The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Prof. Rufai

  • Exam malpractices: Offenders face five -year imprisonment

    Exam malpractices: Offenders face five -year imprisonment

    Any West African Examination Council (WAEC) candidate caught indulging in examinations malpractices in any part of the country risks a minimum of five years imprisonment and N200, 000 fine.

    This is because the Federal Executive Council has approved the memo from the Ministry of Education seeking to amend the WAEC Act 2004 in line with the 2003 convention in Ghana.

    Briefing State House correspondents at the end of FEC meeting on Wednesday, the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’I, said the proposal for the amendment would be forwarded to the National Assembly towards domesticating the convention in Nigeria.

    The minister, who attended the briefing alongside the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu and Minister of Environment, Hadiza Mailafia, said the new penalties also involved barring offenders from taking the examination in future.

    She said: “With this amendment, any person that may be caught in one of those acts will now be fined in the sum of N200, 000 or he may be imprisoned for five years or both depending on the establishment of that offence.”

     

     

     

  • FG develops new teacher education curriculum

    FG develops new teacher education curriculum

    The Federal Government on Wednesday said it had developed a new Teacher Education Curriculum in line with the current needs of the education system in the country.

    The Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, told journalists in Abuja that the new curriculum for teachers was part of the four-year strategic plan for the development of the education sector.

    “We recognise the importance of teachers in the quality of education delivery.

    “It is one of the reasons that a framework on National Systems is being developed on Teacher Development Needs Assessment and Teacher Professional Development.

    “This will help us to continually be aware of our teacher needs, fill the gaps and also enhance the professional development of our teachers, ‘’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the minister as saying to journalists.

    Rufa’i said that Micro-Teaching Laboratories were also being constructed in 58 federal and state colleges of education at a cost of N11.6 billion to further enhance the quality of training for teachers.

    She said that would go a long way in supporting the integration of modern technology in the teaching and learning process.

     

  • FG goes tough on satellite campuses

    FG goes tough on satellite campuses

    The Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai, said in Kaduna on Monday that the government will no longer condone activities of some unscrupulous Nigerians who indulge in illegal activities of operating unlicensed schools in the name of satellite campuses and outreach centres.

    The minister, who spoke at a consultative meeting between the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and Rectors of Polytechnics and Provosts Colleges of Technology in the country, was furious that such activities are often aided by some heads of government institutions.

    She said that henceforth, nobody will be allowed to brazenly compromise the future of Nigerians and mortgage the nation’s development, adding that government will continue to protect the integrity of the education system in the country from the activities of these undesirable elements at all time.

    She said further that the government will remain steadfast in its commitment to ensuring that standard of education is not compromised, saying “why we desire to open access, we shall not compromise the future of Nigerians and mortgage our national development. Quality will be jealously guarded.”

    The minister said further that as part of the four- year strategy for the development of the education sector, the government has planned a new approach for Technical and Vocational Education Training, making it a key area in the efforts to enhance skills.

    This, she said explain the huge investment by the government in equipment, laboratories and infrastructural facilities in 51 states and federal government owned Polytechnics, adding that an additional N2 billion has been approved for the second phase of the project.

    In addition, she disclosed that the government is planning to invest about N6 billion as special intervention in the science and technical colleges across the country, adding that government is not only providing equipment, rehabilitating laboratories and infrastructures, it has taken some steps to ensure that members of staff are motivated to continue to play a pivotal role in driving the transformation agenda of the present administration.

    She asked the Rectors to adopt global best practices in the management of their institutions, stressing that transparency and accountability must be their watch word while eschewing the culture of impunity that forced government into doing away with the services of two Rectors recently.

     

  • More than 10m Nigerian children out of school – Minister

    More than 10m Nigerian children out of school – Minister

    Nigeria accountsed for 10.5 million of the 61 million “out of school ‘’ children worldwide, Education Minister, Prof. Ruqayytu Rufai has said.

    Speaking to the Western Europe Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria at the World Education Forum on Wednesday in London, Rufai said Pakistan was next to Nigeria with five million children of school age out of school.

    The minister, who expressed concern over the figure said the government was focusing on two strategic goals to bridge the access gap.

    These two goals are “access, and quality of curricula’’, as the government strives to address challenges such as those pertaining to regional and cultural issues, the challenges for the girl child, and Almajiri education as well as boy-child drop out.

    Rufai noted said that in terms of quality, attention would also be paid to the development and rehabilitation of infrastructure as well as review of curricula at all levels to meet national objectives.

    While emphasising the need for teacher training and recruitment, the minister noted that teachers could also learn from their students in view of the new screen technology trend where people study online.

    She said that globally teachers are critical to educational development and, therefore require capacity building to equip them with the necessary tool for teaching.

    “The issue of quality is our major concern in Nigeria, We are also looking at the recruitment process too, so that quality teachers are recruited into the system. The focus of our government in education is the same focus of this forum,’’ she added.

    NAN recalls that 40,000 Nigerian teachers were trained nationwide in 2012.