The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Educational

  • Stakeholders canvass re-strategising of education

    Stakeholders canvass re-strategising of education

    Worried by the recurrent mass failure in the Senior School Certificate Examinations, stakeholders in the sector have canvassed regular training of teachers and strategic planning as measures to reposition the sector.

    They made these submissions at a forum organised by ThistlePraxis Consulting in Lagos.

    Speaking on the theme: “Education: Building viable frameworks for fustainability”, the Chairman, West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Prof Pai Obanya, who was the lead discussant,recommended holistic assessment of the sector towards ensuring appropriate policies, programmes and processes.

    He stressed that exam failure is a manifestation of various issues with the major one being system assessment.

    According to Obanya, it requires good politics to have good education, because it will provide sound policies, which would engender good programmes and compel good processes.

    He said: “Strategic planning means in depth and not cause analysis to address the challenges from their very roots. There must also be situational analysis, policy planning, action planning and an in-built monitoring and evaluation framework.”

    A professor of Counselling and Psychology, University of Lagos, Ngozi Osarenren said continuous development of teachers is critical. Teachers, she stressed, must be aware of updates in the sector, especially as it affects their job. They must be aware of new pedagogies and be provided with teaching materials.

    Praising the giant telecommunications outfit Etisalat Telecommunications for sponsoring the event, Osarenren said it’s about time the Organised Private Sector showed more interest in teachers and the teaching profession.

    The Lagos State Team Leader of Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN), Mr Olabode Oyeneye, said that a shift of focus from certification to functionality is imperative in the quest for viable frameworks for sustainability in education.

    “Certification has been so much glorified to the detriment of ability, capability and performance,” Oyeneye lamented.

     

  • Foundation donates educational materials

    Nigerian Turkish International College (NTIC) Foundation has given education materials to over 6500 pupils of public schools.

    It gave out the materials in 20 different public schools in Kano, Kaduna, Ogun states and Abuja.

    Last Friday, it gave out 500 education materials, including exercise books, mathematical set, colouring material and eraser, among others to pupils of Local Government Primary School, Iseri Olofin, Ogun State.

    The pupils were full of joy as the Director of the foundation, Fetullah Celik and Ogun State Commissioner for Education Science and Technology, Mr Segun Odubela presented the materials to them.

    Celik said the Foundation’s gesture was aimed at improving education in Nigeria and helping the needy in all the ways it can.

    He said the foundation also plans to adopt the school and provide other things beyond the stationery.

    Appreciating the college on behalf of Governor Ibikule Amosun, Odubela thanked the foundation for partnering with the state government by being social responsibility.

    “This is not the first time that NTIC will be assisting our state. Some years back, you extended your kind gesture to some of us in the ministry of education to travel to Turkey where we saw your educational operations and of course we have also learnt a lot from that and it is part of what we are implementing in our state today.

    “The foundation also took us to Abuja to see the hospital they built there. We moved round and saw the development they are making in our health sector in the country.

    “Today, we are here to appreciate you because you are also donating some educational materials to our pupils”, the Commissioner said.

    Odubela, lawyer, noted that education is a big venture that requires a lot of investment. He said the government was spending a lot on its free education scheme.

    “Even at that, we cannot do it alone, this is why we are partnering with private entities particularly our private schools and that is why NITC stands out of those private schools in the state because they are doing great for Ogun State,” he said.

    He congratulated Oba Nurudeen Adekanbi, the Olofin of Isheri-Olofin that this was happening in his time.

    Oba Adekanbi on his part thanked the Commissioner and the foundation. He said the foundation has done a great job in the areas of education, infrastructure and health.

    “The foundation has given scholarships to students in Ogun State; they give us cow in the community during the in Eid-Il-Adha celebration,” he said.

    The monarch also used the opportunity to plead with the ministry to establish a public secondary school in the local government. He said that the one in existence in the 80s was relocated because of low enrolment.

    “Now we need the school. We have many private schools in this community but no government-owned secondary school. We want government to please develop this area; we need our education to be upgraded here,” Adekanbi said.

     

  • Now that educational tourism has come to stay

    In the process of writing today’s article I called up some undergraduates to authenticate some facts I had and to ascertain if they have professors or lecturers on sabbatical on their campuses. I was shocked when all of them did not hide their ignorance about what sabbatical actually meant. They were honest enough to tell me they simply couldn’t say what the term meant; this is the sad place we find ourselves today meaning we have serious work to do.

    As I turned the flipside of the issue, should I really hold our undergraduates responsible for their ignorance? Yes and no. Yes because they ought not to wait for anyone to teach them but strive to be knowledge seekers which invariably is what the university system is all about; and no because our varsities are no longer attractive for visiting professors from outside our shores to come for their sabbatical leave, so if there are no professors on sabbatical – some will argue – how then will undergraduates know what it is? It is against this backdrop that I want to address a new lexicon that has entered our vocabulary because of our peculiar situation: educational tourism.

    Educational tourism is the marketing and sale of a product or service which main purpose is to disseminate knowledge, in one form or another. It involves the collection of knowledge, both local and specialized, from which a well-defined product is created, which is then developed and marketed. Even the most casual observer would have noticed the series of education fair taking place almost on a daily basis, Nigeria is now one huge ‘untapped market’ for education tourists.

    A worrisome data I came across recently said Nigerians allegedly spend an average of $500 million annually on European and American universities, which represents about 70 per cent of the total allocation to all federal universities in 2008. In the United Kingdom, over 20,000 students are said to be undertaking various courses there. Ian Stewart, a member of the British parliament, was quoted by a British Council Report published a few years ago as saying that by 2015 the number of Nigerian students studying in British universities will reach 30, 000 and would constitute seven per cent of the entire university student population in the United Kingdom. Stewart went on to say that this is significant and, of course, that Britain should make the most of the opportunity.

    The British Council report said: “Calculations are based on a number of factors including the poor quality of Nigerian universities and the rapid growth in the number of families that can afford to send a child overseas to study.” Sadly, everyone knows that Nigeria has the wherewithal and human capital base to create at least a few decent and qualitative universities; but for some inexplicable reasons we just cannot, so why would others not cash in on this.

    Britain, for one knows this and they did their thorough home work. They knew that the growth and prominence of both tourism and education as key industries over the past few decades has led to growing recognition of these sectors from both an economic and social perspective. It may also be argued that developments in the tourism industry during this time, allied to changes in education, have seen the convergence of these two industries. Education increasingly enables or facilitates travel mobility and learning has become an important part of the contemporary tourist experience.

    In this unprecedented global economic time, the Tourism Alliance – comprising 50 Tourism Industry Organisations that together represent some 200,000 businesses of all sizes throughout the UK – highlighted the fact that the UK will be faced with two crucial issues: ‘maintaining employment and generating sustainable economic growth’. This proclamation comes at the same time as the Government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) published its higher education blueprint document – Higher Ambitions. As we all know most European countries are passing through difficult economic times with unemployment rate soaring and this framework for universities acknowledges that higher education has been a success story and sets out the important role universities must play in securing the country’s economic recovery and long-term prosperity.

    For instance, total spending by international students on all types of course in the UK – from English language to doctoral degrees – was estimated to be a whopping £14 billion with the potential to grow to £21 billion by 2020. The industry is seen as one of the keys for rebuilding the UK economy and for generating employment, especially where it is most needed such as in rural communities or among young school-leavers. In 2011, inbound tourism revenue grew at over 5 times the rate of the economy as a whole while it is estimated that domestic tourism revenue ended the year 14% higher than 2010. In total, this is additional expenditure in the sector of £3.8bn – enough to generate 76,000 new jobs in 2011 alone! Did you get that? We were instrumental in creating jobs for British citizens while we have millions roaming our streets in search of elusive jobs.

    The British are very smart people; they know that as the global landscape changes more students would travel and study abroad, boosting their tourist industries. Not only will friends and family come to visit them while studying, but students are likely to spread the news of their positive tourism experience to other travelers and return for future visits. In essence, they become “brand ambassadors” for Britain to the detriment of their home country.

    Is it only Britain that is cashing in on our woes? Certainly not, Ghanaians must be jubilating wildly for failure to get our act together. Recall that the Chairman, Committee of Pro-chancellors of Nigeria, Dr. Wale Babalakin, first alerted the nation last year to the fact that over N160billion annually is expended by Nigerian parents to educate their wards in Ghana, this he said, is higher than what our government votes annually for education. With over 75, 000 Nigerians studying in universities in Ghana for 2012, the Ghanaians would simply not believe their luck. This figure is bound to soar this year in the light of the recent revelation that of the almost 1.7 million Nigerian youths that sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, only 520, 000 will be admitted to our universities.

    A more desolate picture of the status of the educational system emerges, when you factor that less than 750, 000 out of the 1.7 million scored 200 and above in the exam. In other words, there is both a crisis of quality and a quantitative shortage of facilities, bedeviling the once world-class system of Nigerian education and opening the floodgate for other nations to swoop on us like vultures feasting on a decomposing animal.

    You think it is only the Ghanaians that are cashing in? Wrong, you only need to travel to Benin Republic and Togo to realise that universities are set up basically for Nigerians with full-fledged faculty members from Nigeria.

    The obverse side of educational tourism is the exposure of impressionable Nigerian youths to other countries and cultures which often comes with a price tag which includes their being taken advantage of by unscrupulous operators. There are reports on how unethical private university owners in Ghana exploit Nigerian students, sometimes by issuing certificates in the name of an established university and transcripts in the name of another virtually unknown private university.

    Don’t get me wrong, studying abroad undoubtedly has its own merits, including opportunity to attend top-class universities in different cultural settings and, of course, brighter international career opportunities, but what about our home front? Unfortunately, much of the resources of the universities, which should have been used to rectify these anomalies end up as recurrent expenditure – payment of salaries and spending on non-capital projects. The precarious situation is ever bogged down by poor funding as well as ill-conceived, inconsistent and outright failure of government policies. For instance, the 2013 budget’s allocation of N426.53 billion to education, though a drastic improvement over those of past years – is still a far cry from a bail-out.

     

  • Hope rises for educational reforms in Ekiti

    Hope rises for educational reforms in Ekiti

    SIR: Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, may have finally struck the right chord to soothe the nerves of teachers with the recent reconstitution of the state’s executive council, which brought on board a respected, renowned teacher Kehinde Ojo, as Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology.

    Bringing in Ojo, a one-time Best Teacher of the Year in the state who retired as a permanent secretary in the education ministry could have been the governor’s most innovative way of emphasizing ‘education’ as the centre of his government’s developmental strategy.

    It could have been the governor’s trick at securing the cooperation of the bulk of Ekiti teachers who had hitherto suspected every move at improving their lot; perhaps until the state’s secondary schools were being standardized via impressive renovation and appreciable supply of teaching equipments.

    The governor’s motive could have been anything positive but we wouldn’t have desired to know if the NUT (Ekiti State chapter) had not practically jumped for joy with booked slots of welcome adverts on radio in which they described Ojo as “one of our own” and “a round peg in a round hole” to thus, unwittingly, attract attention to Ekiti teachers again.

    It has been a pleasant surprise to hear the teachers appreciate the appointment of the Commissioner for Education, for there had been no such acknowledgement by teachers before. Not even the renovation of schools or the supply of teaching and sports equipments were applauded by the teachers.

    When computers were supplied to secondary schools in Ekiti-State, the teachers didn’t appreciate it but rather went about whispering that the computers were being put to deplorable use by students while teachers, impliedly, folded their arms and looked the other side.

    From all indications, the main headache of the Ekiti teachers has been the Teachers Development Needs Assessment (TDNA) which the state government had proposed to the chagrin of the teachers, a proposal which the teachers challenged and the political opposition took for ‘weeding test’ in a state where teaching had already been abandoned for institutionalized exam mal-practices with its attendant loss of professionalism in the system.

    It is noteworthy that there has been no known moment of truce between the teachers and the state government since the controversy was thrown up. It has only reduced in intensity to a state of quietude with time, perhaps because the well-meaning governor decided to shift his attention to developing school structures and supplying teaching equipments.

    With Ojo, a model of professional teaching by all standards, coming in to mount the saddle at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Ekiti State governor might just have simply intended to make a show of him, for teachers to see him as the standard to aim at, as the model to emulate, as an example of the gains or benefits of professionalism to professional teachers, an attestation to the saying that “the reward for hard work is more work”.

    As he is returning to work, this time to reform education in a higher capacity, we have cause to heave a sigh of relief and expect things to happen more positively, more smoothly, more rapidly.

    We hope that the warm embrace that the Ekiti State NUT has given him means that the man the teachers would work with has arrived and that Ekiti is likely to witness actions and a good rapport with the teachers in achieving desired results of educational reforms.

    • Jide Oguntoye

    Oye Ekiti

  • Delta’s educational policy of ‘every child counts’

    Delta’s educational policy of ‘every child counts’

    The Uduaghan-led administration’s commitment to education and human capital development has led to the birth of such laudable programmes as the Delta State Bursary and Scholarship award scheme to prove that “every child counts”.

    When Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan assumed office in 2007, he compartmentalized the challenges of the state into peace and security, human capital development and infrastructural development. This three point agenda has not only remained the cardinal focus of his administration, during his first and now in his second tenures but has been vigorously pursued.

    In achieving his goals towards Human Capital Development, the government has continued to support the educational advancement of Deltans with bursary, scholarship awards among other forms of financial aid to students at all levels.

    From primary pupils to postgraduate students, there are various forms of scholarship schemes and financial assistance at their disposal. West African Educational Council (WAEC) fees are paid for secondary school students among others.

    This year alone, additional 518 students of Delta State origin were beneficiaries of N73.9 million released by the state government as scholarship awards to outstanding students, including those currently studying in different countries across the globe.

    A break down of the figure shows that 367 undergraduate students received amounts ranging from N100, 000 to N300, 000 apart from 106 masters and 45 doctorate degree students.

    Though the Delta State Bursary and Scholarship Board through which the scholarship is disbursed was established in August 2003, the impact of the Board was not felt till the Emmanuel led administration took over the reins of government in the state.

    As the scholarship scheme is being pursued, expanded, courtesy of Governor Uduaghan’s education consciousness, it has clearly become part and parcel of the present administration’s vision for massive manpower development as well as to secure the future of Deltans.

    The award also puts into consideration the financial challenges of certain categories of students such as children of deceased civil servants in secondary and tertiary institutions across the country. N30 million has so far been disbursed to 403 children of deceased civil servants and 101 students with physical disabilities in the state as a way of encouraging them to attain their educational goals.

    The Chairman, Delta State Bursary and Scholarship Board, Monsignor Buchi Aninye said this while presenting cheques to beneficiaries of the 2011/2012 scholarship scheme for children of deceased civil servants and physically challenged Students at the Board’s office in Asaba.

    Monsignor Aninye disclosed that since the inception of this administration the government has expended over N71million to 1,233 children of decreased civil servants and 346 physically challenged students adding that this administration has continued to demonstrate its unparalleled commitment and determination to her education policy of ‘’every child counts’’. According to him, children of deceased civil servants in secondary school category got N30,000 each while those in the primary school category received N20,000 each. with the physically challenged receiving N50,000 each.

    Other schemes in the board also includes; Student Special Assistance scheme, scholarship recipients of first class degree honors to study to PH.D level any where in the world, scholarships to students in Aviation college within the country. Overseas postgraduate scholarship scheme and financial assistance to students in the Nigeria law schools.

    The values of the scholarship award are on merit and selection of beneficiaries on the basis of academic performance and other competitive criteria.

    Established in August 2003 by the former governor the state, chief Ibori, the Delta sate Bursary and Scholarship Board formulates and implements policies as it pertains to scholarship and student special Assistance scheme. However the board never took off till the warri boy as I always call Dr Uduaghan came on line.

    Since then, the board has achieved tremendous success. In 2007, the sum of N402,499,816 was released for the payment of bursary to 36,967 students of Delta state origin while in 2008 over N213 million was paid as scholarship for 10 students attending the maritime Academy Oron and Aviation college Zaria.

    The board is also managing the special Assistance Scheme to Delta sate indigenes attending the Nigeria law school valued at N30,000 per student.

    In the year 2007, total disbursement was over N13 million, this assistance has now been increased to N50, 000 per student.

    The Board which is made up of seasoned administrators , technocrats and politicians,on the postgraduate scholarship, has disbursed over N7 million in 2008 while N45million was expended for this project in 2009.The most recent being on November 16th when N12 million was disbursed to 40 beneficiaries of it’s local PhD scholarship scheme at the rate of N300, 000 per beneficiary.

    Presenting the cheques to the beneficiaries at no 2 Anwai road Asaba, office of the bursary and scholarship board, the chairman of the board said the beneficiaries were different from the batch that would soon receive the third tranche payment of their scholarship.

    These beneficiaries are those that wrote the board’s competitive exam on September 1st and scaled through the bench mark set by the board. The scholarship is not tied to the beneficiaries working for the state after the completion of their programes.

    With the above, well articulated schemes, it becomes undoubtedly true to say that the government has shown enough passion about the educational needs of her citizens.

    Already registration is on for the 2012/2013 first class degree scholarship while registration for Masters in Science (M.Sc)scholarship for delta state female students who want to go for post graduate diploma in media and communication ended in July.

    The commissioner for higher education in the state Prof. Hope Eghagha had earlier charged the beneficiaries to work hard and show greater determination in their endeavours, stating that they can not get to the top without being focused in their academic pursuit.

    Some of the beneficiaries of the first class scholarship this year are Raolat Abiola, Ika South, studying at Cornell University ,New York. Chukwuedo Achi,Onisha south, Delta state University Abraka. Hillary Adibeli, Ndokwa west ,university of Benin. Daniel Akpo,Isoko south ,university of Lagos. Ufoma Diakparomre, Ethiope East, University of Benin, among others.

    As the Uduaghan led administration works hard to afford every Delta the opportunity to attain his educational goals, it is a project that requires all hands to be on deck in order to move the state to an enviable height. It is an undisputed fact that education is needed to achieve the development of human resource base required to drive the economy of the state.

    • Otumara writes from Asaba

  • Teachers, a hurdle to educational progress, says Fayemi

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi yesterday said teachers are the only hurdle to educational advancement in the state.

    He said no amount of computers or renovation of schools can cause the desired change, except teachers are “worked upon”.

    Fayemi spoke at St. Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral, Ado-Ekiti, during a thanksgiving service marking his second anniversary in office.

    Displaying a sketch of the result of the last West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE), in which only 16 per cent of candidates from the state had five credits, the governor said: “If a teacher taught 50 students and they all failed, it is a question on the competence of the teacher.

    “We have six government schools, which are the only exceptions, going by the last result. Last year, when 99 per cent passed in Holy Child School, just 20 per cent passed in Christ School. This year, 99.99 percent passed in Holy Child School, only six per cent passed in Christ School while Christ Girls School had 0 per cent.

    “The teachers who teach in government schools are the same as those at the other schools. The only difference is that those who teach in government schools are civil servants posted from the ministries.

    “No amount of computers or renovation of schools would do the work. If we do not address the aspect of teachers, we are going nowhere. We appeal to our elders to consider this situation with us. The teachers should exhibit some self restraint and respect.”

    The governor’s speech was a response to an earlier appeal by the Bishop Emeritus of Ekiti Catholic Diocese, Most Rev. Olatunji Fagun.

    The bishop had urged the government to train teachers before testing them as an alternative to the Teachers Development Needs Assessment (TDNA) test.

    He hailed Fayemi for repairing/building roads and schools across the state and the social security scheme for the elderly.

  • Rector foresees educational decline

    THE Rector, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Elder Allwell Onukaogu has warned that the present decadence in the nation’s education sector is capable of truncating the future of Nigerian youths if the Ministries of Education fail to set standards for which schools should operate.

    The rector made this submission while presenting a paper tagged: ‘Re-Inventing Yesterday’s Educational Practices Today for a Better Tomorrow’, in Aba during the maiden edition of a public lecture organised by Believers’ Loveworld (Aka Christ Embassy) as part of its programmes to mark the 52nd anniversary of Nigeria Independence in the city of Aba.

    According to him, academic successes of coming generations will suffer greatly if the standard of education in Nigeria is not properly repositioned to address the fallen standard of education as witnessed in recent times in the country.

    “The rot we see and smell of today will be far better than the decadence, irreversible decadence putrefying decadence which will be the fate of our children tomorrow”, he said.

    Onukaogu, while reeling out the successes recorded during the early post-colonial days in Nigeria when primary and secondary schools were still managed by missionaries, blamed the then Ukpabi Asika administration for taking away schools from people who held morality and good virtue as their watchword, adding that the worsening learning environment many public schools today have has contributed to the decline in Nigerian educational standard.

    He, however, frowned at what he described as the exorbitant fees charged by mission schools, saying this is to the detriment of poor members of the society who cannot afford to pay such fees.

  • ‘Fafunwa Educational Foundation promotes academic excellence’

    ‘Fafunwa Educational Foundation promotes academic excellence’

    The Fafunwa Educational Foundation was established to promote academic excellence and raise the standard of edu
    cation in the country,Chairperson of the Local Organising Committee of the foundation, Dr. (Mrs.)Pat Akumabor, has said.
     Briefing reporters in Lagos ahead of  the 16th edition of the foundation’s lecture and indigenous languages awards,Dr.Akumabor said the late Prof. Babs Fafunwa,  a former Minister of Education, had a passion for educational development and  contributed a lot to the advancement of education in Nigeria.
    “Prof. Fafunwa was the architect of the 6-3-3-4 educational system. He believed that it is ideal that at the primary school level, mother tongue should be used to teach pupils, to make learning easy.
    “We don’t want the legacy he bequeathed to us to die. We want his dream of academic excellence in Nigeria to be realised. That was why the foundation was established.
    “For the past 15 years, we have been organising lectures yearly on education and giving indigenous languages awards to the three best PhD students selected from the University of Lagos, University of Ibadan,  Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Lagos State University, Ojo,” Dr. Akumabor said.
    The Secretary of the foundation, Mr. Muyiwa Obiyomi, said the topic of this year’s lecture is, “Entrepreneurship Education: Repositioning Nigerian Education for National Transformation”.
    The event is scheduled for   September 25 at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos with Prof. Pat Utomi of the Lagos Business School as the guest of honour,  Dr. Okey Anueyiagu, an Economist as chairman  and Education Minister, Prof. Ruquayyat Ahmed Rufai, as the Special guest of nohour. The winner of the indigenous awards will go home with N500,000.