The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Education

  • ASUP vow to continue strike

    ASUP vow to continue strike

    • Accuses govt of indifference to poly education
    Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has said that it will sustain its on going industrial action which has paralysed education in most public polytechnics across the country until government addresses all contending issues and take appropriate steps to reposition the sector.
    National President of ASUP, Asomuhga Chibuzo said at a news conference in Kaduna that it was regrettable that the federal government has failed to show concern over the repercussion of the ongoing strike by the polytechnic lecturers nor are they worries about the state of affairs in the sector.
    Chibuzo said the attitude of government to polytechnic education in the country is a clear indication of the estimation in which government holds polytechnic education, a perception that has acerbated the discrimination and marginalisation of the sector and its graduates by both the public and private sectors of the economy.
    He noted that while the government is busy intervening in other sectors that have been on strike or threatening strike, it has remained nonchalant about responding to the cry of the union and to end the on-going strike.
    He said further that the critical state of the polytechnic sector today has significantly been encouraged by government’s attitude and approach to issues concerning it, adding that with the current attitude of government towards polytechnics, there is no guessing why the much talked about technological development has continued to elude the country.
    According to him, part of the issues raised by the union was for the government to carry out a needs assessment of public polytechnics across the country just as it did with public universities in other to determine the funding needs of the polytechnics.
    He said “the universities were able to up with the funding requirement and the kind of funding they need after government has done a needs assessment of public universities. We have also asked government to do a needs assessment of polytechnics and it is only after an assessment that we will be able to come out with the funding portfolio of public polytechnics. Government has now set up a committee which is working at a slow pace.
    “There is also the aspect of the migration from CONTIS 15 which was approved in 2009. Although at that time, there was an implementation, it only covered the top echelon from level 12 and above even though the circular at that time approved the migration for the lower echelon.
    “It has taken us four years to get government to give another approval for the conclusion of this and the implementation of this, including the arrears will cost government about N20.6 billion. We have presented this to all the relevant bodies, but government has not been able to provide funding for this migration”.
    The ASUP president said that even though the government agreed to implement four of their demands before the strike was suspended in July, none of the demands was implemented until after the union resumed the strike on October 4, 2013.
    The four issues which he said the government agreed to implement were the immediate release of government white paper on visitation to federal  polytechnics, immediate implementation of CONTIS 15 migration for the lower cadres and its arrears from 2009; the constitution of Governing Councils for the Six Polytechnics and the carrying out the needs assessment of public polytechnics.
    He said further that it was only after the resumption of the strike that the government constituted the governing councils, approve the implementation of the CONTIS 15 migration, but has refused to fund it and approve the conduct of a needs assessment of the polytechnics.
    He noted that the challenges in the polytechnic sector in Nigeria are many and hav4e hampered the creation for a more convenient platform for the sector to grow and develop as is obtainable in the developed and developing countries of the world.
    The situation at hand he said “has sadly encouraged brain drain as most lecturers take the polytechnic sector only as a transit camp to the most preferred university system. The frustration is even more imminent as lecturers in the polytechnic sector are placed on the same salary scale with their non-academic counterparts as against what is obtainable in the university”.
  • ‘Our wish for education in 2014’

    ‘Our wish for education in 2014’

    2013 was a challenging year for education.  Stakeholders are praying that the demons of the past do not haunt the sector in 2014, report KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE and NICHOLAS KALU.

    For students and their parents, the prayer is that the lot of education, especially at the tertiary level, will be better in 2014 than it was in 2013. Last year, the sector was troubled by strikes and the Boko Haram menace.

    These events have not stopped stakeholders from hoping that 2014 will be better. When The Nation posed the question of hopes for the sector to teachers, rectors, vice-chancellors, commissioners and students, they all prayed that there would be positive changes this year.

    Topmost on their wish list is a stable calendar. Vice-Chancellor, Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, Prof Oladipo Aina, and his counterparts at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Prof Adebiyi Daramola; Federal University of Technology, Minnat (FUTMINNA), Prof Musbau Akanji; Caleb University, Imota, Prof Ayodeji Olukoju, Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Prof Olusola Fajana, and others, were united in this desire.

    Aina said the strike “led to a highly disrupted academic year and several adjunct problems” and hoped that in the New Year, such will not surface. He also hopes to see an end to underfunding and poor infrastructure, which, he said together with instability “have undermined the actualisation of the roles of universities as the fount and nursery of great ideas and the incubator of inventions and ennobling ideals through which societies are transformed and nations are built.”

    FUTMINNA VC, Prof Akanji is hoping that the Nigerian University System (NUS) can once again run a uniformed academic calendar, which would only be possible if there are no disruptions this year.

    “By the end of 2014, I wish that the education sector, especially the higher education segment will experience a major crisis- free year so that by 2015, we should all attain a stable normal academic calendar (September to June),” he said.

    Though JABU VC, Prof Fajana said it may take up to 50 years to right the wrongs in Nigerian education system, he noted that 2014 could signal a start to that recovery if the effort by ASUU to get the Federal Government to spend more on education is fruitful. He advocated s summit of the Nigerian University System to chart the recovery.

    He said: “I desire that the Nigerian University System (NUS) be more focused, possibly through a summit to be convened for all the operators of the NUS. At least at end 2014, a fairly good rebuilding of the foundation for recovery of the NUS would have been achieved. This is because the rot in the NUS over the years would take some time to remove. The aftermath of persistent rot is that half-baked graduates who have been released into the labour market have gone to infect the lower levels of the educational system (i.e., pre-primary and secondary levels) with mediocre performance. It probably would take another 30-50 years before a significant difference would be recorded, and that is if the effort of ASUU to sanitise the NUS in 2013 is allowed to bear the desired results in 2014 and beyond.”

    Prof Isaac Adewole, Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, is optimistic that ASUU’s efforts will begin to yield results this year.

    “I was one of the five Vice-Chancellors who mediated between ASUU and the Federal Government. Myself and the Vice-Chancellors of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi (Prof Muhammad Hamisu Mohammed); University of Lagos (Prof Rahamon Bello) Bayero University, Kano (Prof Abubakar Rasheed); and University of Port Harcourt (Prof Joseph Ajienka). In fact, we were called the G5 for the universities.

    “We are quite optimistic that 2014 will usher in unprecedented development in the university system. The committee has worked on the allocation of the N200 billion for 2013. We believe that if the guidelines are followed on the use of the funds, Vice-Chancellors will have no choice but to use the money for what it is stipulated.

    “Give this country another five years and the injection of N1.3 billion will usher in a situation where our universities will compete with even the best in the world,” he said.

    Vice-Chancellors are not alone in wishing for a stable calendar this year. The Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Dr Mufutau Olatinwo, also joined his voice to theirs when he said he desires a “crisis-free and internationally-competitive education system responsive to the needs of the country” by the end of the year.

    For Abubakar Aliyu Rafin Dadi, Students’ Union President, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, the only way to avoid strikes in the universities is for the Federal Government to stay true to its agreement with the workers’ unions, notably ASUU. He said the prompt release of the N220 billion the government has agreed to give for infrastructural development this year would make a world of difference.

    He said: “Sincerely speaking, the most important issue here, and my hope and prayer is that the Federal Government will keep up with the agreement it entered with the ASUU to release about N220 billion annually to uplift and upgrade the standard of equipment and infrastructural development of the universities.

    “By end of 2014, we will not see more of any industrial action from the ASUU of what so ever kind as long as the government keeps to their end of the bargain so that we have a smooth academic atmosphere in all universities.”

    Rafin Dadi also hopes that when released, the funds would be judiciously utilized and lead to the transformation of campuses nationwide.

    “We hope that when it is given, it will be judiciously utlised and will not be given to quack contractors and politicians so that it will be used for what was intended. We hope to see on ground these structures, facilities, rebranding and revitalization of education in Nigeria. Our belief is that education is at the fore front of any transformation agenda. And if the presidency is serious about the transformation, then they should demand that other agencies that TETFUND, PTDF and others will continue to fund the education system,” he said.

    Prof Tolu Odugbemi, Vice-Chancellor, Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH), Okitipupa, is however worried about the effect of corruption on the education system and prays for the return of values once cherished in the Nigerian society.

    He said: “Honesty, hard work and expression of all good values that we used to honour in the old days and even taught as Civics should be brought back as attributes of good citizens, not the acquisition of wealth by any means that are not decent and honourable. There is unbridled and reckless display of wealth, which should have been directed to productive ventures in health, education and agriculture. There should also be a workable code of conduct amongst various professional groups – teachers, judges, doctors, civil servants etc. Monies are recklessly spent in public places to show off. This behaviour is not good for the nation as it sends wrong signals to our youths.”

    Apart from a stable calendar, stakeholders also wish for successes in other areas of education.

    Private University administrators are praying 2014 will bring about a change in the way government treats private educational institutions and are hoping that more public funds will come their way.

    Prof Fajana said he particularly looks forward to an end to the discrimination against private universities.

    He said: “I hope 2014 will be more conducive for all operators as a more equitable playing ground would have evolved in which private universities are allowed to operate without current discriminations which are in the least so to say strangulating and de-motivating. Currently, private universities are not allowed access to any form of assistance from the Federal Treasury, not even the TETFUND. Graduates of private universities, who took part in the Presidential Scheme for Foreign training as part of their Career Development, were unfairly discriminated against because no candidate from the private university category has been offered the scholarship in spite of the very good performance of these graduates at the qualifying tests!”

    The Head of National Office (HNO) WAEC Nigeria, Mr Charles Eguridu, said the council has plans to reduce examination malpractice and improve performance of candidates in its examinations.

    Regarding malpractices, Eguridu said candidates will not enjoy the benefits of using technology to cheat as the Council will deploy powerful scanners to stop the importation of mobile phones into examination centres.

    “Some phones can scan questions, send to others and retrieve answers. But we are going to ensure that candidates don’t use technology to have undue advantage in our examinations.

    “Beginning with the May/June 2014 WASSCE, the Council is deploying cutting-edge technology in the conduct of its examinations, by using contactless Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Smart Card, for easy and accurate identification, automated attendance register, instant malpractice reporting and effective post examination management,” he said.

    To improve performance, Eguridu said the council will begin to organise workshops – but only for states interested in them.

    For institutions that made progress in various areas, they seek to consolidate on their achievements in the New Year. The Cross Rivers State Education Commissioner, Prof Offiong Offiong hopes that in the course of 2014 there would be a holistic policy that would reduce the high number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.

    “At the national level the figure is over 10 million out of school children in Nigeria. In Cross River State, out of that we were given about 45, 000. Generally the Southsouth states do not have many out-of-school children; but 45, 000 for us is a significant figure as a state. We certainly have to find a way of accommodating them and that informed the recent approval of the governor for the establishment of some schools even in very remote areas. So we still believe that even though the number is low, that number needs to be addressed if we need to keep faith with the education for all goal,” he said.

    Offiong will also seek to consolidate on improved performance of candidates in the state in the WASSCE this year.

    “We expect that the investments we have done in the education sector since 2007 should begin to manifest in 2014 in terms of performances of performances of our children in terms of internal and external examinations. Obviously we are beginning to see this as we are now the sixth best performing state in the WASSCE. So we are looking forward to better performance in 2014. It is like some of these reforms are beginning to gain grounds in the education sector,” he said

    For the Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi, 2013 was a good year. The state recorded a lot of awards by its pupil school pupils in local and international competitions. In the year in review, the Ministry of Education employed 13,201 teachers who underwent a one-month induction programme; established a Quality Assurance Agency to oversee the supervision, evaluation and monitoring of schools; inaugurated the School Based Management Committees SBMC and signed an agreement with a German firm ZWH to manage the Port Harcourt Technical/Vocational Centre, among others.

    In 2014, Mrs Lawrence-Nemi said the government will seek to enroll more pupils in school.

    “The State Government is addressing the issue of out-of-school children. The government has approved the construction of 20-classroom blocks for model primary school with a carrying capacity of 1200 pupils per school. The vision of the Rivers State government is to ensure that no child is left behind,” she said.

    Also the commissioner said a school census will be conducted in the State in partnership with UNESCO to ascertain the number of pupils in schools for proper planning.

    In Lagos State, 2013 was the landmark year that the Eko Secondary Education Project, a World Bank-sponsored initiative that provided grants directly to schools, ended after a successful four years.

    Ms Ronke Azeez, Special Adviser to the Governor on the Lagos Eko Project said the project, which was rated as one of the best five in Africa, helped the state to improve learning outcomes in secondary schools, which positively impacted on WASSCE results.

    She said 2014 would be used to improve the result further.

    She said: “Let me put it on record that the World Bank has agreed to extend the life of the project beyond 2013 because of its achievement in meeting the overall objective of enhancing students learning outcomes. To put this into perspective, students’ performance in Nigeria in WASSCE over the years has been poor for public secondary schools. However, Lagos state has taken a bold step in rectifying this trend and was able to improve on students’ performance in WASSCE from 18.41 per cent in 2009 to 41.06 percent in 2013 of students who obtained five credits and above including English Language and Mathematics.

    “For 2014, the Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has challenged all leaders in the education sector to significantly improve on the 2013 results and I can tell you that right from teachers to principal, education districts and the ministry of education are geared towards achieving this target. With this mandate, my vision is quite simple – meeting the target set by the Governor and embedding a more robust data-driven system to accelerate performance at school and education district levels. From international best practice and our experience, data gathering, analysis and utilisation has been fundamental to any meaningful planning and implementation especially in the area of education.”

    Despite the challenges of strike in 2013, Prof Aina said EKSU made progress, which he hopes will expand this year.

    “In 2013 we focused on expanding our on-campus infrastructure for staff and students and increasing our private sector partnerships across various initiatives – because we understand that in today’s economy leveraging expertise and relationships are critical toward the success of any organization and educational institutions are not an exception. For 2014, we hope to build on these successes. I pray for a peaceful year and a congenial academic environment that is uninterrupted by strikes in order to achieve our common goal to build for Nigeria a veritable university system,” he said.

    Prof Daramola said FUTA would seek to improve on its rating nationally and internationally. ”

    “As a centre of Excellence for food security, we will continue to adapt our researches in the agricultural sector and other areas for the benefit of humanity .We shall continue to improve the content of our teaching and research activities while our rating as an ICT compliant institution will be firmed up,” he said.

    Prof Olukoju of Caleb University anticipates new programmes at postgraduate and undergraduate levels, increased student enrolment and improved infrastructure in his university, while Prof Fajana hopes JABU retains its first position in the web ranking of private universities in Nigeria, becomes more visible and register more effectively in the consciousness of all Nigerians including government.

  • Still on Osun policy on education

    Still on Osun policy on education

    Saint Charles Old Boys Association (SCOBA) is always happy to partner the state government in efforts towards restoring the world-class standard of education to the public schools in the state of Osun.

    We have followed with keen interest the effort by the state government to merge and reclassify various schools in the state as a way to improve the standard of the schools. While the consolidation may be good for some schools; it should not be a wholesale action. As Alumni of Saint Charles Grammar School, Osogbo we are concerned about the impact of the merger of Saint Charles with other schools.

    Through the years, we have built, rehabilitated and refurbished many dilapidating and old infrastructure at Saint Charles Grammar School-our alma mater. We credit ourselves with construction of the Computer Center and its corresponding equipments. We have intervened on various occasions to sustain the function of the science laboratories, the school library, the potable water project, the spatial beautification among others. A Multi –Million Naira Alumni Hall and Dormitory project is currently under construction nearing completion.

    To encourage students’ interest in learning, we have instituted and maintained different awards and prizes for students and teachers. The annual prize-giving ceremonies, sponsored by corporate and individuals have been running consistently for more than three decades. The effect is not quantifiable. We keep exploring new progressive opportunities.

    In last two international conventions held in the USA, we sponsored the Principal of the school to participate with us and inform everybody on the needs and support required for the school from the Alumni.

    As a united family world-wide we pride ourselves in maintaining the guiding principle of discipline and legacy which St Charles Grammar School, Osogbo was founded in 1960. We are proud of our uniqueness and we want to keep it that way. As one big family of Old Boys, our bond is the identity and common legacy. We believe the larger society is benefiting from the same.

    To this end, we are opposed to any attempt to merge Saint Charles Grammar School with any other school.

    We are aware of high level consultation in progress through the Catholic Diocese’s Bishop Gabriel Abegunrin, our Association’s Board of Trustee and our Central Executive to seek meaningful way(s) to resolve the troubling concerns. Since 2012 that the government of the State of Osun has made public their intentions, we have continued to dialogue, yet, it has been protracted with no truce in sight. In just their first week of merger, among other reported and unreported occurrences, violent fights broke out among the host school students and the newcomers. It is disheartening that the police had to intervene for order to return. This is not a typical conducive environment for leaning.

    We the Old Boys Association (OBA Diaspora) of St. Charles Grammar School, Osogbo, is calling for a reverse of the decision to mix our school with female gender, against the long time legacy we are all proud . The legacy of our Alma Mata has bonded us as a one big family irrespective of our individual faiths. Ours being one of the first Catholic schools, since the inception every pupil is valued equally and given a genuine experience of belongingness. Due to the universal, non-discriminatory nature of Catholicism and the value it places on ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, Catholic schools are open to the admission of pupils of all faiths and St Charles Grammar School is not an exception.

    As a direct contributing stakeholder, we would be willing to help establish a smoother reversal of this decision in various ways that will enhance peaceful co-existence and eternal preservation of all concerned legacies. Our desire is to have classroom structures that are in accordance with United Nations Charter and relevant UNICEF and UNDP resolutions. This, we believe is achievable in the Osun State of today when every stakeholders in education is peacefully involved.

    The reversal of the decision to merge some public schools, back to status quo, will not only boost the effort to expand access to education, it will improve facilities and infrastructure in all other regions of the state particularly if efforts are geared towards building a new world class school to meet the challenges of expansion of the state capital. Government should note that schools are one of the major attractions of development, trades and jobs to any area. As population grows, more schools will be needed.

    Lastly, the initiative to turn around the State of Osun education is commendable considering that many other State Governments, as if in competition to outdo one another are doing the same. The reform must therefore be acceptable to majority STAKEHOLDERS particularly the parents and teachers without any political and or religious apathy.

    Osun must be at peace for quality education to thrive.

    It is our hope that the legacy that we cherished and the ones that the current Osun government will leave behind will outlive our generation and generations yet unborn.

     

    •Arogundade and Ajijolaiya are members of the Saint Charles Old Boys’ Association in the Diaspora

     

  • Education key to nation building, says don

    The Osogbo National Students Union (ONSU) has held its week at the Osogbo City Hall.

    In his presentation titled: The Nigerian education sector: challenges and solutions, Dr Hassan Maroof from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso (LAUTECH), said education was crucial to the task of nation building.

    He explained that certain rights were bequeathed to a person by the virtue of their origin, adding that these rights can only be properly harnessed with the acquisition of sound education.

    Dr Maroof noted that the country’s educational system was on the verge of collapse, calling for the education of the girl-child.

    “Today, there are still some tribes in Nigeria, who still regard female education as unimportant. Research showed that 10 million children are still out of school. These are indications of the precarious state of our education system ,” he said.

    He continued: “Our education sector is also faulty because we still rely on foreign standards to run our system. A student that wants to study medicine should not be compelled to pass English Language neither should an aspiring lawyer be required to pass Mathematics.”

    Dr Maroof urged students and stakeholders in the education sector to revitalise the system.

    The Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji Olanipekun, said the education system in many African countries lacked historical foundation which had affected learning, urging participants to be proud of their culture anywhere they find themselves.

    He advised the students to be committed, hardworking and avoid being used as thugs by politicians.

    President, Mukaila Adebayo, said his administration was successful and thanked members for supporting him, urging his colleagues to work as a team.

    The event also witnessed inter-school debate, vocational training, recreational walk, excursion to Olumirin Waterfalls, a visit to orphanage homes and a football match, which saw Osun State College of Education, Ilesa, emerge as winner.

     

  • Averting the fire next time

    Had last week’s go-back-to-work-or-face-a-sack order handed to the striking university teachers by the federal government not grated sufficient nerves to the point of rage, we should ordinarily be savouring the prospects of an engaging conversation on the future of our ivory towers in the global academe, and the crisis of our education in general. For not only has the latest but most unfortunate tango that has left public universities in utter paralysis for five months running rendered the conversation urgent, it is now such that the nation can only postpone the exercise at its peril.

    Now, there are those who believe that our nightmare is about ending – barring of course the threat by the unimaginative federal government to dislodge ‘recalcitrant’ teachers should they fail to report at their duty posts at the expiration of yesterday’s ultimatum. They have a good reason to be: with N200 billion in the kitty and the promise of naira rain totalling N1.2 trillion in the coming years; soon it would be time to savour the peace purchased with tears and a precious blood – that is, assuming that the remaining elements in the 2009 sticky agreement, especially the clause mandating another round of negotiation few months from now in 2014, sails without rancour.

    No doubt, the N200 billion intervention fund – slated to be shared among the three score plus four universities – federal and states – may seem a lot of money at this time. More like throwing water to a parched soul, it is a lifeline, sort of. However, the fund, when spread among the 701 projects dotting our universities’ landscapes as identified by the Committee on NEEDS Assessment of Nigerian Public Universities, which found 163 of them abandoned and another 538 on-going, it comes to pretty little – a drop in the ocean of the universities’ needs.

    By the way, the universities running costs are an entirely different matter; they are just as inadequate to cope with the demands of modern centres of higher education. It takes only a visit to our supposed citadels of higher education to appreciate the depth of the decay ranging from inadequate classrooms, ill-equipped libraries and laboratories to basic conveniences like lavatories and rest-rooms. The situation, to put it mildly, is unimaginable.

    The fundamental question remains – what happens after the N1.2 trillion is fully disbursed? Would that also call for another round of strike to press the same point about revitalising the institutions? And by the way, where is the guarantee that the current truce would last particularly as a lot depends on what happens in the coming months? Moreover, to the extent that the same elements of bad faith – which was not in short supply these past years – would remain a constant factor in the 2014 negotiations and beyond, the road ahead promises to be just as bumpy.

    The ultimate challenge, in the situation, is to find a lasting solution to the crisis to avert the fire next time.

    To be sure, the crisis of funding in our universities mirrors the larger crisis of our public finance system, the corruption and the rot, not excluding the warped definition of what constitutes national priorities for a nation that aspires to join the league of the top 20 economies in less than seven years from now.

    That is why the big question really is what to do – in the environment of competing demands on public funds not just in the context of the abysmal state of infrastructure, but also in the context of the grim reality of declining per capita spend on recipients of tertiary education in the last few years. Put simply: it is how to bridge the observed financing gaps in tertiary education.

    Now, if you are, like me, persuaded that the nation does not have an inexhaustible vault from where it could always draw upon, you may also agree that it’s time the beneficiaries are called upon to do their bit for the overall good of the system. Coincidentally, as Professor Niyi Akinnaso would have us know in his column in The Punch last year, Nigeria is not alone in this. Drawing his example from his base in the United States where he teaches, he noted that government appropriations, having dropped from over 50 per cent of university budgets in the 1980s to between 12 and 20 per cent in the 2000s has led to the hiking of tuition fees from some five per cent or less to between 25 and 35 per cent of university operational budgets.

    In our environment, such a proposition is certainly not popular to push. The truth however is that the illusion that tertiary education could be had for free can no longer be sustained any more now than the loathing of the idea of pricing that level of education like any other economic good. The challenge, to start with, is how to overcome the confounding reluctance by the universities themselves to determine the per capita cost of academic programmes as a necessary step to addressing the problem of funding in a realistic way.

    I had cause to address the issue on this page when the staff and students of Lagos State University took to the barricades shortly after the institution hiked tuition in that institution. Imagine a situation in which it costs N600,000 to produce a well-rounded doctor and the government is only able to put, say N300,000 on the table. Let’s also say, for the purpose of argument, that the student is made to pay additional N100,000 in tuition and associated fees. Of course, even if we take out the factors of corruption and leakages in the system, only in our typically creative imagination can we conceive of a situation in which N400,000 input would deliver the result of N600,000 input! Has anyone considered the output in terms of the cadaver that our medical trainee would never get to ‘see’ outside of the theoretical anatomy class throughout the entire five-year duration of the course?

    Here is my simple proposition: let begin with determining the cost of each academic programme. In addition to capital grants, let the government state how much, per capita, it is willing to put in. It is the educated thing to do. That way, everyone knows the gap to be filled. In the long run, the challenge is how to ensure that bright, indigent students are not denied university education.

    By the way, I have heard the suggestion about transforming the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETF) into an education bank to avail everyone that desires higher education loans.  If you ask me, I would not consider it a bad idea. Why should we baulk at the idea only because the Students Loans Board of old failed? And what is so sacrosanct about the TETF bureaucracy?

  • Don’t shy away from funding tertiary education, don urges Fed Govt

    Government’s continuous shifting of funding of the educational sector to the schools makes the institutions lose focus, a Professor of educational management at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Noah Oyedeji has said

    Oyedeji spoke this at the weekend in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital at 140th  inaugural lecture entitled “Education Anomaly and the Educational Administrator” he delivered at the university.

    Prof Oyedeji also recommended that “all educational administrators such as head teachers, principals, provost, rectors and vice chancellors should acquire post graduate diploma in educational management so that they can be familiar with theories and principles guiding educational administration.”

    He said that the government’s directive that the institutions should source funds through Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) has made the institutions to abandon their major role of human capital development to seeking fund for sustenance.

    The don said though the idea of the IGR is good because it in a way, through production of goods, help in training students in entrepreneurship, it should not replace government’s subversion as the major means of funding the institutions so that the institutions do not abandon their role.

    He said that the federal government allocation to education in the past two years were grossly inadequate and called on the government to increased its funding of the sector.

    He stated: “The government has abandoned its traditional role of substantially funding education which is a social institution.

    “The government directs the institutions to source funds through Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to the extent that many tertiary institutions abandoned their major role of human capital development (training) to the establishment of organs for the production of goods that can be sold to generate funds for sustenance.”

    “The government should go back to the good old days when institutions obtained substantial finance from government subventions while their IGR should be pegged to 20 per cent of their budget in order not to abandon their major role to the pursuit of Internally Generated Revenue.

    “The United Nation’s (1976) recommendation of 26 per cent budgetary allocation to education may be difficult to achieve due to the economic meltdown and other competing sectors. However, allocations of 8.43 per cent and 8.7 per cent in the past two years are grossly inadequate.”

    Oyedeji advised that educational administrators should work with government to prevent strike so that stable academic calendar and standard are maintained.

    He said that when strike occurs school activities are disturbed leading to such problems as lowered students’ academic performance, social menace by idle students and National Youth Service Corps programme dislocation.

    The lecturer said to avoid this anomaly there is the need for constant dialogues between government and teachers.

    He added: “There is the need for the educational administrators to work with government to prevent strikes in institutions of learning because of the future consequences such strikes are most likely to have on the nation.”

     

  • ‘Illiterate’ grads are products of poor primary education

    Provost, College of Education, Akamkpa, in Cross River State, Prof Owan Enoh says is nothing is wrong with about 89 per cent of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members not being able to read or write or communicate effectively in English Language.

    In an interview with The Nation, Enoh said most of the corps members posted to his institution can hardly read and write, attributing the problem to a faulty foundation in the primary school.

    He said: “There is what is called is learning blocks which means that if block one is shaky, block two and other blocks would be shaky too. Reading and writing are primarily primary school tasks and once a child in primary school cannot read and write and he goes to secondary school, he would be so ashamed to now concede that he cannot read and write. What he would be doing is to now find the easiest means to pass exams. Eventually, we end up with the sad situation we have now.”

    To remedy the situation and contribute his quota, Eno said he runs a non-governmental organisation, Educational Standards Initiative (EDUSTAR) that distributes reading books to primary schools.

    So far, he said EDUSTAR has distributed over 90, 000 reading books, titled, Reading Companion for Primary Schools, to 250 primary schools in Cross River in two batches.

    Speaking after the second batch of donation in Calabar, he said: “What we decided to do is to set up an NGO like this to tackle the problem in partnership with the government. What we are seeing today is a follow up of what happened last year where we had 100 primary schools. We intervened and trained the teachers in those schools. We gave them the free books and because of the impact of that endeavour, we decided this year to increase the number to 250.

    “We have about 250 primary schools we are intervening for 40, 000 pupils. What we are simply doing is to tell the teachers the easiest way to train their pupils on how to read and write. We give them the books free, let the pupils carry the books home so they can have time to play with the books, so by the time they come to school the following day, they might have learnt one or two other words or concepts of pronunciation and with time once they develop interest they key into the process of knowing how to read and write. It is not about long lectures, methodology and the rest. It is about interest, consistency and devotion and they will be able to read and write.

    “Our children are not dull. They seem dull because we have failed to give them the required foundation from primary school. Once a child is good in the primary school, even in the secondary school he can take a book and read on his own.”

     

  • ASUU vs Govt: Hide and seek game at ABU

    ASUU vs Govt: Hide and seek game at ABU

    The management of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities in the institution are currently playing hide and seek with the directive by the Minister of Education for the striking lecturers to resume teaching or be sacked.
    Also, the local chapter of the union is however distributing relief materials to its members to cushion the effect of the lack of payment of salary for the past five months, while there are pressures on some of the lecturers from their family members to respond positively to the government ultimatum.
    When The Nation visited the institution on Wednesday, the school was still empty as the lecturers were yet to comply with the directive, while the university was yet to issue a circular directing the resumption of lectures by the students.
    It was gathered that the University Governing Council has been meeting since Monday to find a common ground and an amicable resolution of the impasse.
    A highly placed source close to the Council told The Nation that the council is trying to ensure that the issue is resolved amicably so that we will not have another strike locally when the national strike is called off.
    The source said “you see, majority of those in the Governing Council are elected members from the Senate and the Congregation. Ordinarily, those people are not supposed to attend the meeting as long as the strike is on. But ASUU looked the other way so that they will attend the meeting.
    “They met on Monday and could not reach any resolution and had to adjourn. The meeting has since resume. But I want to say that they are being careful in carrying out the directive because they are aware of the impact it will have.
    “In any case, the school was never closed. Students are enjoying all the privileges they are supposed to enjoy except the absence of lectures. But the question is, who will bring the lecturers to come and teach?
    “Even if the school was closed, the only body that is empowered by law to reopen the school is the Senate of the University. In view of the period that has been wasted, a new calendar has to be drawn up and it is the Senate that will do that and members of the Senate are members of ASUU. So, who will draw up that calendar?
    “But we are looking forward to a peaceful resolution of the crisis. But the right thing should be done and done fast. I also want to blame ASUU for keeping quiet and not properly explaining the current issue concerning their meeting with the President to the Nigerian people”.
    However, the local branch of the union has asked their members to remain resolute and committed to the strike to its logical conclusion and not to resume any academic activity or sign any register that may be opened by the university management.
    In their resolution signed by its Chairman, Dr. Kabiru Aliyu at the end of its congress, the branch condemn the threat and intimidation by the government through the Supervising Minister of Education, Nelsom Wike to sack all academic staff and advertise their positions if they failed to return to work by December 4, 2013.
    Dr. Aliyu however confirmed to The Nation on phone that the branch was distributing relief material such as rice, semovita, vegetable oil and cash ranging from between N20,000 to N50,000 to its members.
    He noted that the union was not unaware of the pressure from family members on the striking lecturers to resume work in accordance with the government directive, “we are aware of that. But I can assure you that the number is negligible and not enough to have any impact on us.
    “However, I am not sure that any register will be opened here. But even if they did, we are also aware that some people will go and sign. But that will not help the situation”.

  • ‘New education policy in Osun will bring transformation’

    Opponents of the new education policy in Osun State have been urged to consider its benefits  rather than politicising it.

    The advice was contained in a statement by the former Commissioner for Natural Resources in Ondo State, Prince Solagbade Amodeni issued in Akure.

    According to him, the new education policy has brought new innovation into the  system in Osun State.

    The statement particularly made reference to the introduction of “Tablet of knowledge” called Opon Imo which recently earned Governor Rauf Aregbesola a global award.

    Amodeni, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) noted that the policy was long overdue in bringing transformation to the state in particular and and Nigeria in general.

    He said: “It is the necessary revolution that is urgently required to revive this fast-decaying sector as most state governments are short of ideas on what to do to improve this vital sector. The effort should be commended rather than casting aspersions on the initiative.

    “Since the regional government of the late Obafemi Awolowo introduced free education in the South-west, most successive governments in the zone have adopted the policy with little or no modification.

    “The recently introduced education policy was exposed to different reactions and counter-reactions. Unfortunately, individuals who are supposed to know better were beclouded with some primordial sentiments,” he said.

    The statement decried that the issue was hijacked by some politicians who needed an opportunity to run the government down and denigrate the much success achieved by the Aregbesola’s administration.

    It stressed that some members of the opposition had worked on the philosophy of religious communities by misinforming the people that the policy was aimed at islamising the state; describing the development as false and unfounded.

    Amodeni maintained that the present government in Osun State has harmonious relationship with the Christian communities, even as he drew attention to the recent success story of the celebration of life of the late Apostle T.O. Obadare to buttress his position.

    It said: “Rather than for the people to be sober about the state of education and continue to yearn for an attempt to make a change, some religious bigots were concerned with some primordial issues such as school uniforms, merging of schools and religious attachments which are of no direct benefit to the future of children at the receiving end of the innovation.’’

    The statement urged Aregbesola to ignore those who are uncomfortable because of his numerous achievements. He implored the people to be patient, saying every good idea often has it teething problems.

     

  • ‘Education is not enough to salvage Nigeria’

    ‘Education is not enough to salvage Nigeria’

    Whose responsibility is it to boost the reading culture – government’s or yours? Is education, writing or force enough to salvage society from drowning under the rising wave of corruption? These and the questions of writers’ security formed the discourse at the star-studded 3rd Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (MBA) Colloquium in the Niger State capital, Evelyn Osagie reports .

    At a time when Nigeria is saddled with wave of corruption and politically-induced terrorism, writers have been urged to wake up to their responsibility as gatekeepers of society.

    With one voice, intellectuals and politicians drew allusion to the role of writers and creative writing in nation-building at the MBA International Literary Colloquium held last week in Minna.

    With the theme: Creativity, Youth and National Development, guests said it is the duty of writers to set agenda for and reprimand erring leaders, while spotlighting characters that serve as excellent role models for the young. Such moves, according to them, would ensure that sanity is restored to the polity.

    The literary and intellectual feast, which is in its third edition, was part of activities marking the birthday of the Niger State Governor Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu. The colloquium, which had featured the Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka and critic and poet Odia Ofeimun, had as keynote speaker, Ghanaian scholar and cousin of the late poet Kofi Awoonor, Prof Kofi Anyidoho and Secretary-General, Pan African Writer Association (PAWA), Atukwei Okai as special guest, among other dignitaries, including former President General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (rtd) and Rivers State Governor Rotimi Ameachi.

    Ameachi said writers in the country are no longer writing about the ongoing recurrent issues in Nigeria. Worrying whether the politicians have bought them over, he tasked the authors to sit up, saying writing about on the happening in the country would put leaders and politicians on their toes. He urged them to become proactive by writing things that will bring change to the nation.

    He said: “Why are writers not writing about the ongoing recurrent issues in the Nigerian society? Have we, the politicians, bought over the Nigerian authors? Why have the writers not been able to write about the oil subsidy? Why has someone not been able to recreate these issues and be able to compare hunger to the dwindling of our wealth?

    “Why was Achebe able to write A man of the People, the comedy of the Nigeria politics in the 60s and nobody have been able to characterised the current politicians now? Why are we not writing all those things that will change Nigeria?”

    Ameachi, who also received an award from the Servant Leadership Initiative of Africa with Senator Oluremi Tinubu, added that people will not be able to rise up to their rights if all they read are about how wonderfully the governors and politicians are doing, noting that the writers should endeavour to ask questions that would make leaders accountable.

    “Where are the new Wole Soyinkas? Where are the new Niyi Osundares? We should be touched by what the politicians are doing to begin to recreate new things or are we now expert at looking when our society is being ravaged by hunger?”Ameachi said.

    While urging writers and Nigerians to probe the reduction in the revenue on the sale of oil, Niger State Governor insisted that the Central Bank of Nigeria be made accountable for the shortfall in the federation account since May this year.

    Harnessing the creative ingenuity in the youths for national development, he said, is the responsibility of all, observing that the fall in the standard of education has also affected the reading culture. He noted that reviving the reading culture is the responsibility of all, saying youths need credible role models and system where older generations would mentor the younger generation with opportunities to contribute to national development.

    “Reading campaign should not be government assignment but that of the family and the society at large. We must bring back the book for the development of the nation. It is indeed our collective duty to provide compulsory and free education create jobs instil moral instructions in our youths from home and in schools, discourage desperate politicians from engaging youths in thuggery banditry and terrorism.

    “We must, however, work towards reliving the period 1960 to 1980 where Nigeria youths had considerable opportunities. The economy flourished, education was expanded universities multiplied and school enrolment increased at all levels of learning while job opportunities available for all disciplines. When we were poor, we were morally upright, we must go back to the past and borrow example from leaders like the late Saduna, Sir Ahmadu Bello, who were morally upright and cared about the plight of the people.”

    To the youth, he said: “I was brilliant but not bookish. You must balance up,” Aliyu said.

    The event also featured lots of metaphoric allusions that saw writers like the late poet, Kofi Awoonor, who died in September, and Festus Iyayi, whose death was announced during the colloquium, as peg for true leadership in national development. From their passion to their death, both men had lots of things in common, it was said. They were said to have lived their passion to the very end, using it as an tool for social change. Both were also said to be men of courage who died in active service to humanity. Leaders were enjoined to borrow a leaf from the lives of the two men.

    Anyidoho, a counsin of Awoonor, said of the poet: “I wish to identify two of such sources of influence: models of courage and creative execellence found in the poet’s ancestral traditions; and the examples of revolutionary political vision and principles of economic and social justice that drove the nationalist movement which culminated in the era of Africa independence.”

    Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Dr Abubakar Saddique reiterated Anyidoho’s words, saying education is not enough to salvage society. He added that leaders should blend educational excellence with vision and character, if society is to move forward, observing that Awonnor was not afraid of death because of the legacies he left behind, which are worthy of emulation.

    “A writer, who is faithful to his profession, will not die. It is the same thing as a leader who leaves behind legacies – he would be remembered when he is dead. Will knowledge and wisdom alone do wonders? Corruption in the country is done by those who should know better. Nigerians with the best of education ended up as leaders and ran the country down. Yet, their wisdom was not enough to save the country. Much as knowledge is important, leaders who come to power without having any plan in place, plan to fail. Knowledge and wisdom is not enough; people with vision are the answer.”

    Other dignitaries in attendance, included the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, who represented the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar; Former Minister of Power, Hajiya Zainab Ibrahim Kushiand Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics), Kaduna State University, Dr Ahmad Babajo Kofa.

     

    The book at your doorstep

     

    Three years into the proposed Bring Back the Book Campaign by the presidency, the “book” is yet to leave the shelves. The gap between the book and its lovers seem to be widening as nothing is being said about policies and programmes that would boost the dwindling reading culture and make books affordable and accessible to readers, book lovers, parents and children.

    Imagine living and dreaming of reading a book like Things Fall Apart in a remote area and having the doorbell ring and, there, you have it before your eyes – a book peddler with your dream book, yours for the taking, and, at an affordable price. Such dream may not be farfetched.

    Moved by the challenges of accessibility and affordability that parents and book lovers, especially in remote areas, are faced with, the Niger State government through its Book Development Agency, unveiled the MBA Bookhawker Scheme along with a mobile bookshop to take the books to the readers doorstep. It was one of the highlights at the MBA literary colloquium. It was commissioned by Okai.

    For book lovers, especially children and their parents in Niger State, it is no more worries about transport fare and waiting for several weeks or months before the book is delivered.

    According to the Director of the agency, Baba Mohammed Dzukogi, the scheme is a mobile book distribution outlet designed to revive the reading culture, especially among the young, for a better society.

    While commending the state governor for supporting and promoting writing and writers’ association in the state, Okai urged the young to make good use of the opportunity that is given to them. “We are here talking about the development of the nation through the development of the youth. We are happy that a government in Nigeria is doing something about it and we pray others would do likewise. I thank the Chief Servant and his Ministers for supporting ANA in the way they have been doing,” he said.

    Kofa said called for sustainability of the project, saying: “Every Friday, as we go to pray, you find lots of people selling all sorts of books at the mosque which gives people an easy access to books. After praying, they also buy books. It is commendable that the government and agency has borrowed from this traditional behaviour and is sustaining it. If they can sustain it, others would borrow a leaf from their example.”