The Nation Newspaper

Tag: pupils

  • 150,000 pupils take placement test in Lagos

    Save for a few hitches, the Lagos State placement test for admission into public secondary schools for the 2014/2015 academic session went smoothly last Saturday.

    The examination was written by about 150,000 primary six pupils in 235 centres across the state. Ninety thousand of the candidates were from public primary schools, while 60,000 were from private schools.

    The challenges encountered during the examination included insufficient OMR sheets and inability of some candidates to locate their centres on time.

    Dummy OMR sheets were used in place of the originals in centres that had shortages.

    At the Education District II, where the Director-General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Mrs Ronke Shoyombo; the Tutor General/Permanent Secretary of District II, Mrs Titilayo Sholanrin, and District 1, Mrs Florence Ogunfidodo monitored the exam, latecomers were allowed to write the examination.

    In Army Cantonment Junior Secondary School, about 33 candidates were absent.

    Mrs Shoyombo explained that the examination was one of the ways through which the state government was trying to bridge the gap between public and private schools.  She noted that the questions were designed for both public and private schools.

    She said though many private schools have not been approved in the state, no pupil would be denied education because of the status of their school.

    “In Lagos State we have about 18,000 private schools and about 4,000 are approved and we are moving to 5,000.  With that, any decision you make as the Tutor General/Permanent Secretary, the child should be at the centre of it all. We cannot prevent our children from accessing education because of the status of their schools, so we are making provisions for children that are coming from unapproved schools.  But that does not mean that we will approve schools that do not have good teaching and learning conditions. We have been putting a lot of measures in place; we have been working with quite a number of schools that are not approved and we have been sending out signage approval and that is going to deter parents from sending their children to unapproved schools. I can assure that between one to three years we will be able to overcome all our hurdles but we are working on them,” she said.

    Mrs Ogunfidodo described the conduct of the examination as 80 per cent satisfactory despite increased candidature.  She noted that the government has provided infrastructure to cater for the large intake and would continue to provide more.  She also promised improvements next year.

    “By next year, we will improve, especially in locating the centres and production of OMR sheets,” she said.

    On her part, Mrs Sholanrin said the 235 centres were sufficient enough to accommodate the large number of pupils for the examination. She noted that physically-challenged pupils were well taken care of.  She said the Computer Based Test which was piloted in some schools, would cascade to other exams in the state.

    A parent, Mrs Oluwatoyin Ayinde, who resides in Agbede in Ikorodu, said there are no enough schools in the area. She said there is only one primary and secondary school, which are merged in the area.

    Results of the examination would be released in two weeks.

  • Parents, pupils urge Ambode to retain school

    Parents, pupils urge Ambode to retain school

    The Parents’ Forum and pupils of the Aunty Ayo Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School Obalende (AAGCSSS), Lagos have sent a Save Our Soul (SOS) message to the Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, to revisit the decision of his predecessor Babatunde Raji Fashola  to hand over the school to the private owners.

    The school was founded by the late Mrs Ayo Manuwa for the education of less-privileged girls. She handed it over to the state government in the 80s.

    The parents are appealing to Ambode to stop the process of  returning the school to the family of the late Manuwa, a process that has already begun.

    Chairman of the Parents’ Forum, Mr Saheed Olalere, fears that if given to private owners, children from poor homes would be denied access to education, a policy he said was against the wish of the late founder.

    Making the appeal over the weekend at the retirement programme of the school’s Principal, Mrs Janet Adebo, Olalere said: “As at today, only two public schools are in Obalende, and by allowing private ownership of AAGCSSS, the less- privileged in the society will not have access to education.”

    Giving other reasons for the government not to hand over the school, Olalere claimed that the new owners were not direct descendants of the late founder and do not share her philosophy but are only interested in the school’s real estate.

    “No direct descendants of the late Manuwa attended meetings held during Fashola’s era.  The extended family members and some officials of the Ministry of Education, who know the history of the school and want to exploit it, were those present at the meetings.

    “The renewed interest of the exploiters is because the school remains the biggest government-owned secondary school in terms of land mass and students’ population in the Ikoyi-Obalande axis. The land mass is the core of the problem,” he said

    Olalere said returning the schools would be against the wish of its founder, who voluntarily relinquished the school to the government. Moreover, he said the late Manuwa also founded two other schools – Aunty Ayo International School, a private school, and Aunty Ayo High School – which was taken over by the family while Mrs Sarah Sosan was deputy governor/commissioner for education.

    The Parents’ Forum wants Ambode to find out why the governing council of Aunty Ayo International School wants to go against the wish of the founder.

    Supporting Olalere, the Chairman of the Obalende Landlords Association, Prince Soji Ladejobi, appealed to the governor not to let poor students be deprived of education.

    Some of the pupils also appealed against the sale of their school, urging Ambode to use his office to secure their access to affordable education.

    The dis-engagement for private ownership is ongoing in the school, as no new pupil has been admitted over the last two years.

    But a source in the Ministry of Education, who pleaded not to be mentioned, debunked the parents’ claim that some elements in the ministry were interested in the school. As claimed by the parents, the source also said it is not compulsory that the direct descendants of the late founder must be  on ground during meetings, noting that once there are other blood relations that should negotiate on behalf of the family, a deal could be struck.

    Speaking with our reporter on phone, the source said: ”If the school has a large land mass, how would that benefit those in the ministry?”

    “The issue is simple. The government forcefully took over some schools from their owners some years ago. The government has now decided to return same school to them with certain conditions attached; and those who met the conditions are reclaiming their schools.

    “The parents need not be afraid because the government prioritises the interest of the children, and will ensure the last student to leave the school is protected without paying a dime. But parents cannot say they don’t want the government not to return the schools to their real owner.”

    The source, however, asked the aggrieved parents to write a letter to the Commissioner for Education, adding that perhaps that would assuage their fear.

  • Medical students advise pupils

    Medical students advise pupils

    To ensure secondary pupils are informed on health matters, the 300-Level members of Christian Medical and Dental Association Students (CMDAS) of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) have held an outreach at Uselu Secondary School in Benin City, Edo State capital.

    The outreach, which was lasted for over two hours, last Thursday, had no fewer than 35 pupils in attendance. The medical students met with the pupils to sensitise them on health matters, career counselling, social vices and salvation message.

    According to the association’s Assistant Mission Secretary, Emmanuel Afesiumen, the outreach was part of activities aimed at educating young people on community health. The students had opportunity to practise health communication, which they were taught in community medicine.

    Addressing the pupils in their various classes, members of CMDAS told them to sun vices and drug addiction, which they said were detrimental to their personal wellbeing. They advised the pupils to study hard and keep their environment neat to reduce the tendencies illness.

    The event also featured salvation talk, where the pupils were told to build personal relationship with God and lead a life of selfless service. Some of the pupils became born again, promising never to go back to their immoral lifestyle.

    The outreach also provided an opportunity for the pupils to seek advice on issues affecting them. Some spoke about bodily changes and career choices; the medical students advised them on ways they could solve the challenges.

    The university students presented gifts to the school. One them, Samson Oshomoh, said he was happy to participate in the outreach. “I feel fulfilled because I just mentored and inspired some young people. I am proud being a medical student. I hope the pupils take what they have learnt home,” he said.

  • Kosofe LGEA rewards pupils, teachers, others

    Administrative heads, teachers, pupils have been  rewarded for their outstanding performance in their various schools during the Merit Award programme of Kosofe Local Government Education Area (LGEA).

    The ceremony, held at the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Hall, Maryland was the climax of the ‘Education week’ of the LGEA which started last Monday.

    Mrs Justina Eze of Anglican Primary School, Ajegunle, emerged best head teacher of the LGEA for her resourcefulness in setting up a School Based Management Committee (SBMC) and attracting the attention of a Non-Governmental Organisation to the state of the school which is located in a coastal.

    Mrs Eze, who was posted to the school three years ago, said: “I believe that there is nothing too difficult for a willing heart. My school is close to water. When I got there I called the parents and made them understand that we can actually thrive in this place. I formed an SBMC and we all jointly corporated and brought an NGO that helped us renovate our furniture.  They come here to inspect and still want to do more for us.  This award today is not for me alone but all of us who deemed it fit to uplift education in that school,” she said.

    Mrs Eze who retires next year advised her colleagues to be patient and diligent as their hard work would not go unrewarded.

    The best teacher, Mrs. Christiana Daramola of Ojota Primary School, Ojota expressed her appreciation. She noted that they are always faced with parents’ lack of corporation.

    “We are always faced with parents’ lack of cooperation. The little things that they need to give their children, they do not do it. Even when you invite parents for meetings they give excuses and some that will even come still would not make any adjustment. I want to appeal to parents to please attend to your children’s needs, its affects them a lot. Some of them do not have even note books,” she lamented.

    In the best pupil category, Muyiwa Ayoade of UACC Primary School clinched first position. Memunat Shuaib of Baptist Primary School came second while Samuel Salami of Mairan Primary School took the third.  Other workers of the LGEA were also recognised.

    During the one-week event, pupils from primary schools in the LGEA got career tips from various mentors who advised them to have passion and develop relevant skills necessary for their ambitions.

    The education sectary Kosofe LGEA, Mr Abiodun Akhigbe, described the initiative as a morale booster.

    He said LGEA has trained about 250 non-teaching members of staff, awarded scholarships to many pupils and the installed vision corridors in all its schools in line with the state government’s vision project to avert blindness among workers and pupils.

  • NGO teaches pupils to care for environment

    In celebration of this year’s World Environmental Day, the Conservative Environmental Growth and Development Centre (CEGDEC) took out time to visit Oke-Afa Junior and Senior Secondary Schools, Jakande Estate, Isolo to educate the pupils on the need to take positive environmental actions.

    Addressing the pupils at the school’s assembly, the Founder, CEGDEC, Mrs Olayemi Maryam, urged the pupils to adopt an eco-friendly sustainable lifestyle.

    “Do an inventory of your energy usage, your consuming habits and your reliance on unsustainable products, make a list of ways you intend to curb your unsustainable activities and habits and replace them with sustainable ones, and set yourself a timeline to meet, with harder changes at the end of the timeline,” she said.

    She further said Nigerians had not been paying attention to their environment, which has created a lot of concern for environmentalists.

    She advised the pupils to read the labels of origin and manufacturer of goods they buy.

    “Are they certified as sustainable? Are they organic? For example, organic cotton clothing causes much less environmental damage than conventional cotton-growing methods; are they sustainably obtained? Such as with obtaining fish, are they locally made?  Don’t shoot down the people who are trying to make improvements, instead, get involved and help them,” she added.

  • Pupils restate rights on Day of African Child

    If those who massacred schoolchildren in Soweto, South Africa, in 1976 sought to silence them or belittle their rights, they failed. Pupils from elementary to primary and secondary schools have continued to raise their voices every year, demanding that they are entitled to the best of education.

    So it was at the anniversary of that mid-year tragedy in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) when the kids said education is their right, never a privilege.

    The pupils were affirmative. They insisted that good and qualitative education should be the right of every Nigerian child especially the girl-child.

    The students made their position known while commemorating the Day of the African Child in the nation’s capital. They demanded government should revisit the education sector and ensure every child in the territory is given special attention. Alongside their teachers, they sought the opportunity to showcase the future they so much craved.

    It was at an event organised by international and local non-governmental organisations (NGOs). They include A World at School, Global Youth Ambassador, Connected Development (CODE), DRPC, Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All and Save the Children. The pupils are majorly from LEA Primary School, Kado Estate; Community Secondary School, Gwarinpa as well as students from a make-shift school for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Area 1.

    The day was set aside by the African Union (AU) to remember a tragedy- the massacre of hundreds of children in Soweto, South Africa who were demonstrating for basic right to a decent education. The incident has ever since showcased African child to global spectacle on educational right.

    So, students from the FCT schools wanted government to assist low income earning parents to support their wards; most especially in the area of free education as practiced in selected states in the country.

    They expressed fury over situations where their colleagues get to school late due to reasons that they would need to street hawk early in the morning before proceeding to school. Some of these are among list of circumstances they detest and urged government to address.

    Miss Judith Solomon, Primary 5 Pupil of LEA, Kado said as part of the participants, she was at the event to make her statements to the celebration of the Day for the African child. “I want the world to know that there is goodness in girl child education. I want the world to know that I am proud of myself and that I have right to education.”

    The 10-year old pupil emphasised that as Nigerian child, “We will stand for our right to get this education.”

    “I want government to develop my school by bringing more staff and providing more facilities necessary for the school.” Among other requests, relevant government authorities were tasked to perform their mandate and ensure every child gets access to good education.

    “Government should also ensure that all children in Nigeria have access to education. It is our right and not out privilege”

    “Government should ensure they provide whatever is possible for the children to get what they wanted and education is what we want,” Solomon, who aspired to be a medical doctor, said.

    As for Mohammed Garba, a student in one of the IDP camps in the territory, life without education is worthless. Garba, just like every other pupil in the IDP camps sacrificed his pains, despite previous encounter subjected to terrors of the Islamic sect. He strove to undergo some basic learning even barefooted with much struggle with hunger.

    “I am here to talk about my education. I just want to be in school. All I want is education. I want to become a doctor, so government should build school for us and give us good teachers,” Garba admonished.

    Community volunteered teacher who is also a victim of the Boko Haram attack in Maiduguri, Borno State, Abdul Tashiu pleaded with the government to come to the rescue of internally displaced children, especially in the area of feeding and education.

    Tashiu explained he chose to sacrifice his time for the children because when you educate a child, it is believed you have educated the society. He was able to voluntarily teach about 132 pupils in basic classes such as after their stay at the camp, they could continue their education.

    “I decided to become a volunteer in the society because there is low acceptance of education in the north which leads to early marriage.

    Children lack access to schools in IDP camps. Some of them even come from rural areas where they have no school around. So I decided to intervene providing three classrooms for the 132 pupils.”

    But he lamented over paucity of funds which he said had discouraged about four other teachers who joined him in the humanitarian work to suspend work. “The children come in mufti, barefoot. They need teachers and the environment is so poor so they need teaching aids such as desk, writing materials and are very hungry.

    “When the children come to school, they complain of hunger. So these children need to have breakfast before they go into their classrooms.”

    Maimuna Sidiham, an SS2 student of Community Secondary School, Asokoro advocated for every child to be in school. As for her, it is inhuman for parents or guardian to give young girls out for marriage.

    Describing the child marriage as worst thing that could happen to any girl child, the 16 year old student queried rationale why some children will be in school while others are on the street hawking to either feed themselves or guardian.

    The programme, according to her would enlighten them of their rights as a girl child and the essence of educating a female child. “I wonder why they will stop a child from school to get married in some states. Such action is so wrong.”

    “When you go to Karu, Nyanya, you will see young girls hawking when they are meant to be in school. Sometimes, it could be that the government cannot afford to take them to school but government could help,” she said.

    “I am not trying to discriminate here but the Muslims believe it is important for girls to get married early and not be in school be in their husbands house,” she added.

    She urged the organisers to do more of public enlightenment to change orientation of the parents.

     

  • Corps member takes pupils on media excursion

    Corps member takes pupils on media excursion

    A Corps member in Kaduna State, Kemi Busari, has taken pupils of EHCOWS Discovery Academy on a  media excursion as part of his Community Development Service (CDS).

    No fewer than 60 pupils who are members of the school’s Press Club, visited radio and television stations owned by the Kaduna State Media Corporation (KSMC) last Tuesday.

    They were received at the television station by Mr Musa Muhammad Lawal, who conducted them round the facilities. Some of the sections visited include the control room, library, studio, newsroom and graphics department.

    Lawal explained to the pupils how the transmission equipment work. He said: “Every department must work together to create a single picture or video aired on the screen. The transmission process starts from the studio, where audio and video are being sent to the control room. At the control room, some distortions will be made on the audio before it is been sent to the transmitter, which carries it directly to the mast and finally to viewers.”

    At the graphics department, the pupils were held spellbound as Mr Jonathan Dauda, the head of the department, explained the task of the section.

    Dauda said: “All of you watch cartoon, animations and several other pictures at home. This small section takes care of all the processes involved.”

    At the station’s newsroom, the company’s News and Current Affairs Manager, Mr Peter Yaro, engaged the pupils in an interactive session. He advised the students to be good ambassadors of their school and pursue their passion for journalism with vigour.

    He said: “If a soldier fires gunshots, he may kill one or two people before the bullet get exhausted. But, a sentence by a journalist can destabilise a country in a matter of seconds. This is why journalism is a professional trade. You must be responsible if you must practise journalism. You must shun bribery and scandalous practice.”

    The Corps member took the pupils to Capital Sound, a state-owned radio station. They were received by reporters of the station. They visited the station’s newsroom, programmes and engineering departments.

    Some of the pupils had the opportunity to participate in live interviews.

    Speaking on her experience, the club’s Editor-in-Chief, Fareedat Muhammad, described the excursion as unforgettable experience.

    The Corps member said the trip was borne out of his aim to make the pupils learn journalism skills from the source.

    He said: “I have always wanted to impart the knowledge I have on younger people. I had the opportunity of being part of press club in my days at secondary school and I had opportunity to participate in many competitions. So, I see this excursion as a payback.

    “The main reason for the excursion is to expose the pupils to the practice and make them to see how the profession is being practised. We achieved our aim, because many of the pupils have shown interest to be journalist.”

  • Dentists counsel pupils on oral health

    Dentists counsel pupils on oral health

    The challenge is on by Unilever in collaboration with the National Dental Association (NDA) to change children’s attitude to oral health through a 21-day campaign that would see dentists visit schools across the country with the gospel of twice-daily brushing.

    The campaign is part of efforts to reverse the statistics that nine in 10 tooth decay cases are untreated in Nigeria.

    Unilever’s Pepsodent and Close-Up toothpastes in partnership with the NDA, Ministry of Health and various State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) hopes to ultimately reach 10 million children with its behavioural change campaign by 2020.

    To make the 21-day behaviour change programme interesting, George Umoh, Brand Manager, Pepsodent, Unilever Nigeria said that Super Dentists Comic has been developed along with other educational materials to engage pupils in over 1,000 primary schools nationwide to help them cultivate the habit of brushing day and night and influence members of their families with their healthy oral lifestyle.

    Speaking at the flag-off of the programme in Lagos, he said: “We are targeting children because we believe that kids can change the world and they can use their pester power to make their parents do the same. These products, together with the educational materials that we have designed, are handed over to the kids and for 21-days, our instructors and the school teachers are in the schools to ensure that these kids get proper oral health education and go back home with the same exercise to influence and convince their parents to do the same.”

    This year, Umoh said the aim of the campaign is to reach 600,000 pupils across five states.

    “In the 2015 edition, we will be across five different states in Nigeria and will be reaching about 600,000 students and the programme continues every other year till 2020 when we achieve our ambition to influence and improve the lives of 10 million school children in Nigeria.”

    While counseling the pupils, Dr Dorcas Abu, former president, Nigeria Association of Dental Students, gave the benefits of brushing twice daily with toothpaste that contains fluoride.

    “We should use a medium-bristled toothbrush for adult and soft-bristled toothbrush for children. For smokers and frequent consumers of caffeine, they can use the hard-bristled toothbrush. The importance of brushing twice daily is not about how frequently you brush but the techniques in which you use. You should use the roll technique in which you brush the upper teeth down and the lower teeth up in a roll direction while you brush the chewing surface of your teeth in a horizontal manner,” she said.

    Underscoring the importance of the campaign, Dr Abu said: “It is important to teach children because when you catch them young, it’s like you are teaching the next generation and a nation. It is easier that way because they can teach their siblings, peers and even their parents at home. And as we teach them from now, they will teach their own children because they will grow up with it and in a couple of years we will have a cavity-free world.”

  • Lead by example, pupils told

    Lead by example, pupils told

    Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Neimeth International Pharmaceutical Plc, Mr Emmanuel Ekunno, has called on leaders to lead by example for students and younger generation to learn.

    He made this known on Thursday last week, when delivering a lecture on ‘good leadership’ during a visit of contestants of the governors’ competition on leadership skills organised by Civic Enlightenment Association (CEA), at the Neimeth International Pharmaceutical Plc premises, Ikeja, Lagos.

    Nine secondary schools from Lagos and Ogun states participated.

    Emmanuel said leadership is caught and not taught but can be learned, adding that leaders in the country should try to touch the heart of citizens positively.

    “Leadership looks simple but it is complicated; everything begins and ends with leadership. Leadership is caught and can be learnt. You can’t teach people because they might not want to listen but leaning is the developing area. If we begin to learn from past mistakes and begin to change our ways, we can become better leaders. Leaders implode before explosion and make use of their initiative when necessary, must be kind and merciful”

    He stressed that leadership is a choice, and leaders must be prepared with lot of exposures, high emotional energy, and must be bold and fair with inner conviction.

    “To be a leader, you must choose because when I started as a sales representative of this company, I decided to choose a career and started doing things that helped build my career. I chose loyalty to my boss and loyalty to the company with sacrifice. I believe we will have governors, presidents, and pharmacist managing director from you people one day.

    In his address, Coordinator of Civic Enlightenment Association, Dr. Femi Aroyehun, said the competition on leadership skills is an initiative named in honour of the sitting governor of Lagos state and designed to produce desirable platform for contestants and younger generations to learn techniques for solving leadership problems.

    Aroyehun blamed most of the socio-political and economic crises often experienced in the country on leadership deficiency.

    Speaking with The Nation, a teacher from Seylek City College, Ebute Meta, Lagos, Mrs Uju Adindu said: “It is a good program to trigger the leadership qualities in the students so as to catch them young and help them become a good leader.”

    A student of Straitgate College, Ishara Remo, Ogun State also had this to say: “The lecture was a good enlightenment to prepare us for the future.”

  • CDS groups sensitise pupils on disaster prevention

    Corps members in Ushongo town, Benue State have extended their Community Development Service (CDS) to pupils of Manor Day Secondary School in the community.

    They were in the school to sensitise the pupils on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), road safety and emergency.

    Babatunde Johnson took the pupils in session on the purpose of the MDGs, which he said was to ensure all rural dwellers have access to universal basic education before 2020. He said: “MDGs aim at eradicating extreme poverty and promote gender equality especially among women.”

    Another Corps member, Ekene Akputa, told the pupils that, the goals also sought to improve the lots of women through education and empowerment. He said: “MDGs seek empowerment women, especially widows, by giving them grants to start up business to cater for their families. The goals encompass all areas of human endeavour, including education, agriculture, economy and social wellbeing.”

    Corps members in National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) CDS group informed the pupils of the group’s mission, describing it as life-saving. Ayobami Osho made references to some natural disasters that occurred changed the destiny of some societies, saying there was need to learn tips on how the pupils could avert disasters, such as fire, flooding and accident.

    Peer Educator training (PET) CDS group showed the pupils some effects of teenage pregnancy and the need to abstain from intercourse.

    Samuel Uzoechina, a Corps member, said: “Don’t be pushed by your peers to do what is not right. Abstinence is the best prevention for underage pregnancy and prevention of HIV/AIDS.”

    Dayo Ogedengbe of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) CDS group spoke on precautions to avoid road accidents.

    In his words, road accidents kill more than HIV/AIDS and malaria. He said all roads accidents could be prevented, adding that people’s attitude to road use could prevent accident even if the roads are bad.

    Mr Terhemba Terdoo, who represented the school principal, praised the Corps members for the gesture.

    He said the sensitisation would help keep the pupils abreast of ways to make their community safe.

    The senior prefect, Solomon Terzungwe, said: “We appreciate the Corps members for the knowledge they imparted on us. We will make good use of it.”