The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Education

  • NCCE to Review Curriculum of Colleges of Education

    National Council of Colleges of Education (NCCE) is set to review the curriculum of colleges of Education across the country to reduce the course overload on students.

    The Provost of the Niger state College of Education, Minna, Professor Yakubu Muhammad Auna disclosed this during the pre-convocation press briefing in Minna.
    Auna said that the review is to ensure that the students offer courses which they will be able to assimilate as against the overload of courses they currently over now.
    “College of Education students offer more courses that the university students, they are overloaded with courses. This is the reason why NCCE is reviewing the curriculum standard in order to reduce the number of courses and  being offered by the students.
    “By the time the new curriculum is out, the students will have cause to smile as they will no longer be over burden with courses and the failure rate among the students will be reduced. “
    The Nation gathered that an average College of Education student offers a minimum of 15 courses per semester and this development has increased the failure of courses by students.
    Speaking on the 27th combined convocation ceremony, the Provost said that 15,333 students will be conferred with Nigeria Certificate of Education and awards on Saturday.
    He further said that 27 programmes of the college has received full accreditation adding that the college would soon commence e-examinations as efforts are being made to rehabilitate the Computer based center (CBT).
    Auna however lamented that the paucity of funds have affected the way projects are being undertaken by the institution saying that the state government has stopped giving overheads to the institution and this has affected the institution.
    “Since the commencement of this administration, they have stopped giving overhead to our institution and due to this, we are unable to execute a lot of projects. We have to rely on money paid by students but we are also limited as most of these fees are user fees. Getting funds to execute projects has been very difficult.”

  • Calisthenics: We’ve bequeathed worthy legacy in education, says Aregbesola

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said his administration had bequeathed a worthy legacy of sound learning and character to pupils across the state.

    He attributed the achievements his administration recorded in the Education sector as a direct indication of its commitment to revamp, revive, transform and change the face of education across the state.

    Aregbesola spoke at this year’s Osun State-wide school calisthenics competition grand finale organised by the Department of Social and Grassroots Mobilisation and Guidance in the Office of the Governor.

    He said his administration had rebranded and placed Osun on the path of healthy, growing, economic development and prosperity, as reflected in the successes of his policies and programmes.

    The governor, who said the state under his watch had not only popularised calisthenics as a critical extra-curriculum engagement, added that the exercise had come to stay with pupils in public schools as well as those in private schools.

    Read also: Aregbesola, Oyetola hail Osun Finance Commissioner

    He said: “As a government, we are happy today to have introduced this beautiful exercise to Osun and bequeathed it as a worthy legacy of our administration.

    “It was Chief Bola Ige who introduced callisthenics to Nigeria in the Second Republic. But regrettably, it died with the end of civilian rule in 1983.

    “We, however, reintroduced callisthenics to Nigeria in 2011 when we engaged two Cubans, Francis Rodriguez and Raiza Guerra, who trained the first set.

    “This set performed in 2012 during the ceremonies of Osun at 21st anniversary. Calisthenics was also on display during Oodua World Children’s Day the following year. By this time, our own people have been trained by the Cubans and have taken over the role of trainers.

    “Then, again, we showcased the beauty of callisthenics during the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the creation of Osun in 2016. Also, at the third anniversary of the second term of our administration last year, callisthenics featured, as it was beamed live from this stadium to the whole world.

    “The children themselves were also treated to calisthenics display during this year’s Children’s Day at this same stadium.

    “Callisthenics began with public schools around Osogbo; it has since been taken to all the nooks and crannies of the state and now extended to private schools, many of whom, I am told, have excelled in the sport.”

     

  • ‘We need the best brain in our education sector’

    Alhaji Tajudeen Ibrahim, an expert in Civil Engineering and Construction Management was into Construction business for many years before he became the CEO FUNTAJ International School in Asokoro, Abuja.
    In this interview with Omolara Akintoye, he speaks about the role of education to national development and good education.

     

    Your educational background?

    I went to Omolewa Nursery and Primary School in Ibadan. After all the sojourn of my father politically where he was grounded to zero during the Operation Wet e, in those days, it was big trouble to get out of the village and come to Ibadan.

    Later I went to Children Home School and spent a short period there before going to Ibadan Grammar School. I also attended Adeola Odutola College in Ijebu-Ode.  I didn’t complete my Higher School
    Certificate (HSC) before I proceeded to America where I obtained my first and second Degree, first in Civil Engineering in Washington University, second in Construction Management before I came back to Nigeria.

     

    Your growing up

    I was born in 1960 and my parents are still very much alive. I’m a lucky one and they reside in Ibadan. I’ve gone through the thick and thin to get to get to the position I am today. I was not born with silver spoon because my parents, particularly my father was just coming out of civil service as a forest guard in our hometown, Ikire in Osun State.

    So I did not see any qualification of silver spoon in that for the fact that as a civil servant, he only relied on his salary, and struggles to make ends meet but as he was growing old, his life was getting better and I woke up and grew with his rise in achieving success.

    I got quite a lot of inspirations from my father.  He was a very hardworking man who never gives up on anything and his watchword is work hard and you will make it.  Just believe in yourself whatever you want to undertake, so I will say I really learned a lot from that.
    His own wish is that everybody, both biological and non-biological children must get the best of education and equal opportunity for everyone despite the polygamy setting.

    What was the first business you ventured into?

    I worked with my father in his construction company.   As a Civil Engineer, I had to help him shape up his company.  I had to inject some new ideas into the company which was quite challenging, but later we started getting contracts, we constructed political parties’ offices in Ondo and Oyo states.

    Eventually we got a very big contract to build one of the three primary secretariats under ACON Nigeria Limited, in Abuja.  He was the Managing Director of the company then and I was the Contract Director.

    Why did you venture into education?

    When I came back from America, I said I needed to get some qualitative experience so I worked with Strabag Construction in 1984/85 and I was transferred to Abuja. That was when I solicited contracts for my father’s company and since the jobs were many, I needed to pull out and resign from the company after taking a lot of contracts from the Federal Capital and Ogbomosho/Ikirun road aside other small contracts.

    After that I decided to be on my own because polygamy in the long run I would be looked at as if I
    was the one sitting on the chair of my father’s wealth so I had a discussion with my father and I registered my own company UJAT Nigeria Limited in 1986 which is my first name Taju spelt from the back.

    Then FUNTAJ came out of inspiration from my sojourn in the construction industry where I now know that there are challenges doing government contracts.  If you have pride, you might not be able to survive in the sense that bureaucracy is not something I would say I enjoyed even working with my
    father.

    I have passion to make sure children are getting the best out of their lives so education came to my mind. Fortunately for me, I have a wife I could put on line to run the school because I am an engineer, but I have passion for education and luckily for me she shared the passion with me.

    So we formed the school FUN stands for her name Funke and TAJ for Tajudeen; FUNTAJ International School which is 22 year old.

     

    What were the initial challenges you faced establishing the school?

    It wasn’t challenging because it was when the government had lost it at the trial period of government where the private schools were not doing well and we had a lot of elites all over Abuja yearning for qualitative school.
    So we came embraced properly and it was a very interesting story.  We started with 10 classrooms in Asokoro, we had a focus, vision and of course it’s the darling school in Abuja.

    What gives FUNTAJ School an edge among its contemporaries?

    Our belief is to make sure that whatever talent you have, we help you bring it out and develop it.  Not only about education, our orientation is to give the child total package in terms of moral confidence to stand on his or her own.  Our alumni base is very outstanding and I’m really proud of what they have done
    over the 22 years.

    In terms of teaching personnel, how do you ensure that your teachers are not among those that consider teaching as the last option which is the general practice today?

    We are noted for standard because when you get a qualitative teacher, you get a qualitative student. We don’t compromise on the standard we have set and that has really spoken for us till today.

    We ensure total quality in whatever teacher we employ and they also go through rigorous process before
    being employed and we train and retrain them.

    Talking about examination malpractice, private schools have been labeled as major culprits.  What is your response on this?

    I have a very high integrity on that particular subject.  I hear some schools do it, but it never existed to the best of my knowledge and it will never happen here. We’ve seen cases where parents would come but we tell them this is our own discipline here, if you cannot abide by it then you are free to go elsewhere. Maybe that has tagged us a pompous school but we are not moved. My pride is that the school has never produced any failure in whatever examination we partake in.

    What is your advice to the government on how to attract best brains to teaching profession?

    It’s a long journey but we need to first of all go back to the rudiments and fundamentals. We have to go

    back to the basis. We have gone off the track, educational wise and social development wise.  Corruption has grabbed the whole system and so on. The attention to what a teacher is supposed to
    give is already challenged and it starts from the government, politicians are self-centered and are not interested in any progress.

    Their manifesto is a bunch of lies.  If you want to grow a nation, you start from the education path.  It’s unfortunate that 90 percent of all our good quality professionals are outside because that’s where they can get job security and maintain all the challenges of life, because life is short and you have
    to make hay while the sun shines.

    The brain drain can be addressed if we go back to re-chart our course, give the correct infrastructure and  give the correct template for people to develop on.

  • ‘Arts, education create fun’

    Child development advocate and founder Delightsome Land School, Victoria Island, Lagos, Tayo Olanrewaju has said that the synergy between arts and education creates fun. She expressed shock on how overtime fun has been taken out of arts and education.

    According to her, most people associate the system that promotes learning for self and social development to mean difficulty, sweat and tears. “But to me, arts and education should be fun. It depends on your perspective,” she added.

    Olanrewaju stressed that she is in support of arts in synergy with education, self-development and societal upliftment likeother profession. She however expressed worry that the drudgery we have replaced fun with is not serving its purpose.

    “Learning is fun. I mean human beings have a natural curious element that makes us want to know new things. But, somehow we are forgetting to want to learn new things that will make us better as a whole. We choose to learn new things that have no meaning. Human beings would not be fulfilled remaining at the same level of knowledge all the time. We want to know new things. It’s all about perspective. It’s about vision. What are we looking at? Who are we trying to become, and to what purpose?”

    She disclosed that she is working on a few projects to promote her passion for arts education and child development. But, she is keeping details close to her chest until the time is right.”The problem is near endemic and something must be done about the future of our children and our nation. Someone has got to do it. I may be the one to start the fire that will grow and engulf the whole forest,” she added.

  • Education needs N2tn annually, says Babalakin

    The Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr Wale Babalakin (SAN), has said the Education sector needs N2 trillion funding annually to produce well-trained graduates who can compete favourably with their counterparts around the world.

    He said the current complaint about unemployment in the country would become history if the quality of education improves and meets international standards.

    The lawyer spoke yesterday while delivering the 20th anniversary lecture of the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, titled: Technical Education and the Industry: Bridging the Gap for National Development.

    Babalakin, who was the guest lecturer, said it was sad that no multinational company in Nigeria was headed by a Nigerian, as was the case in the past.

    The lawyer blamed the development on poor education and the “bad attitude” of many Nigerians to work.

    Saying the solution to many of Nigeria’s problems was quality education, he said the government alone cannot fund education and multiple sources of funding were required.

    The lawyer further explained that it was important for the government to increase its budget for education and urged the private sector to also contribute to education funding.

    He said quality education must never be compromised while all hands must be on deck to achieve it.

    Calling for the establishment of an Education Bank that would give loans to indigent students, Babalakin said such loans would cover tuition fees and provide for the students’ upkeep.

    According to him, a conducive environment needs to be provided for students to bring out the best in them.

    Based on the assertion by the National Universities Commission (NUC) that it would cost $3,000 per course annually to adequately train an undergraduate, Babalakin said, for example, the Education Bank can give N1 million loan to an undergraduate annually with N700,000 earmarked for his fees and N300,000 for feeding and upkeep.

    The lawyer said the loans would be repaid at no more than five per cent interest rate and would be payable within six years when the student starts working with no more than 10 per cent of his/her salary going for loan repayment.

    He said the sums paid as school fees would also be channelled towards improving tertiary institutions.

    Allaying fears that the graduates may not get jobs, Babalakin said: “We don’t have jobs because our graduates are not well trained and do not have the right attitude to work. When employers have confidence in the quality of education, they will be open to employing Nigerians and stop bringing in expatriates.”

    The lawyer called for the transfer of technology from expatriates to Nigerians in order to build the capacity of the nation’s human capital.

    He said: “If today the biggest construction company in Nigeria is Julius Berger, it is an indictment on every Nigerian who has any affiliation with technology.”

    Babalakin also called for a proper reward system, saying except in the case of minimum wage, workers should be rewarded based on their performance as against blanket payment for everyone.

    The Rector of Yaba College of Technology, Mr Obafemi Omokungbe, said the college has a centre for entrepreneurship that trains students to be self-employed and employers of labour.

    The lecture was chaired by the former Chairman of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Sir Remi Omotosho.

  • 2019 election budget: Senate cuts N35.5bn from Power, Education

    The Senate Wednesday cut N25.5billion from the N714.668billion appropriated for the Power sector in the 2018 budget. The cut is to form part of funds vired for the conduct of the 2019 general elections.

    Similarly, the Education sector also had N10.238 billion yanked from its N651.226billion appropriated for the Education ministry in the 2018 budget.

    The budget cuts are meant to fill gaps in the N242.2 billion election expenses budget for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security and para military agencies.

    The budget cut also affected 28 other Ministries, Departments and Agencies ( MDAs), even as another N121.2 billion was cut from existing Service Wide Votes.

    The Senate took the decision at plenary on Wednesday following recommendations to that effect by its standing Committee on Appropriation.

    The report, as presented by the chairman of the Committee, Senator Danjuma Goje (APC, Gombe Central), stated that the N242bn earmarked for the elections was vired from Service Wide Votes (Special Intervention Programme).

    The Goje report observed that there was need to source the part of funds from the budgets of the MDAs, to avoid large scale depletion of the Service Wide Votes.

    Consequently, the cut from the Service Wide Votes was reduced to N121 billion, while the remaining N121 billion was cut from the budgets of 30 MDAs

    Besides the Power and Education Ministries, other MDAs affected are Federal Ministry of Water Resources with N12.954bn cut from its N155.149bn 2018 budget and Federal Ministry of Agriculture where N11billion was cut from its N203bn 2018 budget.

    Others affected by the cut are Ministry of Budget and National Planning N8.845bn, Ministry of Defence N2.636bn, Foreign Affairs N1.737bn and Federal Ministry of Health N8.059bn.

    Also affected are Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation N6.734bn, Office of the National Security Adviser N1.120bn, Ministry of Labour and Employment N2.727bn, Information and Culture N1.884bn, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs N1.199bn, Science and Technology N7.466bn , Industry, Trade and Investment N7.085bn etc .

    The senate committee report however retained the spread of the N242bn votes for the conduct of the 2019 general elections for the INEC, security and paramilitary agencies.

    Breakdowns of the allocations to the agencies are INEC-N189bn, Police -N27.3bn, and Office of the National Security Adviser – N9.481bn.

    Others are the Department of State Services (DSS) – N10.213bn; Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) -N3.573bn; and Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) -N2.628bn.

  • Fayemi moves to reposition education in Ekiti

    EKITI State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on Friday, inaugurated visitation panels for three state-owned institutions in its drive to reposition tertiary education in the state. Also inaugurated was a Fact Finding Committee for the state’s Broadcasting Service. The visitation panels, which were set up through executive orders signed by the Governor, are for Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti, and College of Health Sciences and Technology, Ijero Ekiti respectively.

    Inaugurating the panels at the Governor’s Office, Ado-Ekiti, Fayemi charged members to take proper review of the issues that have come up in past few years in the state, adding that government constituted the panels because it did not want to act on hearsay from some quarters of the society. Fayemi stressed the need for them to conduct a programme of evaluation of the philosophy and targets of the institutions and ensure that academic standard initially envisaged is not devalued. He assured the citizenry that members of the panels are experts with track records of excellence and integrity.

    The governor urged the panels to complete their assignment in record time and ensure that their reports contain recommendations that are implementable. He said: “What is important is that your reports contain very specific measurable recommendations, not nebulous recommendations that are not implementable. “It must be very specific and it will be easy to hold us to account if we do not implement the recommendations that you have come up with. For the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State, the Governor said, “This is an institution that ran foul of the law which caused its closure by the National Broadcasting Commission in order for it not to create crisis in the state. “We have asked those who are in that panel to look into what led to this and how to guide against this in the future and how to try to insulate the broadcasting service from undue political infiltration.

    It is also important to at least ensure that the statute setting up that institution is adhered to.” Responding on behalf of other panel members, the Chairman of the visitation panel for Ekiti State University, Prof. Bode Asubiojo, thanked the governor for giving them the opportunity to serve and assured that they will do their best to achieve the desired result within the ambit of the time given to them. The terms of reference for the panels on Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti and College of Education, Ikere Ekiti were to inquire into the level of implementation of the white paper on the last Visitation Panel Report in 2007; evaluate the leadership quality of the institutions in terms of the roles of the Governing Council, the Vice-Chancellor and other Principal Officers. The panels are also expected to examine the financial management of the institutions including Statutory Allocations and Internally Generated Revenue over the recommended period, and determine whether it was in compliance with appropriate regulations, statutes, acts and laws of the institutions.

    The panels will also investigate the application of funds, particularly special grants, loans meant for specific projects in order to determine the status of such projects and their relevance for further funding; determine the adequacy or otherwise of staff and examine the quality of its staff development programmes, among other duties. The terms of reference for the Fact –Finding Committee for the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State (BSES) are to examine the adherence of BSES to the broadcasting code of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission including the circumstances that led to the suspension of its license; examine the financial management of the BSES including Statutory Allocations and advise on its sustainability.

    Members of the EKSU visitation panel are: Prof. Bode Asubiojo (Chairman); Jide Akinleye (Secretary); Ayo Ogunruku, Prof. Rufus Taiwo Akinyele, Prof. Femi Akinwumi and Dr. Femi Orebe, Dr. Hakeem Bakare, Engr. Akinwale Ayodeji, Prof. Chiedu Mafiana and Barr. Biodun Fasakin. The Visitation Panel for the College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti has Prof. Oluyemisi Obilade as Chairman while Mr Sola Ogunmiluyi is the Secretary. Other members are Prof. Craig Obafemi, Prof. Kola Oladunmoye, Prof. Olumuyiwa Igbalajobi, Dr. Patrick Ajila, Dr. Femi Akinola and Mr. Ayo Aroge. The Fact-Finding Committee on BSES has Segun Omolayo as chairman while Ibrahim Ganiyu is the secretary. Members include Biodun Akin Fasae, Sola Salako–Ajulo, Gbenga Ogunremi, Ronke Samo and Gbenga Aruleba among others. The Committee for the College of Health Sciences and Technology has Prof. Sola Fasubaa as Chairman and Bamidele Arowosola as Secretary. Other members include Prof. Oluyemi Akinloye, Prof. Deborah Egunyomi, Dr (Mrs) Folakemi Falore, Philip Amujo, Dr Sikiru Eniola and Dr Sunday Aniyi. The four Panels were given four weeks to submit their reports and recommendations.

  • Education: summits and retreats (2)

    Providing quality public education cannot but cost governments money, like every other thing expected to bring good returns in the modern world

    The significance of this summit is obvious. We cannot progress beyond the level and standard of our education. Today, it is those who acquire the most qualitative education, equipped with requisite skills and training, and empowered with practical knowhow that are leading the rest. We cannot afford to continue lagging behind. Education is our launchpad to a more successful, more productive and more prosperous future. This administration is committed to revitalizing our education system and making it more responsive and globally competitive- President Buhari at a recent Education Retreat

    The first part of this piece raised the following issues: i) ideology is pivotal to any nation’s readiness to provide the right education for citizens; ii) such ideology does not have to be communist or capitalist to see the importance of education in a knowledge-driven world; iii)  any government that seriously believes in the power of knowledge to individual and national advancement is bound to give both real and rhetorical emphasis to public education; iv) far-reaching reforms of public education will come from belief by national leaders that education is not just for individual upward mobility but also for advancement of the nation; v) that summits and retreats by stakeholders may not be enough to ensure adequate commitment of government to expansion and sustenance of access of citizens to public education; vi) that free and compulsory public education for citizens at both primary and secondary levels is the least that any that governments that want to achieve individual and national productivity and prosperity can do to make investment of citizens’ tax in education profitable.

    Today’s focus is on quality of education as source of good returns on investment of public funds on education of citizens. This view is most aptly put by President Buhari in the selection above from his Opening Remarks at a recent retreat on education in Abuja. Emphasis in the quotation is the author’s. Just like provision of education, assurance of quality also depends on or derives from commitment of government leaders to investing in adding value to citizenry and citizenship.

    Admittedly, public education is not the only way for citizens to acquire education, but it is the only way to ensure that all citizens, regardless of economic power, are given opportunities to acquire the basic knowledge needed for them to survive and thrive in today’s complex world. By basic education, I mean at least 12 years of structured learning for each citizen from the age of five. In a country seeking development like Nigeria, emphasis of stakeholders should not be on sharing the financial burden of educating citizens at the primary and secondary levels between government and citizens. On the contrary, stakeholders should encourage government to pluck the political will to ensure that its citizens are given unfettered access to free and qualitative education until they turn 17 or 18 years of age.

    Providing quality public education cannot but cost governments money, like every other thing expected to bring good returns in the modern world. Stakeholders, especially such as those who met in Akure recently, are right to worry about cost-effectiveness, without necessarily casting such concern as cost avoidance on the part of government. And stakeholders at the Akure meeting are right to worry about how to achieve quality education as they do in the recommendations quoted in the epigraph. Very pertinent is the call for review and domestication of the curriculum and efficient management of teaching and learning.

    But the threat to quality of teaching and learning need to be examined not in an atmospheric manner but in specific terms that capture contribution of each stakeholder to quality or lack of quality: government, teachers, students, and parents. The government is the principal stakeholder; it provides the philosophy and regulations that guide education, including determining who becomes teachers in the society. If the government is happy to just get by, its choice will have implications for the product of schooling. For example, in a country where teaching is considered an occupation for citizens who do not qualify to do regular undergraduate degrees in specific disciplines, there should be no surprise if teachers are unable to make learning interesting and attractive to learners, a basic pedagogical requirement for success in learning.

    For many decades, education of teachers is projected as the least demanding of the three tertiary institutions. We started many decades ago with a policy allowing candidates with lower qualifications in WAEC to enter colleges of education. The policy in 2017 on admission to college of education is still the same. For example, a score of 200 in Joint Admission and Matriculation Board examination is required of students for admission to study in regular universities, candidates with 150-180 out of a total score of 400 are admissible to college of education. Without mincing words, what this policy admits is that teaching is the occupation for high school students who could not obtain 50% pass on of the questions asked on Admission and Matriculation examinations. A government—national or regional—that admits its weakest students to the profession that generates and propagates knowledge has chosen deliberately to provide anything other than quality education.  It is unusual for people who plant okra to expect to harvest garden egg. Countries that score high in international examinations like PISA: Finland, Scotland, South Korea, Netherlands, to name a few, not only admit their best into the teaching profession, they also give their teachers enviable salaries and benefits.

    The government is also expected to provide conducive learning environment. Just as it is with the choice of candidates for the teaching profession, school infrastructure and learning conditions in our country are not the type to make learners curious. Generally, public school environment is drab and more likely to depress than excite teachers and students in them. It must have been an attempt by some governments to respond to the socio-fugal learning environment of public schools that made them create special public schools called Mega or Model schools, even in the region that served as trailblazer for universal primary and secondary education. The effect of such schools is ghettoization of most public schools in many parts of the country. There will be more on this next week in the section on equity.

    Furthermore, the culture of public service that is needed to create and sustain quality in public education has also declined considerably. How many civil servants can tell their governors today that more money should be voted to public education than to salaries and perquisites of political office holders and civil servants? Chief Awolowo’s budget on education was more than the 26% of budget being recommended by UNESCO today as minimum that developing countries should commit to education. In the days of Chief Simeon Adebo, ministers and legislators did not have the last say on what they wanted to earn as salaries and fringe benefits in a government that told everybody that education of citizens was its cardinal goal and walked its talk on this.

    Apart from being called upon to vote periodically, citizens need to be involved more directly in determining which projects their taxes are spent on, whether provision of access to education and health or purchase of bogus edifices or aircrafts for rulers. A governance system that gives citizens opportunities in referendums to indicate their preference on how tax money is spent must be central to restructuring, especially now that the country may be entering the post-petroleum ethos and returning to productive economy, alias Diversification. Leaving all decisions about how to create a credible and transformative education sector to summits, retreats, and declaration of emergency sounds more rhetorical than practical. It is about time to walk the talk.

    This piece had appeared on this page before as one of three parts. It is the recent announcement by the federal government to declare an emergency on education that has made me retrieve this from my repertoire for sharing with the public as it gets ready to participate in Federal Government’s emergency, especially in an election season.

    Roposek@msn.com

  • Traditional practitioners undergo continuous education

    As part of the statutory functions of the Nigerian Council of Physicians of Natural Medicine (NCPNM), which include training of practitioners of traditional, complimentary and alternative medicine, the second part of this year’s training held in Lagos. OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA was at the four-day event.

    THEY came in trickles, one after the other, walking briskly into the venue of the event – NERDC Hotel, opposite African Shrine, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos. They were medical doctors interested in naturopathy. They came to participate in the four-day continuing professional development course for the second part in the year. It was made compulsory by the Medical and Dental Council (MDCN) for the Nigerian Council of Physicians of Natural Medicine (NCPNM) to  have such training twice in a year for its members.

    The programme was in collaboration with the West African University of Natural Medicine (WAUNAMED), the National College of Natural Medicine for Traditional Complimentary Medicine (TCAM) and Natural Medicine practitioners.

    The theme was: Promotion and development of TCAM and Natural medicine- a tool for economic recovery growth plan for Nigeria.

    Underscoring the importance of the gathering, and the collaboration, NCPNM President Prof Magnus Atilade said the body is a professional membership-based regulatory organisation with functions and objectives of promoting and developing all forms of natural medicine, training and certification.

    “Continuing education is often delivered as degree-completion programmes, certificate programmes, and diploma programmes at colleges. Whether it is required or not, continuing education can be important for career satisfaction. Continuing education can boost confidence and lead to opportunities for career advancement.

    “Be more qualified. Although not all jobs require a degree, employers are looking for the most qualified candidate, so be that person. Make more money. On the average, over a lifetime of earnings, participants earn more than their non participating counterparts. Demonstrate success. Today’s practice is more sophisticated and employers are expecting more with respect to skill, complexity, and specialisation.

    “Participants gain a competitive edge. As more people continue their education, the competition for high paying, stable jobs will increase. Experience combined with education demonstrates to employers your motivation and drive to succeed. Secure your future. People with higher levels of education tend to have better job security—and any credential you earn stays with you for life. A better lifestyle is assured. If a job ceiling is holding you back, a continuous study will help you push through and separate you from the status quo” he said.

    He continued: “Gain confidence. This level of exposures and experiences provide revelation to a variety of topics and through-leaders that will help you expand your horizons. Improve your social network. This gives a fertile ground, so to speak, where you can network with similar people, virtually or in person. Improve your discipline. Those with higher levels of education are more focused and get things done. Just what employers are looking for.  In all, this will improve your business network.”

    According to Prof Atilade, Association of Physicians of Alternative Medicine (NAPAM) is a Medical and Dental Council recognised association for all doctors of alternative medical discipline in the country. “They include chiropractors, osteopaths, homeopaths, naturopaths and acupuncturists. The Medical practitioners Act 2004 recognises the above disciplines as alternative medicine under the MDCN.

    “The National College of Natural Medicine (NACONAMED) is the official graduate and post-graduate professional training arm of NCPNM, approved by the Federal Ministry of Health in 2005, with the mandate of training and certification of all levels of practitioners in the field of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine. The College is recognised by the Educational Department of the World Naturopathic Federation. And it was visited by the MDCN in 2007; and the Ministry of Education this year,” he said.

    He added: “WAUNAMED was established as a professional conventional and distance learning, research- based university for the promotion, training, research and inculcation of  research of African origin,” said Prof Atilade, adding “the aim is to achieve economic prosperity, health, peace, and social well being for the entire human race at large, and West Africans in particular.”

    The institution, he said, is validated by the West African Federation of Traditional and Alternative Medicine Associations, institutions and relevant partners, and it is chartered by the NCPNM.

    Assuring participants that cut across various fields that they were in the right body and doing the right thing, Prof Atilade said the terms – Alternative and Complementary, have always attracted some criticisms. “So, the founding fathers of the council, therefore, chose the term Natural Medicine as a more appropriate definition of our scope. Natural Medicine is the umbrella name for all forms of medical care system outside the mainstream of orthodox medicine. It comprises- Traditional indigenous Nigerian Medicine such as traditional bone setters, traditional birth attendants, and herbalists,” he said.

    “Alternative medicine as recognised by the MDCN Acts are Acupuncture, Osteopathic, Homeopathic, Chiopractic and, Naturopathic medicines. And Natural Complementary Therapies, such as Shiatu, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Acupressue, Nutritional Medicine, Yoga heb, meditation, magnetherapy, Electro Homeopathy, Ayuvedic medicine, Unani etc,” he added.

    The body, Prof Atilade said, is making a head way as the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole has initiated the creation of the department of Traditional, Complementary, and Alternative Medicine in the Ministry of Health.

    Director of Research of the institution, Prof Idowu Ogunkoya, said there is the need to ensure that the right person heads the department. “That will speed up the achievement of things that will quicken the rightful positioning of traditional medicine in the country as we have in China, Ghana, China and now Europe. It is a necessity to always put the right peg in the right hole. An orthodox doctor cannot understand the dynamics of traditional medicine,” he said.

    He added: “So, that department should have either somebody, who is grounded in pharmacognosy, or a pure naturopath or other practitioners of the diverse fields of traditional medicine. Pharmacognosy is the study of medicines or crude drugs produced from natural sources such as plants, microbes, and animals. It includes analysis of their biological, chemical, biochemical, and physical properties, so such a person with deep knowledge of this will at least push things, instead of a medical doctor that has no deep knowledge of dynamics of traditional medicine.”

    Lectures delivered on those days included “Review of human anatomy and physiology (upper extremities); Path-physiology of major organs and diseases; Introduction to infectious diseases; Professional ethics/politics and Professionalism”.

    Also, medical diagnoses and procedures and techniques; botanical identification and classification/therapeutic effects; production methods; issues on production; marketing and financial management; Traditional medicine development and production chain were discussed at the seminar.

    Others were emergency management and basic life support; natural diagnostic technique; electronic assessment and examination.

    Facilitators were Professors Bade Adewale; Titi Oduye; Idowu Ogunkoya;  Gilbert Ezengige;  Dike Celestine and Lawrence Ugo.

    The doctors  included Duru Bede; Betty Nwokobia; Joseph Akpile; Emmanuel Udi; Rotimi Olotu; Nnaemeka Nwuize and Martin Ojeyemi.  Mrs B. Kusa and Mrs Kabira Ogunkoya, who gave some insights to the participants.

    The lecturers all harped on the minimum standard of premises if they want to set up practice. More practitioners were inducted, while participants got certificates.

  • Why every classroom should count

    I read this morning that the National Economic Council (NEC) was set to declare a state of emergency on education in Nigeria. About time, I thought. From reports, it has got to the stage where pupils themselves are beginning to go on strike and are refusing to go to school. I think though that our efforts should begin by taking a good look at the Nigerian classroom and the neglect meted out to it. Believe me, every one of those classrooms, under the tree or not, represents the sum of all our failures.

    If I ever find myself carrying any placard at all, I’m sure it will read one thing only: EVERY CLASSROOM COUNTS! Luckily, I am too timid to carry one. Anyway, the reason is that too many times, the nation tends to forget many things. It forgets that every pupil in the land is a product of the classroom. Heck, even those people taking political, social and economic decisions tend to forget that they passed through several classrooms in their checkered careers as students. People’s ideologies, perspectives, friendships, bonds, marriages and other life-ties are formed in them across the entire educational strata. Why then do we neglect to take the classroom into account in all of our plans?

    It is gratifying to remember that there is no world leader today that did not go through several classrooms. Many of us have different stories to tell about the classrooms we have been. I have shared many of my own experiences in some of the classrooms I have been on this column. You remember the joke that goes, ‘she has two teenage children but no other abnormalities’? So also, in those days, the normal classrooms were largely sane and fairly normal, except for the pupils. We were the abnormal ones, but not anymore.

    In the Nigerian public classroom, what was normal has become abnormal and what was abnormal has become… well, more abnormal. Let’s begin with the normal turned abnormal. You remember how neat and clean the school environment used to be? It began with the buildings. Even in the remote rural areas, the school buildings were not necessarily the best nor did they stand out for their designs. However, you could tell them apart for the authority they represented in their designs, colours and school playgrounds.

    Now, the abnormal rules. There are school grounds that are no different from the rocky, roughshod and unkempt environment which shares borders with them. The buildings are not only dilapidated; they are actual dangers to the pupils that attend them. In many of them, the walls that have plaster have lost their colours, and the ones that have colours have no plaster. Oh yes, you can see pale or black or somewhere in the twilight zone of brown colour peeping at you from the sands in the walls. Generally, in most public schools, the sand serenades the one who leans against them. The same thing goes for the floorings: many have none, some have cracked ones while others have learners stepping on molded earth. To run therefore, the children have to undulate between earth, blocks and concrete.

    Many school blocks have open roofs that are pointing skywards because somewhere between rainstorms, no one cared enough to put back the troubled sheets of roofing. Eventually, of course, the sheets take their leave. Then the classroom becomes open to the elements, worsening the incursion of the wild – rain, storms, hail, animals, crows, etc. I guess it points to our generous nature – we did say all were welcome to go in and learn in the Nigerian classroom.

    Sadly, even the favoured wooden panes are no longer on the Nigerian classroom windows. When they do hang around, they do exactly that: hang around, because they are broken and not replaced. So, resourceful pupils begin to use the permanently open windows as alternative routes for getting in and out of the classroom.

    Now, it was normal to love and hate the teacher at that time because he did his work too well. In those normal times, the teacher was the head of the class. S/he was respected and appreciated. One world leader even married one of his teachers! Now, that is what I call appreciation sir! I think her teaching methods and ability ensured this. In the Nigerian situation, the teacher is not so appreciated I think, neither by his or her wards, the parents or the employer, which is often the state. When the salary is paid, it is delayed or dangled like a carrot that is never released. Most times, the teacher is expected to make do with thin air for sustenance. In return, he or she does little or no work.

    I have often asked myself what can be responsible for all these ruinous situations and have not been able to come up with the appropriate answer other than, well, we are living in a third world country and these are the signs. I think the principal culprit though is the weather. The weather is much too kind to us around these parts. The sun smiles down upon our blessed pates almost round the clock so there is no need to go scurrying around repairing anything before a hail of snow that can result in the death of all – pupil, teacher and the ignorer especially, i.e., the one who refused to release funds for the repairs or to pay the teacher. He may be the local government chairman, the state governor, the minister or the president. The chain of command is long.

    Funds may also be released but someone along that line-up of command may divert the funds and refuse to allow the repairs to be done. The general name for this kind of diversion of funds is corruption but I have a special name for it. I call it wickedness. I think it is plain, good ol’ wickedness that will prompt a man (or woman) to withhold an ensemble of funds needed to keep a school together and he would use it instead to send his or her own children to schools in the UK or the USA, leaving the poor children here to rot in ruins. The pervasiveness of this kind of wickedness in the land is what makes many people think that the black man is generally wicked. Luckily, women are not included so I agree.

    Seriously, I am taking two things from these thoughts. One, the classroom cannot attract innovative thinking in pupils if, in itself, it needs someone to do some innovative thinking for it. True, children should be made to go to school, but they must be made to want to go back to school and stay in school. Presenting them with learning environments that look like Greco-Roman ruins cannot make anyone come back the next day unless they are gluttons for punishment. The classroom should be made averagely attractive.

    The second thing is that the teacher should really begin to take charge of the class responsibly. As has been shown many times, many Nigerian teachers are lacking in knowledge, method and abilities to lead any child from ignorance into a state of knowledge. Many teachers’ interest in the job is at Ground Zero level; they stay in the job until ‘they get something better’ to do. For many, that time never comes. So, all their professional lives, they are ‘make-do’ teachers. As the head of the classroom, teachers need to be in charge. For this to happen, self-development is the key.

    I agree that a state of emergency should be declared in the educational sector. However, our efforts should include empowering the classroom so that true innovations can begin to come out of it. This means that every classroom counts.