The Nation Newspaper

Tag: schools

  • N268m reward for 134 Lagos schools

    Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola has presented N268 million to 70 junior and 64 senior secondary schools that won the state’s annual education award.

    The award, which is given to schools that excelled in the Eko Project Secondary Education Grant,  held at the 10 Degrees Event centre in Oregun, Ikeja.

    In his keynote address, Fashola noted that the aim of the award is to encourage healthy competition among public schools in the state.

    He thanked those who contributed to the success the state is witnessing in public schools.

    “I am proud of these children; I am proud of the image they now give to our public schools. I am proud of the men and women, the commissioners, the special advisers, tutor-general, volunteers, principals, vice principals, the teachers and all the development partners who have brought us this far.

    “The Governor’s Award is an innovation to bring competition to our school performance evaluation as a way of improving the quality of learning outcomes and inspiring better results,” he said.

    He said the Eko project has helped the state public schools to procure 3441 softwares for data management, 753 internet models, 656 generators, provide 525 libraries and train 16832 teachers, among other advantages.

    To improve schools, Fashola said the governor plans to provide solar energy and constant water supply in the state’s public schools.

    His words: “As a demonstration of our commitment to continue to resource and fund our schools, let me inform you that just on Monday, the state Executive Council approved for us, the pilot project of providing solar power in all our public schools in Lagos. In the very first instance that will run between now and May next year which is the first phase, 172 schools will benefit before the end of this year, 35 schools in the riverine and rural areas which are where we are starting will be fully lit up and powered by solar. By the time we finish, we will be commissioning over 800 generators in all our schools.

    “The state water corporation is also working now to install pipeline for the direct water supply of 600 schools in Lagos to ensure water supply in all public schools.”

    In her presentation, the Special Adviser to the governor on Lagos Eko Project, Ms Ronke Azeez, said the project has improved the performance of public school pupils in the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

    On the award, the Principal, Lagos State Senior Model College Igbo-okuta, Mr Akande Olugbenga, urged the government to continue because it motivates schools to perform better.

    “This is the fourth year that we are winning this award. My school won the award because it has a very good learning environment. With the introduction of Eko Project, the performance of the pupils has been on the high side. The usage of e-learning has also helped them in performing better in their subjects.

    “The government should continue with this annual award. It is a very good policy because it has improved the standard of education in the state,” he said.

    In the senior category, Community High School Idata-Ilagbo emerged first; Magbon Alade Senior Grammar School, Ibeju Lekki, came second while Ojora Memorial Senior Secondary School was ranked third.

    In the junior category, Eva Adelaja Girls Junior Secondary School topped the list; followed by the Lagos State Junior Model College Meiran and the Lagos State Junior Model College, Agbowa, in the second and third places.

     

  • Parents seek intervention in Oyo schools

    T HE Oyo State chapter of the National Parent-Teacher Association (NAPTAN) has urged the state government to address challenges facing education in the state.

    These were discussed at a forum organised by NAPTAN in Ibadan after which the group visited Governor Ajimobi to register their concerns.

    They complained about poor quality education which manifests through inability of the learners to express themselves orally or in writing.  They also demanded for improved security in the schools; adequate teachers, buses for inspection, and the reconstruction of dilapidated classrooms and school fences before a new session starts next month.

    One of the NAPTAN representatives, Mr Folorunsho Adetuyi, a teacher from Ibadan North local government, told The Nation of the urgent need for furniture in schools.

    “The schools need chairs and tables.  The pupils come to school and sit on the floor. The PTA is trying, but the government needs to come to our rescue,” he said.

    A parent from the council, Alhaji Akeusola Badmus, noted that the rehabilitation of dilapidated buildings and fences is “highly” important before September.

    In his response, Ajimobi assured them that resuscitating the education sector is a priority for his administration.

    He promised them that the state would provide 10 buses to ease transportation of 2,500 newly-recruited teachers, who will resume in September. He also said that dilapidated classrooms are being reconstructed by a Chinese expert, adding that the contract for model schools to be constructed in the three senatorial districts of the state has been awarded.

    “The general free uniform initiative will commence with these schools, afterwards it will be extended to other government primary and secondary schools.   Education should be one of the strong points of a progressive government,” he said.

    Meanwhile, there will be free lunch for Primary One pupils from September, Governor Abiola Ajimobi has promised.

    He hoped he would encourage lazy pupils to school and also enhance learning.

  • The model secondary schools of Governor Amaechi: a portentous conversation at Eleme

    The model secondary schools of Governor Amaechi: a portentous conversation at Eleme

    Barely two weeks ago, I was in Port Harcourt for the state banquet that the Rivers State Government held to mark the 80th birthday of Wole Soyinka. The last time that I visited Port Harcourt was about eight years ago and that was a private visit. Long before then, when I was the National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), I had visited the garden city many, many times. This was because like the University of Benin, the University of Port Harcourt had one of the strongest branches of ASUU. Although this was more than 30 years ago, those visits to Port Harcourt remained very fresh in my mind for the simple reason that we all in ASUU were then on a great mission to rescue tertiary education in our country from the consequences of vastly inadequate funding and coercive control by our military rulers and their civil service henchmen. This is why, from that period on, Port Harcourt has always conjured up in my mind struggles and efforts to make education in our country at par with the best and the most modern national educational systems in the world. This observation leads me directly to the subject of this piece, the widely discussed model secondary schools of Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi.

    Although I knew that I was going to be in Port Harcourt for only two days during this recent visit for the state banquet for Soyinka, before the visit I had specially requested that on one of my two days in the garden city I be taken to see some of these much talked about model secondary and primary schools of Rivers State. Our hosts graciously consented to my request and so on Wednesday, July 30, I was taken to three sites: the Model Secondary School outside Port Harcourt at Eleme on the Port Harcourt-Aba road; a model primary school and a primary health care centre both in the garden city itself. As a matter of fact, the plan had been for me to see about seven different sites but I was so engrossed both by what I saw at Eleme and my conversation with the Principal of the school that we ended up spending such a long time there that I could only be taken to three out of the many sites that I was meant to have been shown on that day.

    Buildings and physical infrastructures do not necessarily make a school a showpiece of great educational achievement or possibility, but they do constitute a minimal condition for teaching of  high quality. The Seventh-Day Adventist Primary School at Oke-Bola, Ibadan that I attended more than half a century ago is not far from my house. Anytime that I walk past the school I experience a great sadness. This is because things have fallen apart for the school in terms of buildings, infrastructures and the physical environment. The buildings are not only the same plastered mud structures in which I was schooled as a child, they are now in worse conditions. Moreover, all the surrounding space has been taken up by residential buildings and commercial enterprises such that the school playing ground and “farm” are gone. I state this not just as a matter of personal regret and angst but also as a mark of the great retrogression that has overtaken many of the primary and secondary schools of the city of Ibadan, the most dramatic of all being what now remains of the prestigious Government College, Ibadan, of old. And of course, this pattern is broadly true for many other parts of the country.

    The Eleme Model Secondary School amazed, even dazzled me by the quality of the buildings and infrastructures. [And by the way, so did the model primary school that I visited in Port Harcourt]. The schoolrooms, the libraries, the IT rooms, the science laboratories, the auditorium, the dormitories, the sick bays, and the recreational grounds are models of impressive architectural design and sturdy, durable physical execution. It is no exaggeration to say that in physical infrastructure most of the new private universities in Nigeria, together with many of the older public universities are considerably inferior to what I saw at Eleme.

    Given the fact that each of the 23 local government areas of Rivers State will ultimately have one of these model secondary schools, this is potentially one of the few great, positive legacies that oil wealth would, in the fullness of time, have left for future generations of Rivers State and Nigerian citizens. As I went through the Physics, Chemistry and Biology labs, I marveled at the fact that all the equipments and facilities were of the most up-to-date vintage such that if they are put to good and efficient use, it would not be mere fancifulness to dream of our first Nobel Prize laureates in Physics or Chemistry coming from these Eleme science labs!

    I come now to the most crucial and critical part of the wonders that I saw at Eleme. This pertains to the physical or indeed, technological infrastructure of instruction and learning at the school. This is based almost entirely on what is known as the apparatus of the “smart class” and its very innovative approach to pedagogy. It has to be seen and carefully assessed to grasp its truly revolutionary and also controversial impact; one can only rather inadequately convey in words how it actually works. Perhaps the best approach to describe the “smart class” as a tool of instruction is to invoke the analogy of a booklet or manual that comes with a product, giving detailed, step-by-step instructions on how even a technologically challenged person can assemble and use the product. Thus, in the case of the “smart class”, every subject in the curriculum, indeed every branch of a subject, is packaged into modules that unfold as a teacher clicks on an icon on the computer screen. In other words, everything has been pre-packaged into the modules; all the teacher has to do is click on the icons on the computer screen as he or she takes the students through all the modules that make up a subject or a particular branch of a given subject. For instance, to teach students at a biology class the processes of photosynthesis, the teacher clicks on the icons of all the modules that make up full instruction on photosynthesis. Theoretically, this is learning made not only easy and up-to-date in terms of the latest knowledge in a subject, it is also learning made great fun and very interactive between teacher, students and the computer screen.

    Unfortunately, the students were on holidays when I visited the Eleme Model Secondary School and for this reason, I could not see the apparatus of the “smart class” in operation with students in their learning environment. More generally, it would have been more rewarding to have had direct interactions with the pupils of this extraordinary school whose essence, as its name implies, is to act as a model for what secondary schools of the future in our country will or should be. This was why, in place of such a direct encounter with the students of the school, I had a long conversation, a long question-and-answer session with the school’s Principal. It is to this session that I now turn in my closing observations and reflections in this piece.

    I did not need to ask, but it was clear to me that the reason why the Principal and nearly all the teachers of the Eleme Model Secondary School are from India is because of the centrality of the “smart class” to the pedagogical processes of teaching and learning at the school. The presumption, perhaps the reality here is that Nigerian universities and colleges of education are not (yet) producing teachers knowledgeable or versatile in the technology of the “smart class”. This may be true, but it does raise the fundamental question of shared cultural background between teacher and student, instructor and pupil in the uses of the “smart class”. Let me explain.

    Teachers can never be mere instruments for operationalising the apparatus of the “smart class”. They share certain assumption, values, biases and even phobias with their pupils. This is not a mere nationalistic or jingoistic plea for replacing the Indian teachers at the Eleme Model School with Nigerians. Rather, it is a strong view that since the national systems of education of the world do not operate within a cultural vacuum, it is important to complement the introduction of the “smart class” technology into Nigerian secondary school education with teachers who have a shared cultural context with Nigerian students.

    Tactfully, I did not raise this issue directly with the Principal of the Eleme Model Secondary School. Instead, what I did was to have a long conversation with him in which I tried to get his sense of the social background of his pupils. I am glad to report that he seemed to have taken a deep and sympathetic interest in the background of most of his wards. For instance, when he informed me that the ratio of students from very poor families to kids from relatively well-off families was about 70 to 30, I was both elated and dismayed. I was elated because this fact shows that the overwhelming majority of kids receiving quality, ultramodern schooling in Governor Amaechi’s model secondary schools are children who could never, remotely, have had the chance to receive any education at all, let alone high quality education. But I was also dismayed by the Principal’s information to me that because of their severely deprived economic and social backgrounds, many of his pupils seem unable to take full advantage of the benefits of the school because of their parents’ lack of interest in whether or not their children were doing well at school.

    Will these model secondary and primary schools take root and grow to become standard bearers of the future of education in our country? Or will the next administration after the expiration of Amaechi’s tenure let them go to waste? Finally: the culture of maintenance in our country is one of the worst in the world, the forces of atavistic regression always hovering in the background of every progressive development in our country and our continent, thanks to the backwardness of our ruling pseudo-bourgeoisie. Thus, I wonder: if I come back to Eleme in another ten years, will the bush have taken over this splendid showcase of a profound belief in education and the right of everyone, especially the most needy, to quality education? I most certainly hope not!

     

    Biodun Jeyifo

    bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

  • Lawmaker donates scientific equipment to Imo schools

    Lawmaker donates scientific equipment to Imo schools

    Things are looking up for students of Science in secondary schools in Imo State. The Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha in collaboration with the Scientific Equipment Development Institute (SEDI) Enugu distributed Scientific Equipment to secondary schools in Imo State.

    The students, who were, before now grappling with studying science subjects without equipment for practical studies can now heave a sigh of relief with the arrival of the modern science equipment.

    Beneficiaries of the project were not just government-owned schools as has always been the practice. Privately-owned and missionary schools equally benefitted from the gesture. In all, 141 schools were given equipment to boost the study of science in their various schools.

    Speaking during the official distribution of the equipment at the Holy Ghost College Owerri, Imo State capital, Ihedioha, disclosed that the programme was designed to support the educational needs of the students in Imo State and to complement the efforts of government and the private sector to reposition education.

    According to him, the quality of education in the state has become a primary concern to stakeholders, stressing that no society can make meaningful progress without an educated population.

    “We are talking of not just education for its sake but education that will lead to self-reliance. We are talking about education that will lead to industrial and technological progress of our state,” he said.

    He further stated: “For educational progress to be made, we need to appraise where we are coming from, where we are and where we are going to. Sometime ago, a group of experts were commissioned to study and determine the level of preparedness by secondary schools in Imo State, in terms of equipment, re-agents, materials and qualified teachers, in teaching both basic and advanced sciences. The findings showed that funding for science education in Imo is low.”

    Hon. Ihedioha lamented that the implication of the low funding of science education in the state was that students in the secondary school system could complete their education without exposure to the basic experiments required of them in sciences.

    The Deputy Speaker also attributed the massive failure of Imo State students in science subjects such as Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Technical Drawing, Basic Technology and Mathematics in public examinations to lack of basic scientific equipment to aid learning, regretting that “data from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), The National Examinations Council (NECO) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) demonstrates that in 2013, WAEC Examination, Imo State scored an average 46 per cent, whereas our neighbouring states of Anambra and Abia scored 67 per cent and 65 per cent respectively. This is unacceptable and must be reversed for the sake of the future of our children.”

    He equally blamed the massive failure on dearth of qualified science teachers in the state’s secondary school system, noting that, “the ratio of science teachers to students in Imo State is one of the poorest in the country today. There was a time in this state when science teachers were paid incentives that made them earn higher than other teachers. This motivated them to give their best. This is no more the case today. It was in the realisation of this deficit in our schools that I decided to make my own contributions towards solving the problem.”

    Earlier in his address, the Director-General of SEDI, Prof. Christian Okechukwu Nwajagu, represented by the Deputy Director, Mrs Ifeyinwa Okeke, noted that the country’s economic survival and ability to compete maximally in the global market is subject to sustainable scientific breakthroughs and technological development; hence the need for effective and result-oriented science learning at the fundamental levels.

    He further stated that science education is jeopardised as a result of lack or inadequate science materials and equipment for learning and teaching, adding that “several students shy away from science subjects, claiming that they are abstract and difficult. This has largely been attributed to lack of scientific equipment in our schools.”

    He said: “Science and its application called technology are the duo movers of any country’s economy and hence any investment in the field is a worthy and commendable one. More so, in a time like this when the country’s slogan is vision 20-20-20. In order to achieve this slogan of joining the formidable league of industrialised countries of the world in 2020, this event is a welcome development.”

    He also explained that, “the JSS kit contains several scientific materials, charts and accessories which were carefully developed in line with Basic Science curriculum approved by the Federal Ministry of Education. It is aimed at actualising in practical terms the objectives of Basic Science education.

    The kit emphasises hands-on-minds-on practical activity and can be used to perform over 50 experiments in line with Basic Science curriculum. The use of the kit in learning science has the capacity to elicit interest and increase achievement in the subject.

    Also speaking, the Chairman of the Committee for the Distribution of the Scientific Equipment, Prof. Obioma Iheduru, the Deputy Speaker, through the initiative, has inspired confidence in the electorate in the state that leaders are alive to their responsibilities of providing for the needs of the people.

    Decrying the declining standard of education in the state, Iheduru, stated: “I enjoin you to ask the question, how qualitative is our educational system in Imo State today?

    Whither the once famed epithet; education is our industry. We ask why is Imo at the bottom of the ladder in performance at public examinations by WAEC, NECO and JAMB. When was the last time that an Imo State student obtained first position in any of these examinations?

    Praising the initiative, a retired school teacher, Mr. Paul Uzoukwu said the gesture will go a long way to revive in the students the desire to learn, adding that no science teacher can produce Grade A students without an equipped and functional laboratory.

    He opined that with the proper application of the equipment, the state will soon regain its top position in science education.

    “I am optimistic that with time and right use of these modern equipment, the students will excel in the science subjects, which has been a source of worry to parents, teachers and other major stakeholders. The Initiative is apt and should be emulated by other public office holders.”

    Some of the students, who were joyful over the gesture, assured that with the provision of the equipment, they would work hard to justify the huge investment.

    Miss Njoku Rose, a student from one of the benefitting schools said: “I am so grateful to the Deputy Speaker for his kindness. Before now, we only read about this equipment, but now we can see and use them for our practical”

  • Firm donates equipment to schools

    X3M Ideas, an advertising agency, has donated ICT Equipment to two schools in Ikeja, Lagos as part of the event to mark its second year anniversary of commencing business.

    Explaining the rationale behind the corporate social responsibility inclined anniversary celebration which is ingrained in the agency’s DNA, the agency’s Chief Creativity Officer /CEO, Steve Babaeko,  revealed that  the company is embarking on the project for the second year running with a view to continually make meaningful contribution towards the development of education in Nigeria.

    Last year to mark its first year in business, X3M Ideas  renovated the JSS 2  block of 5 classrooms at Opebi Junior High School, Awuse Estate, Opebi, Ikeja and  equally provided furniture, fans  and other fittings to make the  classrooms conducive to learning.

    “We committed ourselves to the project in recognition of the fact that education is the best legacy and we hope to affect the future of these children by providing conducive learning environment and needed tools for them.”

    For X3M Ideas, CSR should be a marathon rather than a sprint as some organisations take it. “This is why we are following up on the same trajectory by donating ICT tools to enhance teaching of ICT in selected schools for our 2014 second year anniversary project.”

    The schools that benefitted from the X3M Ideas’ second anniversary CSR project are Oregun Senior High School, Oregun, Lagos and Community High School Wasimi, Maryland, Lagos.

  • Curbing indiscipline in schools

    Whether in public or private schools, cases of indiscipline abound. It is not unusual these days to hear of students engaging in some unimaginable misconduct or the other.

    Indiscipline means lack of discipline, lack of control, lack of proper training; it means unruly behaviour, disobedience and disorder.

    I was not surprised that I was asked to speak on this issue that has become a matter of great concern to all at the recent end of year ceremony of a school. My brief was however on the roles parents should play in curbing indiscipline in private schools.

    We now live in a world where indiscipline reigns supreme in virtually every aspect of our life. It is however not limited to students.

    All of us are in one way or the other guilty and there is an urgent need to return to the good old days when discipline was the order of the day. The situation was so bad at one point in our history that a military government had to declare War Against Indiscipline called WAI.

    Even now we have various paramilitary organisations charged with enforcing discipline in various sectors but unfortunately we are not making much progress.

    There is urgent need to address this issue to ensure that students are as disciplined as much as possible if they are to be good leaders of tomorrow.

    The indiscipline we hear  of in public schools include students not abiding with instructions outlined for them, indulging in social vices, disrespect for teachers, unruly parents who don’t want their children to be disciplined for wrong doings and many others.

    Parents have a major role to play to curb indiscipline in our private schools which are subject to government guidelines on how such institutions are to be run.

    The first point to be made is that parents must be disciplined. They cannot give what they don’t have. They are supposed to be role models for the children who normally have no choice but to be disciplined if parents show them good examples.

    Secondly, parents must give their children the necessary home training for them to appreciate the need to be disciplined in schools. No doubt schools are supposed to train the students, but without proper home training not much can be accomplished by teachers.

    Parents need to spend more time to train their children despite the hectic schedules they now have to cope with. Parents  run the risk of having to pay dearly in future  for not investing enough time to ensure proper training of their children if they don’t do so when their children are still young and amenable to instructions.

    Parents must be aware of the rules and regulations of the schools they enroll their children and not attempting to circumvent them their status not withstanding.

    Where they have cause to disagree with some regulations or disciplinary measure they should seek appropriate channels to seek redress instead of taking the laws into our hands like some parents do.

    There have been instances where parents go to schools to beat up teachers for daring to discipline their children. This is very unfortunate. While teachers should be moderate in enforcing discipline, parents should not give their children the impression that they are above the law.

    Parents of children in every school need to work with the authorities to enforce discipline both for the teachers and students through forums like the Parents Teachers Association.

    Parents should take seriously reports of misdemeanours by their children before the situation is beyond their control.

  • Aregbesola provides 30 buses for public schools

    Aregbesola provides 30 buses for public schools

    A day after the landmark commissioning of 100 units of Handheld Ultrasound Scanners, four units of 3D Colour Doppler Scan machines and splashed N370 million welfare scheme on women empowerment, the Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, added another feat in the chain of welfare programmes yesterday as he launched 30 new civilian buses for students of public schools in the state.

    Tagged “Omoluabi Scholar Bus”, the newly purchased civilian buses are meant to convey students from their respective homes to schools and back every school day.

    Aregbesola said if the government’s quest for enduring socio-economic progress is to be achieved, government’s commitment to education and the future of the children cannot be superficial.

    The governor said his administration embarked on this laudable programme because it’s dangerous to play politics with the education of children.

    He said that the realisation of the importance of education and development of human capacity building prompted his government to create the best possible environment for the development of the total person.

    He described the provision of buses for transporting the students as another proof of government’s focused attention to education.

    “The buses we are rolling out today for the use of our high school students are another solid proofs of the importance and undivided attention our government genuinely accords education.

    “With the O’Scholar Buses, the culture of punctuality will be further deepened in our students. They will be encouraged to get ready in time for the bus and in so doing get to school on time.

    “And while on the bus to or from school, or travelling to and from school events, they will have the time to further bond together, reflect on their work and exchange useful ideas.

    “One of the unique characteristics of our administration’s programmes is that they ensure the empowerment of the people. This explains why no single household in all of the state is without positive testimonies of the impacts of our programmes on them,” Aregbesola said.

    He added that the buses will provide comfort and ease for students and parents and create employment for those who will be driving the buses.

    In her remark, the Deputy Governor, who is also the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Grace Titi Laoye-Tomorri, noted that the provision of the buses is another demonstration of government’s commitment to providing quality and qualitative education for the children.

    She charged the students to make the best use of the buses and maximise the opportunities the buses afford them.

    The Managing Director of Sterling Bank PLC, represented by Mr. Ademola Adeyemi, Regional Business Executive, South-West (2), said the bank finds it profitable to partner government in providing the buses.

    Adeyemi noted that Sterling Bank will continue to partner  government in realising its noble programmes.

    He enjoined all the stakeholders to make judicious use of the scholar buses to benefit  all.

    One of the beneficiaries, a student of St. Mark Anglican School, Osogbo, Miss Olatunji Oluwakemi, commended the governor for making education one of his administration’s top priorities.

    Oluwakemi said Aregbesola’s government has made a lot of impact such as  the provision of Opon Imo, free school feeding, free uniforms, building of ultra-modern schools as well as construction of roads.

    She implored the people of the state to vote wisely by returning Aregbesola to continue his laudable programmes in the state.

  • Lagos schools urged to be security conscious

    Lagos State Government has advised Principals and Head Teachers of its secondary and primary schools in the state to be safety and security conscious in their schools.

    The Special Adviser to the State Governor on Education, Otunba Fatai Olukoja and the State Head of Service, Mrs. Josephine Williams gave the advice in Lagos over the weekend at an interactive session with the schools managers in the state.

    They noted that the advice became imperative in view of the prevailing security challenges in some parts of the country.

    They noted that the government was concerned about the security of pupils and students in their schools adding that everything must therefore be done to prevent any security breaches in public schools in the State hence the renewed call on schools’ managers to be security conscious.

    They both concurred that the lives of the pupils and students are entrusted into the care of the school managers from the time they assembled in the Schools in the morning till afternoon when schools closes for the day hence the managers should be security conscious at all times so that the state will not experience serious security breaches as being experienced in some states in the country.

    They advised the school managers not to allow any strange person  within their school without challenging such a person, adding that they should  report such activity to the appropriate security agency that is better trained and equipped to handle the problem.

    “I wish to specifically charge principals of Boarding Schools not to release their students to anybody that is unknown to them and the child, even the drivers except their parents. Schools’ Managers should always be conscious of the next person beside you. Government is concerned about our safety, security and the general well being of every Lagosians,” Olukoga enthused

    The Head of Service stressed that the renewed call on Schools’ Managers to be security conscious was not informed by any suspected imminent untold security breaches in the state stressing that the need for people to be security conscious at this particular time in the nation’s development cannot be over emphasised.

    She added that it is imperative for everybody to learn from the experience of what is happening in other states so that such will not happen in Lagos State, adding that Schools’ Managers of the state primary and secondary schools should continue to inform the pupils/students to also be more aware of what happens within their surroundings.

    Mrs. Williams urged people to desist from spreading unverified security related text messages to their friends, family members or neighbours as they cannot do anything about the contents of the message but rather forward such messages to security agencies who can do something about such text messages.

    She disclosed that the government  would step up the improvement of infrastructure in our schools, particularly perimeter fencing of schools to beef up security in the schools.

    The Head of Service implored the school managers to always educate their pupils/students not to pick what does not belong to them and whenever they observe any strange item they should report same appropriately just as she urged the schools’ managers to also educate their staff and even food vendors on the need for safety and security consciousness.

     

  • SUBEB boss blames schools for shoddy registratoin

    SUBEB boss blames schools for shoddy registratoin

    •139,032 pupils take placement test

    espite adequate planning by the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LSUBEB) and the Examinations Board, some Primary Six pupils did not write the Lagos State Placement Test last Saturday.

    About 139,032 Primary Six pupils from both public and private schools had registered to take the examination for admission into public junior secondary schools in Lagos State.

    However, when the SUBEB Chairman, Mrs Gbolahan Daodu visited some of the 266 designated centres scattered across the six education districts of the state, her attention was drawn to some candidates who could not provide evidence that they were registered for the examination.  Many were prevented from writing the examination.

    Mrs Daodu visited centres hosted by the Immaculate Junior Secondary School, Maryland; Ojota Junior Grammar School, Ojota Senior Grammar School, both in Ojota; Ilupeju Junior Grammar School, and Ilupeju Junior Secondary School.

    About four months before the test, schools were required to register their candidates with the sum of N5,000 each at the examination board.  With the details provided, the board customised the OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) answer sheets for each candidate and registered them in centres within their neighbourhoods.  The sheets were sent to the centres bearing the names and passport photographs of the candidates.

    At the Immaculate Junior Secondary School, a pupil, who said she was from Victory Hope Primary School, Ikorodu, was the lone candidate from her school. She was not allowed to write the examination because she was not registered at the centre.

    The young girl, who was taken to Mrs Daodu said her father dropped her at the centre and left.  When asked if he would come for her afterwards, she said she was to join her mother at another location.  Mrs Daodu put a call through to her father to pick her up as she could not write the examination.

    SUBEBE officials at the centre said she was not supposed to come all the way from Ikorodu to Maryland to sit for the test because her school would have been assigned to a closer centre.

    However, the girl was not the lone case. About 20 other pupils in the centre were sent away.  Some of the candidates were from a private school called Aunty B Private School. The female teacher who accompanied them said she was surprised that the school’s registration details were not at the centre.

    “We made payment to one man at the Examination Board.  I am trying to call the man now but his number is not going through,” she said.

    Another teacher, who came with five pupils who wore muftis instead of their uniforms, as was the requirement, was unable to provide evidence of his school’s registration details.  He claimed that the person who handled the registration for the school had died a few days to the examination.

    Mrs Daodu lamented that the problems came from private schools that did not register on time despite charging parents far higher than the N5,000 fee stipulated by the examination board.  She blamed parents for not being careful in selecting the schools they enrolled their wards.

    She said: “In respect to our own plans, everybody that registered doesn’t have problems. The problems are not with the public schools because we took their registers a long time ago.  We have captured everybody that needs to sit for the exam, and they are okay.

    “It is the private schools that have created the challenges on ground. Most of the people we saw here are people from private schools, and mostly even unregistered private schools.  We learnt that that even up till yesterday night, or afternoon (Friday) they were still coming to register.  It is not possible for such schools and their pupil to do the examination. For us to succeed in any thing we want to do, there must be adequate plan. All schools either private or public were given enough notice; and in order not to have this kind problem, they are the ones that have disrupted the programme.  It is unfair on the parents and pupils.”

  • Uduaghan faults host communities’ meddling in schools

    Uduaghan faults host communities’ meddling in schools

    Delta State Governor Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan has decried the insistence of host communities of academic institutions on influencing the appointment of key management personnel as an ‘ugly trend’.

    Speaking at the convocation of the College of Education, Agbor,  the Governor said that the practice could only breed incompetence, clannish segregation, crisis and be counter-productive to the pursuit of academic excellence in the Institutions.

    “It is a very dangerous trend for a host community to insist that the head of the Institution must come from the Institution and this must be discouraged.  Competence rather than place of origin should remain the determining factor in the appointment of heads of academic institutions in the country, so as not to destroy the ethos of the academic community,” he said.

    Uduaghan also urged Nigerians to help stamp out cultism in tertiary institutions, described cultism as the root of most social malaise plaguing the country.

    To discourage cultism, he charged the college management and other higher institutions in the state not to award certificates to any cultist in the institution.

    “If you are an identified secret cult member, I insist that you do not get a certificate because a student must be found worthy in learning and character for him or her to receive a certificate as a graduate,” he said.

    As newly-trained teachers, Uduaghan urged them to be committed and contribute their quota to the development of the school system, as the primary school, where the NCE graduates are needed, is the foundation of a child’s development.

    Uduaghan condemned the attitude of some teachers who stay away from the classrooms noting that while government was tackling the problem of out-of-school syndrome with ‘Edumarshals’, the teachers were compounding the issue.

    He warned that henceforth, teachers found wanting would be sanctioned as the government will not tolerate a situation where its efforts to improve the quality of education in the state are frustrated.