of millions of parents in Nigeria. So, children from poor homes are stuck with private schools where little or no education of pupils and students take place.

    Government at different levels should re-think our educational policies, and map out strategies to tackle the rot in our schools and educational system. And the issue of incessant industrial action which cripples learning in our tertiary institutions and alters their school calendars should be addressed. More so, it is imperative for the government to put a stop to its rash establishment of universities, which it cannot fund adequately. Rather, it should monitor the educational programmes and activities of private universities to ensure that they meet the minimum globally accepted standards.

     

    • Chiedu Uche Okoye, Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State.

  • British curriculum not superior to Nigeria’s — Educationist

    An educationist, Mrs Ann Oparah, on Saturday said that the insinuation that British Education Curriculum was better than Nigeria version was untrue.

    Oparah, a graduate of Guidance and Counselling in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos said that real teaching experience had shown little difference between the curriculums.

    Oparah, the proprietor of the Brilliant Academy, Agege, Lagos, spoke with NAN on the sidelines of the school’s Career Day at the school premises on Friday.

    She explained that the “importance of Career Day in Brilliant Academy, is for the students to have focus on the choice of their careers as some students do lose focus of their career of choice later due to interference from parents and peer pressure.

    She said that having been in the business of managing school, with experience as a proprietor for more than 25 years, students could only make a choice of career through their own conviction and abilities.

    “As an educationist with wealth of experience in curriculum, there is no curriculum that is better than the other because I run both curriculums in my school.

    “There is no superior curriculum between that of Nigeria and Britain, no one is better than the other and experience has proven that overtime.

    “The Nigerian curriculum is well designed to meet the needs of indigenous study and it can also stand the test of time abroad. Those that were tutored with Nigeria’s curriculum also excel abroad.

    “Those that have come under the Nigerian curriculum can also stand shoulder to shoulder with others who had been trained with other curriculums and the record speaks for itself,’’ she said.

    Oparah said that the only edge that the British Curriculum could have was the global acceptability in certificate which any student with rudimentary knowledge can aspire to have.

    “The only slight edge which the British curriculum can have over Nigeria’s is the acceptability of the examinations which enjoys global accreditation.

    “Any Nigerian student who wants to aspire to write Cambridge examination can also do so with ease since the solid foundation has been laid.

    “We need to appreciate what we have as indigenous because they remain the eye of the society; so, we can as well promote our very own to the admiration of others.

    “In my school, we have both British and Nigeria curriculums with different teachers because some parents ask for it, but the two are as well important to the development of students,’’ she said.

    NAN reports that there were various activities during the Career Day presentations which elucidate the different ingenuity of the students and their knowledge of careers they have chosen for themselves.

    Students displayed their knowledge in careers such as Engineering, Law, Education, Arts and Craft, and Science-based professions.

  • Why education policies fail in Nigeria, by Adelabu

    A former Deputy Governor, Ekiti State, Prof. Modupe Adelabu, has highlighted the reasons education policies fail or are ineffective in Nigeria.

    She stated that basing education policies on inaccurate financial and political postulations, failure to address rural and urban dichotomy, reliance on public funds to finance education and failure to integrate communities and other non-state actors in developing education policies make them fail or ineffective over the years.

    Adelabu disclosed this in her inaugural lecture entitled: As It Was In the Beginning, As It Is Now: Politics and Education Policies in Nigeria at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife yesterday.

    Highlighting relevant findings of her research in educational administration and management for over 30 years to establish how politics influence education policies, Adelabu explained that education policies largely derive from political goals and interests of a nation.

    To overcome policy failure and ineffectiveness in Nigeria, Adelabu called on the government to incorporate non-state actors in education, embrace Public Private Partnership (PPP), stop reliance on oil money to fund education stop ignoring the political, economic, and international environment in developing education policies.

    She further advocated appointment of educationists as chairmen of state and federal basic education boards and other relevant education agencies in the country.

    She highlighted gender inequality in education leadership at the level of principalship and heads of tertiary educational institutions, ineffective approach to teacher training, ignoring globalization, rural-urban dichotomy and poor national development as some of the areas requiring urgent attention by the Nigerian government.

    Being the foundation of education, Adelabu emphasized the strategic importance of primary education boards to effective education of children.

    As a former Chairman of the Ekiti State Basic Education Board, Adelabu recalled that she introduced trade fair and exhibition of pulpits to facilitate their interest in technical and vocational education, introduced the PPP and encouragement of inclusive education. She said she could achieve them because of her background in education.

    “Consequently,  I wish to recommend without mincing words that because of the importance of basic education to education, any chairman to be appointed across the state should have an education background just like any other professional parastatal in the country.” She said.

    Adelabu expressed gratitude to those who either influenced or paved way for her in life. They include Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Dr Kayode Fayemi and his wife, Bisi, Gen. Alabi Akinrinade (Rtd) and Chief Pius Akinyelure.

    In attendance at the lecture were dignitaries including Kayode and Bisi Fayemi; Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu; Oyo State Deputy Governor Moses Alake-Adeyemo; Ekiti State Deputy Governor Bisi Egbeyemi and Chief Judge, Ekiti State Justice Deji Daramola as well as traditional rulers from Ekiti State.

    The institution’s Vice-Chancellor Prof. Temitope Ogunbodede and Registrar Mrs Margaret Omojuyigbe also attended.

  • Summit on work opportunities, recruitment holds

    A group of concerned Nigerians has come up with an idea of bridging the gap between the industry and the classroom to tackle unemployment in the nation.

    They reasoned the initiative will further open many to gainful employment and other opportunities.

    Speaking with reporters on Education, Nexus, Industry, Project, (ENIPRO), the Convener, Jesse Ogabu, stated the initiative is to transform the lives of young people through recruitment opportunities.

    He said it will further creating a foundation through the newly designed academy, which will help reposition youth and make them industry- friendly.

    According to him: “Today, information Technology has taken over the industry creating opportunities for only those who are ready to add value to the industry which gave birth to the theme of discussion for the proposed 2.0 Enipro Summit, which is workplace/classroom: The future of work, local content, an inclusive strategy scheduled to hold on the 11th of April at the University of Lagos Main Auditorium.”

    The summit will have in attendance Prof. Pat Utomi, Fatai Folarin, Tope Fasua and a host of other captains of industry.

    Leading recruitment website Jobber-man and Poise Nigeria have also shown interest by creating opportunities for recruitment as well as polishing institute for graduates who still needs to learn the industry language.

    The head of Enipro Academy, Afolakemi Ogunnusi, stated the job place is a translation of what is learnt in the classroom, which many youths find it difficult to effectively replicate.

    He explained that enipro Academy has come up with solutions to effectively tackle that by putting our young graduates back on the right track.

    She also advised students, graduates, corps members and unemployed youths to take advantage of the initiatives and launch into a world of opportunities.

  • Education Fund distributes free exercise books to Oyo secondary school pupils

    There was joy among education stakeholders in Oyo State yesterday when  the state’s Education Trust Fund commenced distribution of free exercise books to  public secondary school students  in the state.

    The distribution commenced with presentation to some schools by the Deputy Governor, Chief Moses Alake-Adeyemo, at the fund’s headquarters, Onireke area of Ibadan .

    While presenting the books to some principals and students who attended the ceremony, Adeyemo said the new development was another mark of Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s administration’s commitment to improving the quality of education in the state. He described it as another giant stride in education that will put smiles on the faces of pupils and also bring some relief to parents.

    Coming after the establishment and performance of School Governing Boards (SGB), the deputy governor said the administration was bringing back the glory of quality education in the state. He added that the construction of model schools and renovation of several infrastructural facilities in both secondary schools and technical colleges were  part of the efforts being made to revive quality education in public schools in the state.

    Adeyemo asked all stakeholders including private companies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), parents and teachers to support the government in its efforts.

    Earlier, the Chairman of the fund, Dr  Onikepo Akande, commended Governor Abiola Ajimobi for the idea, saying it was one of the best ways to revive the quality of education in the state at this

  • FCT education management seeks early budget for planning

    As part of efforts to reposition the education sector in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Education Secretariat Management Committee has recommended an early budgeting cycle with full involvement of the Department of Policy Planning, Research and Statistics.

    The secretariat also affirmed that the administration will in 2019 adopt new measures to make the education sector more effective.

    To demonstrate the new steps, the education secretariat at its just concluded two days retreat of education secretariat management committee, recommended for a condition survey of its facilities with a view to developing a Needs Assessment that will drive its budget projections.

    The committee also urged FCT Department of Policy, Planning Research and Statistics on the production cost of training a child in the FCT.

    In a communique by the Assistant Director in charge of Information at the secretariat, Mr. Tony Ogunleye, the secretariat said the Department of Quality Assurance has been directed to enforce the Guidelines on the Establishment and Operations of Educational Institutions in the territory.

    It explained that no school should start operating before registration with the Department, adding that Boards and Departments in the Education Secretariat should work harder at integrating and collaboration in the discharge of their mandates.

    According to the communique, the Education Secretariat has recommended for a bi-annual retreat in its calendar of activities, with an intensified efforts on orientation of newly employed teachers.

    The committee suggested that there should be an early budgeting cycle with full involvement of the Department of Policy Planning Research and Statistics, planning officers from boards and departments as well as school heads in the budgeting process should be intensified.

    Another recommendation reached at the meeting called for a quarterly report of their progress and challenges to management.

    Boards and Departments in charge of students’ admission are advised to devise means of ensuring that only children within the approved age specifications are admitted into FCT schools” the communique stressed.

    The recommendations are: “The Department of Policy, Planning Research and Statistics is to produce the cost of training of a child in the FCT; Boards and Departments in the Education Secretariat should work harder at integrating and collaboration in the discharge of their mandates; The Secretariat is to conduct a condition survey of its facilities with a view to developing a Needs Assessment that will drive its budget projections; The Education Resource Centre should improve the services of FCTA public libraries, while Boards and Departments managing schools are required to encourage the reading culture in schools.

    “The Department of Quality Assurance is directed to enforce the Guidelines on the Establishment and Operations of Educational Institutions In the FCT, in particular, no school should start operating before registration with the Department; FCT Universal Basic Education Board and FCT Secondary Education Board are to collaborate on measures to decongest schools in the FCT; The Education Secretariat should institute a bi-annual retreat in its calendar of activities.

    “Orientation of newly employed teachers should be intensified; The budgeting cycle should start early and the involvement of the Department of Policy Planning Research and Statistics, Planning Officers from Boards and Departments as well as school heads in the budgeting process should be intensified; Boards and Departments are to use the Sector Plans as the base for their Action Plans and, are henceforth required to make a quarterly report of their progress and challenges to management.

    “Boards and Departments in charge of students’ admission are advised to devise means of ensuring that only children within the approved age specifications are admitted in to FCT schools; Completion of all on-going projects at the permanent site of FCT College of Education Zuba to facilitate movement to the permanent site.

    “The Secretariat should deploy all necessary means to engage the political leadership, other Secretariats and Departments of the FCTA in achieving its budgetary requirements and discharge of its mandate in the most efficient and cost-effective manner.”

    The retreat was held under the leadership of the secretary, Dr. Bala Liman. Officials pledged the secretariat’s commitment to completing all on-going projects at the permanent site of FCT College of Education Zuba to facilitate movement to the site.

  • Forum worries over decline in quest for education among youths

    A group of academics in Kwara State, Offa Professors Forum (OPF), has decried the decline in the quest for western education amongst Offa youths and sought an urgent solution to address the situation.

    Their concern dominated discussion at the inaugural meeting of the forum held in Offa, Kwara State.

    The meeting which was co-chaired by Professor Bayo Lawal and Professor Sam Niyi  Ojo observed that Offa is currently blessed with no fewer than 100 professors in virtually all areas of knowledge and serving in institutions in Nigeria and abroad.

    The professors observed that there is a noticeable decline in quest for education amongst youth in Offa, especially among the girl child and that such was a delicate signal for the future.

    In their separate presentations, the co-chair, Professor Bayo Lawal; the convener, Professor Hussein Bukoye  Oloyede; and  former Vice-Chancellor of Fountain University, Osogbo,  Professor Bashir Raji, highlighted the significant role of Offa to human capital  development especially in the area of western education.

    The forum said Offa placed a lot of premium on education as far back as 20th century and that this was stimulated by the establishment of St Mark’s (Anglican) Primary School in 1909 by the Church Missionary Society.

    The academics also noted that the establishment of Offa Grammar School which was the first Community owned Secondary School in the then Northern Nigeria in 1943 by the Offa Descendant Union which resulted in production of a vast number of Offa indigenes and non indigenes alike who are well educated remained a milestone.

    The forum said OPF would be providing informed advice to relevant authorities on emerging issues as might be required from time to time.

    The forum frowned that Kwara State Government is not equitable in its appointment to principal officers position in the state owned tertiary institutions

  • Education leads Borno‘s N125.8b budget

    Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima has presented to the Borno State Assembly a budget of N125.8 billion for the 2019 fiscal year.

    Education takes the lion’s share with 22.4 billion allocated for equipping, completion and management of numerous projects in primary, secondary and tertiary schools across the state.

    Shettima, who described the budget as his last, recalled that his first budget was presented on December 29, 2011.

    Further breakdown of allocation to education revealed that in sectoral allocations, three components of education: secondary, primary and tertiary schools were allocated N9.2 billion, N4.2 billion and N8.9 billion, amounting to N22.4 billion and making it the highest recipient of resources.

    Health sector followed with N15 billion, N11 billion was allocated for gratuities.

    Other sectors, such as Works and Transport were allocated N7.4 billion, Water Resources got N5.3 billion, Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement got N4.7 billion, agriculture N3.9 billion, Environment got N3.4 billion while N3.1 billion was set aside for construction and maintenance of roads by the state roads maintenance agency.

    Various sums were allocated to other ministries and government agencies for the 2019 fiscal year.

    The governor later laid down the budget in the presence of lawmakers led by the Speaker of the Assembly, AbdulKareem Lawan who presided over the session.

    Earlier in his review of the 2018 Budget, Shettima emphasised the construction of 44 new mega schools, targeting about 50,000 children whose parents were killed by Boko Haram insurgents.