The Nation Newspaper

Tag: proficiency

  • Ogun targets 2030 for adult literacy, proficiency 

    The Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mrs. Modupe Mujota, has said the state has developed a policy which would ensure that all youths and adults achieve literary and proficiency by 2030.

    She added that the state state intends to empower adults and youths to be relevant in meeting the challenges of their immediate environment and the society at large.

    The commissioner spoke at a programme organised by the government to mark the 2018 International Literacy Day, themed: “Literacy and Skills Development”, held at Remo Secondary School, Sagamu. She noted that the move was in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 target 6 of UNESCO.

    Read also: Kwara APC, PDP quarrel over Tradermoni

    Mrs. Mujota added that findings have shown that about 750 million people worldwide still lack basic literacy skills while 192 million unemployed worldwide were unable to find decent livelihood due to lack of foundational skills, including literacy, and failing to meet the skill demands of the rapidly changing labour market.

    According to her, the statistics obtained from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) indicated further that two-third of the population are women and 102 million are youths between the ages of 15 and 24.

    State Director, Agency for Mass Education Dr. Abdulwaheed Olanloye praised the government for her huge investment in skills development, noting that this has increased the level of literacy from 87.5 per cent to 90.7 per cent between year 2011 and 2017.

    The target of the Agency, Olanloye added, is to create awareness to unreached youths and adults, enjoining them to enroll for various skills acquisition programmes of the agency in all centres across the state.

     

     

     

  • ‘Proficiency in drawing remains critical element of fine art’

    One of Nigeria’s leading contemporary artists and Founder, One Draw Art Gallery, Lagos, Mr Olusegun Adejumo, has described proficiency in drawing as a very critical element in fine art, which every visual artist must possess in order to excel in the profession. He said training in drawing in Art School is designed to enable a student-artist record and recall scenes or forms in any medium of expression.

    He noted that the more ardent ‘you are about these things the more you are expressing a whole lot of things either as a sculptor or painter.’ Adejumo, who spoke in Lagos at a preview session of Kehiunde Sanwo’s solo exhibition Lines and Legacy, however, blamed the poor drawing skill among many artists on the entry mode of students studying fine art in higher schools.

    The Yaba College of Technology Lagos – trained artist observed that these days, many artists are deficient in drawing, thereby they hide under abstraction and all kinds of funny styles.

    “The mode and way students get into art schools are questionable. They do not do objective test for a vocational course. It’s ridiculous because there is no way to test their skill. How do you know if the student is gifted in this area or the other? I also noticed that most art schools are where people have nothing else to study.

    “When I was in art school, it was a difficult to stay as a student in the art school. When we got into school we were about 85 in number and by the time we were leaving school we were about 30 students because the school had a minimum standard, which you must meet. We were tested every week not monthly test. So, we had 13 assignments to submit every week. By the time you will be leaving with OND, you will have an idea on who is coming back and who is not. Our painting class had nine students some classes had two or three,” he said.

    He noted that technology has made students as they no longer spend adequate time to draw instead they make use of their phones to take pictures.

    Adejumo also blamed students’ poor skill in drawing on the quality of teachers in many art schools, which he said, is questionable. He said there are more teachers, who speak than those who show practical steps to training. “Teachers are not lecturers because in the universities, we have lecturers. But, in the polytechnics, we have more teachers than lecturers. A lecturer’s business is to engage your mind and give you references to act on. A teacher’s work is to make you understand well what you are doing.

    “When we were in school it was slightly different. We had professionals, who were teaching. Now, we have teachers who I am not sure, everybody will take serious professionally. But, I must admit one thing as plus for them. They can articulate by words what they see. But, a lot of people like to be shown the way, not told the way,” he recalled.

    The former President Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria stressed that if art schools must produce quality students, they must review their intake modalities and the curriculum for training such students, noting that such curriculum must include training in business entrepreneurs.

    According to Adejumo, One Draw Gallery in response to these inadequacies initiated New Artist Managers and Entrepreneurs (NAME) progamme to train young artists on how to survive as business men. “The programme is designed to equip artists adequately and let me them know that they cannot survive with talent alone because talent will fetch you money, but it won’t sustain your money. You need a good business to sustain your money,” he said.

  • LASSRA, nepotism and proficiency question

    LASSRA, nepotism and proficiency question

    The Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) came into existence through a Bill of the state House of Assembly that was passed and signed into law on the 27th of June 2011. The law established LASRRA with the following functions: To create a reliable database of all residents in Lagos state; to establish the relevant infrastructure for the creation of a residents information database; to produce guidelines for data to be contained in its registration form and; to advice the government on mode of collecting data from the public.

    These in essence are expected to help achieve the agency’s mission of identifying and registering all residents of Lagos State for efficient planning and allocation of resources and; to realise its vision of establishing an accurate, reliable and updateable database of all Lagos State Residents so as to help the government’s strategy of verifying and authenticating the users of Lagos state government service and projectedly to aid government in allocating resources to meet the needs of the citizenry in the service delivery chain so as to ensure smooth transactions by linking existing data sources with a unique person identifier.

    What lofty ideals could the afore-stated be on paper if only it is as simple as stated in the agency’s enabling law? But the issue becomes more complex and entangled as the agency prepares to commence distribution of identification cards to inhabitants of the state that have registered as residents in the state. By this, we mean those that have lived in the state for not less than six months and above. It is at this point that issues coming out to the public domain regarding LASRRA show that the agency may be far from being transparently managed and that it has fallen short of expectations of Lagosians that have ab initio eagerly embraced the initiative when it started over three years ago.

    The pointer to this reality happened some days back when this writer stumbled on a news item in virtually all the notable news papers in the country in which a Lekki-based Information Technology (IT) group, Oracle Data Resort expressed serious doubts about the efficacy of LASRRA to deliver on its mission and vision as hitherto projected. The initial ready instinct, upon reading the news item, was to discountenance it but on a second thought, it occurred to the writer that there are some cogent posers raised in the news publication that needs further clarifications whether by the outgoing or incoming administration because public money is involved because the project, if well managed, could have been of monumental need to the government and the people of Lagos state.

    The Oracle Data Resort, through its Operations Director, Mr. Nkenna Osuji reportedly declared:  “The residents’ cards project is a good idea even when it has proved to be a duplication of already existing data initiatives of the national identity card project, the data captured in the driver’s licence through the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-ordered banks’ biometric and data collation initiative among others.” Osuji further stated: “When the idea will, as a matter of projection, ensure even distribution of the needs of the populace, despite the reality that the governor obviously wields awesome discretion in the areas of giving priority to projects, the huge amount of over N7billion so far expended on the initiative is scandalous in view of the yet-to-be-disputed non-commensurate paltry 168,000 residents’ cards produced in three years … and the purported suspicious disappearance of the residency cards of the incumbent governor and the governor-elect when the vehicle of the agency’s head was purportedly robbed by robbers.”

    As if this revelation was not enough, the resort’s image-maker, Mr. Gboyega Alebiosu in the report also raised vital issues concerning the dangerous trend of nepotism and transparency in the running of the agency’s affairs that the Lagos government should urgently look into where he asked: “Is it because the blood sister of Governor Babatunde Fashola (Ms Yinka Fashola), is the head of the agency that is keeping it away from the prying eyes of relevant government officials and the public?: “For how long will the agency run on public perception which has been quite positive when in actual fact, an agency like LASRRA has not been a good ambassador of the government in this regard?” And Alebiosu later added the consequences of the agency’s nepotism when he added: “Our investigation has shown that this kind of nepotistic tendency has influenced the decision of most civil servants to vote against the ruling party in the state.”

    These accusations are coming just as the agency prepares to commence distribution of registration cards next month. Every one that is currently residing in the state for six months or more are eligible and required to register. After registration, the resident’s unique identification number is generated. These questions have projected the operations of the agency in crass display of impunity and secrecy and this is not good for the image of this government outfit that is out to lift the veil of anonymity from every citizen of the state that does not apply to it.

    It is pertinent to ask whether indeed a whopping sum of N7.5billion has been expended on the agency’s operations in over three years while at this period of its operational harvest, the agency can only distribute a paltry 168,000 identification cards to Lagosians. The question is who approved such scandalous amount to this agency? Does that person think that the amount of cards being churned out by the agency is commensurate with the huge public funds so far expended on it?

    Also, is it true that the General Manager appointed for the agency is the incumbent governor’s blood sister? Could this be just an instance of the public insinuations that the outgoing governor Fashola derives pleasure in putting his family members, with impunity, in choice positions since he assumed office eight years ago? Could it also be that because Ms. Yinka Fashola, being a sister to governor Fashola, is impeding attempts to put LASRRA in check by the relevant arm of government? Is it true that civil servants because of the nepotistic inclination of the governor got pissed off necessitating most them to vote against the APC in the last elections in the state?

    Furthermore, what remains a mystery is how the outgoing governor and in-coming governor Akin Ambode’s residency identification cards got missing in Ms. Fashola’s vehicle that was purportedly attacked by robbers. Did the robbery take place at night or during the day and where? For goodness sake, why should what could have been kept in the vault of the agency be kept in the official vehicle of the head of the agency? Could this be deliberate mischief or just a mistake? Were the cards of other Lagosians stolen with those of these two very important citizens of the state? Who is playing games with these two cards and what essence is the person trying to achieve?

    What government should do is to pay more attention to the inept going on in LASRRA under the guise of providing leadership. The whopping amount of over N7billion already spent on the project could be adduced to be the rationale behind the reckless spending of 75 percent of the current year’s budget by the outgoing Fashola administration. This Lagos administration has been running on goodwill garnered in the past in the public domain while it continues to perpetuate management heist on the collective wealth of Lagosians. The incoming administration will have to inherit and contend with a lot of uncompleted and over-inflated projects that in the twilight of the Fashola regime had been commissioned in haste for selfish reasons. There are several other projects including particularly the new Ikoyi-Lekki Bridge which cost was alleged to have been inflated, being a recurring decimal of this government, and doubts raised on whether the bridge is truly a cable one.

    If probity and transparency must be ensured in the Lagos service, the foundation of nepotism and lack of transparency laid by Fashola as typified in the examples of LASRRA and several others when even his serving commissioners were not availed the opportunity to help people around them should be discouraged by the incoming administration. LASRRA must not fail and this more importantly forms the basis of this piece.

    Architect Akeredolu wrote in from Surulere, Lagos

  • Graduate bags institute’s proficiency award

    Graduate bags institute’s proficiency award

    An Accounting graduate of Covenant University, Otta, Andikan Ibanga, has bagged the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM)-NYSC proficiency award.

    He emerged best candidate in the examination which held last year in various states of the federation.

    Penultimate week, in Lagos, he was rewarded in the presence of hundreds of ex-corps members, who at a programme were inducted as graduate members of the institute.

    He, like others, studied hard for the examination without inkling that there was a reward for hard work.

    “All I did was to put in my best and almost a year after the examination; I got to know I was the best. I wasn’t sceptical about serving in the north, though initially I never wanted to serve in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital. But on getting there, I was willing to stay back because then, I discovered that the state is peaceful.

    “It was fun living there for a year. Though it was very far from home, it helped me to learn to be independent,” the Akwa-Ibom-born graduate said.

    President and Chairman of Council of NIM, Dr Nelson Uwaga took the inductees through an interactive session where he counselled them on the values shared in the institute, after which he inducted them as graduate members and as NIM ambassadors having met all the criteria set for the admission.

    There was a motivational talk entitled “Youth Employment and Livelihood Strategies: A Successful Journey to Self-actualisation”, by Mr Bamidele Ayemibo. They were urged to have other values such as credibility; character and consistency of conduct; competence and relationship.

  • Teachers’proficiency test, not about Fayemi

    Teachers’proficiency test, not about Fayemi

    SIR: I first wrote about the Teachers’ Development Needs Assessment (TDNA) that has brought about different versions of fabled stories in Ekiti State when it was becoming an ill-used tool in the hand of political spin doctors. I stated the needs for it and urged the Ekiti State government to adequately allay the fears of retrenchment being expressed by the teachers.

    In all sense of fairness, I dare say that the government has played its part well. What I find unacceptable is the continued seemingly non-negotiable stance of the teachers in preferring to stick to their guns, irrespective of interventions from almost all stakeholders. It may then not be too far-fetched at this point to ask what the agenda of these teachers is.

    The Ekiti State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Kayode Akosile, says they are not scared to write the test as speculated in some quarters. Well, I say they are. No doubt, there are a few shining lights that one can be proud of, but most of the teachers cannot even eat what they sell.

    Teachers in Ekiti State, and indeed Nigeria, know themselves and can readily, if they want, give you an objective assessment of one another. In fact, the competent and the objective ones will tell you we are truly on a downward slope and could soon crash. If a primary school teacher cannot read English text smoothly, what is the fate of the pupils under his/her care?

    If a teacher of English language cannot differentiate between ‘tin’ and ‘thing’ in pronunciation, where then are we headed? If a so-called secondary school English teacher does not know the ‘h’ in ‘honest’ and ‘honour’ is silent, how can his/her student pass Oral English in their SSCE?

    At first, I blamed the NUT leadership for its stance on the TDNA, but I have since stopped doing that. As a union, NUT must protect its own, good or bad. It also has a duty not to allow its dirty linen to be washed in the open. It must continue to find reasons for the teachers not to write the TDNA, even if the reasons are unreasonable and pointless.

    And in trying to do that, Governor Fayemi has been demonised. But this is not about Fayemi or Eniola Ajayi. In four or eight years, Fayemi will be gone, Eniola will move on but Ekiti will be here. The children of the illiterate and the un-lettered, who cannot afford the luxury of private schools, will continue to attend these schools and trust me, ‘church’ will continue to be ‘shursh’ and ‘orange’ will always be ‘horange’.

    At this point, let us push vain politics aside and join the government in ensuring that we get it right. Even if all the teachers would not write the TDNA, we must find another way to change our present course to salvage our future. We owe it a duty to our society and our children to build for them a foundation that could make them competent doctors, lawyers, activists, journalists, broadcasters, social commentators, policy-formulators and teachers of the future.

    ‘Dimeji Daniels

    Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State