The Nation Newspaper

Tag: pupils

  • Ex-CAMPUSLIFER holds literacy talks for pupils

    Ex-CAMPUSLIFER holds literacy talks for pupils

    Over 500 secondary school pupils in Anambra State have participated in a Media and Information Literacy (MIL) conference organised by Ms. Ngozi Emmanuel, a former campuslife reporter and young lecturer at the Department of the Mass Communication of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) in Awka.

    The conference, held in collaboration with the Mass Communication Department and the Directorate of International Collaboration and Linkages, was supported by the  Ministry of Education and the university. It also enjoyed the support of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

    The Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Joseph Ahaneku, represented by the university’s Director of Academic Planning, Prof Fredrick Odibo, said the event was in line with the management’s drive to make education attractive to young people. The VC said the event was crucial and hoped the pupils would embrace the opportunities offered by the organisers.

    In her paper delivered, Head of Department (HOD) of Mass Communication, Prof Chinyere Okunna, who doubles as the Director of the campus radio station, hailed Ms. Emmanuel for initiating the conference. According to the HOD, the news media has become a powerful tool for information dissemination, urging the participants to engage social media for their professional development.

    Dr Uche Ebeze, a Mass Communication lecturer, took the participants on the process of news literacy and opinion moulding. He described news as the “most fundamental content” in the media, adding that it was also the “most misinterpreted”. Educating the pupils on different methods of writing news, Ebeze enjoined them to positively engage the social media.

    The Director of International Collaboration and Linkages, Dr Igwebuike Onyiaorah, took the participants through potential of the news media, advising them to properly maximise these potentials for their personal growth.

    Dr Emma Ojukwu, the Director of Information and Public Relations of the university, who chaired the occasion, advised the pupils to carefully choose their role models. He urged them to follow the footsteps of Prof Okunna, who, he said, has achieved many firsts in both professional and personal lives.

    Ms. Emmanuel said the aim of the conference was to equip pupils who wish to study journalism with modern knowledge and new skill set to enable them prepare them ahead of time. She hailed Ministry of Education for giving approval for the students to attend the conference, praising UNESCO for its support.

  • Foundation prepares Kogi pupils for CBTs

    Al-Azhar Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, has rolled out its free computer based test training as part of its contribution to the overall development of education in the state.

    The exercise, which held at Al-Azhar International College Lokoja, was to ensure that no less than 1,000 pupils in the state were CBT compliant during the first three days of its inauguration.

    Founder and proprietor of Al-Azhar College, Dr Habeeb Yekeen, explained that his love for education, children, excellence, and the people of Kogi State inspired him to work on the exercise tagged: “Get them ready for CBT free training’ programme.”

    His words: “Get it right first time and always’ is not my words; it’s a model, and that is what I take as my personal model. I want the pupils to write UTME once and pass it, so that they don’t have to sit for the examination over and over again.

    “I want to use this training to build confidence in the candidates. I want them to get familiar with the functionalities of computer and the characteristics of JAMB examinations; and that is why we use past JAMB CBT questions to train them, and each of them will have hands-on experience to practically write the examinations.”

    On the cost implication of the facility, he said  aside personnel and power, 150KVA generator is being deployed for the exercise.

    “Setting up the centre is about three or four phases; building the hall itself, the local area network (LAN), furniture and the fourth is the computer system (laptops). The last three will be roughly between N15 and N20 million, but I do this with joy, because I am always very happy when I impact the life of people positively. It is going to be sustained, we have no doubt”.

    Director and Co-ordinator of the foundation Mrs Abiodun Johnson spoke more of the NGO’s activities.

    “It is 100 per cent NGO, but we welcome collaborations from public spirited individuals and organisations. What we are trying to do will go a long way in lifting the children and our society, because it is the way to go and impact,” she said.

    The Director Quality Assurance, Kogi State Ministry of Education, Mr. Babagbale Fehintoluwa, who stood in for the Commissioner of Education, Dr Tolorunleke Sunday, called on the beneficiaries and school principals to grab the opportunity.

    Fehintoluwa assured of more government input for the training programme in subsequent outings.

    He said, “We informed our area offices to bring 10 pupils from across the local governments. That was the initial plan. But we have decided to increase the number because of the facility on ground. What they have on ground can accommodate this.

    “We want to use this forum to inform school principals never to joke with this opportunity. Many pupils fail not because they are not academically sound, but because they are not versed in the new examination technology.”

  • Shell awards scholarships to 60 Niger Delta pupils

    Shell awards scholarships to 60 Niger Delta pupils

    A new batch of 60 pupils from the Niger Delta has been awarded the special secondary school scholarship of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Joint Venture’s Cradle to Career, covering tuition and  other bills for six years in four of the topmost private secondary schools in Port Harcourt.

    Brookstone Secondary School, Jephthah Comprehensive College, Archdeacon Brown Educational Centre (ABEC) and Bloombreed High School in Port Harcourt will receive 60 beneficiaries yearly from difficult terrains of the Niger Delta on scholarship for their secondary education, after a two-week orientation  with introductory courses in academics, character and psychology.

    The pupils are the seventh set of beneficiaries, bringing the number of beneficiaries since inception of the Cradle to Career programme to 410.

    SPDC Managing Director and Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, represented by the General Manager External Relations, IgoWeli said: “This year, the first set of beneficiaries completed their secondary education and the report we have is that about all of them recorded excellent performance in the school certificate and unified tertiary matriculation examinations. It means the aims of the programme are being achieved.”

    Speaking at the ceremony in Port Harcourt, the SPDC chief said Shell and its joint venture partners had sustained the scholarship initiative despite the economic challenges because they see education as a right for every child and not a privilege.

    Dr Patricia Ogbonnaya, Mrs Elizabeth Alagoa and Dr Moses Onoriode Bragiwa, representatives of the Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states Commissioners for Education, extolled the scholarship scheme for complementing their governments’investments in education. They praised the transparent selection and the human capital development benefits of the programme to the region.

    “SPDC has a passion for investing in people and we are happy to report that students in the programme have over the years been on the top of their classes in their respective schools. We thank Shell and their joint venture partners for helping to ameliorate the problems of the Niger Delta,” said Dame Christie Toby, the proprietress of one of the implementing schools.

    The SPDC JV launched the Cradle to Career initiative in 2010 to provide for bright indigent students and improve on the positive results of its other portfolio of scholarship schemes for local and international undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

    Shell companies in Nigeria support education through scholarships and other initiatives. In 2015, SPDC Joint Venture and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo.) invested $10.1 million in scholarships.

    Grants were awarded to 930 secondary school pupils and 638 university undergraduates last year, with a total of 10,401 (secondary) and 3,532 (university) grants given over the last five years.

  • Kits for indigent pupils

    Kits for indigent pupils

    Ponle Golden Lions Club, Ipaja, Lagos has shown commitment to improve living conditions of the indigent pupils and out-of-school children in the seedy Ipaja area of Lagos.

    Lion (Prince) Adeyemi Aderemi, revealed this after his official presentation to the public as the President of the Ponle Golden Club by the District Governor, Waheed Kadiri, at the Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    The colourful event was chaired by Senator Gbenga Kaka.

    The four-year-old Club, Aderemi said, would take improvement of the condition of school pupils in Ipaja seriously, even as he said that in the next one year, efforts would be made to complement the efforts of the state and local governments to improve education standard.

    According to him, education is a great asset. Helping people, especially the less-privileged, to have access to education is a worthwhile venture since government can’t do everything unassisted.

    “We intend to supply them with free uniforms, books and other learning materials.

    “We should accept it that government alone cannot be expected to cater for the education needs of people. Whatever individual or club can do to assist, is a good gesture. That is why our club has taken improvement of school in our area as its agenda during my tenure as President.

    “We are looking at out-of-school children, the less-privileged ones in public primary schools in Ipaja area. We have visited some of them, looked at their needs to see what we can do in order to address some of them.”

  • Scholarship for 11 pupils

    Scholarship for 11 pupils

    IT is true that Nigeria is ranked among countries with the lowest literacy rates in Africa.

    Resource persons from the several education summits held in Nigeria since the nation’s independence in 1960 have blamed the phenomenon bad governance, poverty and other unfavourable conditions arising from inconsistent educational policies.

    But for Prince Lawrence Eze, the son of the traditional ruler of Mburubu in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, the war to fight illiteracy in the country and Enugu State in particular, should not be left for government alone.

    And to match his resolution with action, the prince, at a colourful ceremony, put smiles on 11 brilliant pupils of the Community Secondary School, Mburubu, Enugu State, with scholarship awards.

    The lucky pupils will enjoy a comprehensive scholarship scheme from JS1 to SSIII. Apart from taking care of all financial obligations, the scholarship captures the general upkeep of the students during the six year period of their study.

    Prince Eze said the scholarship to the eleven brilliant pupils was to serve as lifeline for them to become whatever they wanted to be in future, the poverty level of their parents notwithstanding.

    He believed  that with a secondary school education, the sky would be their limit, since according to him, education remains the greatest gift to any child.

    The philanthropist, who was in company of his wife, Princess Lina Onyekachi Eze, stated that when the award committee selected the students in collaboration with the school principal who provided information on their academic performance, he had no choice than to go ahead with the project, adding that his action became inevitable in view of the poverty level of their parents as well as to give the students hope.

    According to him “When I was in primary school, I had two brilliant school mates who unfortunately could not go further because their parents were poor, one of them ended up as a firewood seller in the village while the other managed a little shop and died last year, partly as a result of hardship. If anyone with resources had come with help at that time, such as scholarship, they could have been more useful to society by now.”

    He continued:”If you invest millions and billions of naira to train your children in the best schools, and forgets to touch on the lives of those around you, the children of your neighbours who are not richly endowed like you, could pose danger to society.”

    While calling on the wealthy to give succour to the downtrodden, Prince Lawrence Eze, promised to continue to embark on such humanitarian projects as his little contribution to give back to society part of his God’s blessings.

    The principal of the school Mr. Robert Okorie, commended Prince Lawrence Eze for his kind gesture, stressing that the scholarship award was historic, as that was the first time any student of the school had received scholarship from anyone since its inception.

    Okorie, explained that the scholarship would reduce the burden of their parents and urged the beneficiaries to remain dedicated to their study and be of good behaviour to justify the confidence reposed in them.

    Mr. Elias Nwannaja, who spoke on behalf of the parents, expressed joy with the scholarship award and prayed God to bless Prince Eze and his wife with good health and more resources, as they continue to spray love to the needy. They said the scholarship was a great relief to them.

    The ceremony which attracted a large crowd from the community, featured cultural dances and drama presentations by the students.

  • Visually impaired trains pupils on apps, website development

    A 27-year-old visually impaired Mr. Rasak Adekoya, has trained 60 pupils of Babs Fafunwa Millennium Secondary School, Lagos, on website and mobile apps development.

    After two months of rigorous exercise, the pupils, developed Lagos State laws mobile apps and the official website of the Ojodu Local Council Development Area (LCDA).

    At the launch of the apps and websites at Ojodu LCDA secretariat, Adekoya said he embarked on the exercise to equip the pupils with skills capabile of imbibing in them the quest to be employers of labour.

    According to him, the training became imperative given the need to catch the youths early enough, to develop them  to be become self reliant in future  .

    He said some of the challenges facing youths could be traced to what he called ‘lack of pragmatic change’ to transform young minds into budding entrepreneurs.

    Adekoya, who lost his sight shortly after graduating from Lagos State Polytechnic, noted that he would carry his gospel of entrepreneurship to 57 schools across the state 57 councils before 2018.

    He lamented that unemployment has become a challenge in Nigeria, saying that equipping younger ones with requisite skills to become self employed is the most ideal choice.

    With about 1.8 million graduating from the tertiary institutions yearly, Adekoye said he felt relevant skills acquisition would help reduce their number in the labour market.

    “I trained these young minds as part of my contributions to better the society. Nobody or organisation supported me throughout the programme. I deployed my personal resources to achieve this,” he noted.

    He urged the beneficiaries to utilise the knowledge acquired to better themselves and the society at large.

    One of the beneficiaries of the programme , a 15-year-old SSS 3 of the school, Master Akintola Ebenezer, said  he was  happy for undergoing the training, saying it had impacted much on his life and perceptions towards entepreneurship .

    He, alongside his 59 other contemporaries, designed the website in such a way that the platform is accessibile while visitors to the site  can get information on Ojodu  LCDA without much hitches.

    “The training and experience is worthwhile for me and I will make good use of the knowledge to improve and develop myself”, he said.

    Another beneficiary a 13-year-old SSS 2 of the same school, Miss. Kaku Kemi Marvelous, said the Lagos State laws mobile apps, when downloaded on their mobile devices, would afford the general public knowledge about the laws of the state.

    The Sole Administrator of Ojodu LCDA, Alhaja Olushola Kokumo, and Principal of Babs Fafunwa Millennium Secondary School, Mrs. Adepoju  Oyefunke praised Adekoya and his crew for the laudable initiative.

  • Scholarship for 11 pupils

    Scholarship for 11 pupils

    IT is true that Nigeria is ranked among countries with the lowest literacy rates in Africa.

    Resource persons from the several education summits held in Nigeria since the nation’s independence in 1960 have blamed the phenomenon bad governance, poverty and other unfavourable conditions arising from inconsistent educational policies.

    But for Prince Lawrence Eze, the son of the traditional ruler of Mburubu in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, the war to fight illiteracy in the country and Enugu State in particular, should not be left for government alone.

    And to match his resolution with action, the prince, at a colourful ceremony, put smiles on 11 brilliant pupils of the Community Secondary School, Mburubu, Enugu State, with scholarship awards.

    The lucky pupils will enjoy a comprehensive scholarship scheme from JS1 to SSIII. Apart from taking care of all financial obligations, the scholarship captures the general upkeep of the students during the six year period of their study.

    Prince Eze said the scholarship to the eleven brilliant pupils was to serve as lifeline for them to become whatever they wanted to be in future, the poverty level of their parents notwithstanding.

    He believed  that with a secondary school education, the sky would be their limit, since according to him, education remains the greatest gift to any child.

    The philanthropist, who was in company of his wife, Princess Lina Onyekachi Eze, stated that when the award committee selected the students in collaboration with the school principal who provided information on their academic performance, he had no choice than to go ahead with the project, adding that his action became inevitable in view of the poverty level of their parents as well as to give the students hope.

    According to him “When I was in primary school, I had two brilliant school mates who unfortunately could not go further because their parents were poor, one of them ended up as a firewood seller in the village while the other managed a little shop and died last year, partly as a result of hardship. If anyone with resources had come with help at that time, such as scholarship, they could have been more useful to society by now”.

    He continued:”If you invest millions and billions of naira to train your children in the best schools, and forgets to touch on the lives of those around you, the children of your neighbours who are not richly endowed like you, could pose danger to society.”

    While calling on the wealthy to give succour to the downtrodden, Prince Lawrence Eze, promised to continue to embark on such humanitarian projects as his little contribution to give back to society part of his God’s blessings.

    The principal of the school Mr. Robert Okorie, commended Prince Lawrence Eze for his kind gesture, stressing that the scholarship award was historic, as that was the first time any student of the school had received scholarship from anyone since its inception.

    Okorie, explained that the scholarship would reduce the burden of their parents and urged the beneficiaries to remain dedicated to their study and be of good behaviour to justify the confidence reposed in them.

    Mr. Elias Nwannaja, who spoke on behalf of the parents, expressed joy with the scholarship award and prayed God to bless Prince Eze and his wife with good health and more resources, as they continue to spray love to the needy. They said the scholarship was a great relief to them.

    The ceremony which attracted a large crowd from the community, featured cultural dances and drama presentations by the students.

     

     

  • Device to speed up pupils’ learning ability berths

    Device to speed up pupils’ learning ability berths

    Imagine your child punching buttons on his digital device and interacting directly with a tutor as if it were a classroom setting; great isn’t it? That is what Video Tutorials is all about.

    The Video Tutorials comprises audio visual files which contain lessons on various subjects. The files can be installed on android phones, tablets, and PCs without the rigour of internet connectivity.

    Speaking on the sideline of a public lecture to celebrate Educational Advancement Centre’s (EAC) 10th anniversary held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, last week, Bamgbose said regrettably,  many students continued to fail WAEC and NECO despite that solutions to their challenges are a few steps away.

    Once video tutorials are fully optimised, Bamgbose said learners would be enormously rich in knowledge of the respective subjects and would therefore be intellectually equipped enough to challenge their teachers on any knotty areas in class.

    “Most Nigerian teachers (especially the graduates) are not necessarily lacking in knowledge; they are only poorly motivated. But when they know that the children will ask challenging questions in class, they will sit up because no teacher wants to look ignorant before his students.”

    To make it affordable for all, Bamgbose, a cleric, revealed that the product has been priced as low as N15 naira per lesson.

    “Schools can have all the lessons for all subjects installed on their systems for as low as N30000,”he added.

    Bamgbose noted that finance has been a major challenge to marketing the product nationwide. Despite this, the product has continued to gain ground wherever they introduce it, Bamgbose added.

    Bamgbose recalled that to further raise consciousness on the product, EAC team visited former Minister of Education Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, who regretted that the device was brought to him at the climax of his tenure.

    “He (Shekarau) kept shaking his head in regret during that visit! But of course the new minister of education will find records of that meeting. We believe government should be a continuum. You can’t say that you will not follow up on what Shekarau has done because he is no longer minister of education. The Ministry of Education cannot say they don’t know?”

    He continued: “We were in Jalingo a few weeks ago, and for two days our staff were besieged at the hotel we lodged because of this product. But we can do so little because we are private, and our resources are limited. But we hope that speaking out at forums like this will make more people aware of the product,” he aded.

    He appealed to Nigerian media to come to EAC’s aid by helping to create more awareness as a segment of their corporate social responsibility.

    “This is for real, it’s not a gimmick, or copied from anywhere, neither are we using animations.  These are real teachers teaching. We assign the students to automatic Whatsapp groups when they have questions, and allow the students to answer the questions themselves. The teacher only answers when they can’t. The Whatsapp groups are available for every subject. Kids are using these things (social media) for negative things; let’s encourage them to use them for positive things,” Bamgbose concluded.

     

  • Device to speed up pupils’ learning ability berths

    Imagine your child punching buttons on his digital device and interacting directly with a tutor as if it were a classroom setting; great isn’t it? That is what Video Tutorials is all about.

    The Video Tutorials comprises audio visual files which contain lessons on various subjects. The files can be installed on android phones, tablets, and PCs without the rigour of internet connectivity.

    Speaking on the sideline of a public lecture to celebrate Educational Advancement Centre’s (EAC) 10th anniversary held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, last week, Bamgbose said regrettably,  many students continued to fail WAEC and NECO despite that solutions to their challenges are a few steps away.

    Once video tutorials are fully optimised, Bamgbose said learners would be enormously rich in knowledge of the respective subjects and would therefore be intellectually equipped enough to challenge their teachers on any knotty areas in class.

    “Most Nigerian teachers (especially the graduates) are not necessarily lacking in knowledge; they are only poorly motivated. But when they know that the children will ask challenging questions in class, they will sit up because no teacher wants to look ignorant before his students.”

    To make it affordable for all, Bamgbose, a cleric, revealed that the product has been priced as low as N15 naira per lesson.

    “Schools can have all the lessons for all subjects installed on their systems for as low as N30000,”he added.

    Bamgbose noted that finance has been a major challenge to marketing the product nationwide. Despite this, the product has continued to gain ground wherever they introduce it, Bamgbose added.

    Bamgbose recalled that to further raise consciousness on the product, EAC team visited former Minister of Education Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, who regretted that the device was brought to him at the climax of his tenure.

    “He (Shekarau) kept shaking his head in regret during that visit! But of course the new minister of education will find records of that meeting. We believe government should be a continuum. You can’t say that you will not follow up on what Shekarau has done because he is no longer minister of education. The Ministry of Education cannot say they don’t know?”

    He continued: “We were in Jalingo a few weeks ago, and for two days our staff were besieged at the hotel we lodged because of this product. But we can do so little because we are private, and our resources are limited. But we hope that speaking out at forums like this will make more people aware of the product,” he aded.

    He appealed to Nigerian media to come to EAC’s aid by helping to create more awareness as a segment of their corporate social responsibility.

    “This is for real, it’s not a gimmick, or copied from anywhere, neither are we using animations.  These are real teachers teaching. We assign the students to automatic Whatsapp groups when they have questions, and allow the students to answer the questions themselves. The teacher only answers when they can’t. The Whatsapp groups are available for every subject. Kids are using these things (social media) for negative things; let’s encourage them to use them for positive things,” Bamgbose concluded.

     

  • Lagos community gets kits for indigent pupils

    Ponle Golden Lions Club, Ipaja, Lagos has a vision for the indigent pupils and out-of-school children in the seedy Ipaja area of Lagos.

    Lion (Prince) Adeyemi Aderemi, revealed this after his official presentation to the public as the President of the Ponle Golden Club penultimate Saturday by the District Governor, Waheed Kadiri, at the Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    The colourful event was chaired by Senator Gbenga Kaka.

    The four-year-old Club, Aderemi said, would take improvement of the condition of school pupils in Ipaja seriously, even as he said that in the next one year, efforts would be made to complement the efforts of the state and local governments to improve education standard.