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Tag: schools

  • Katsina procures N140m ICT facilities for schools

    The Katsina State Government yesterday said it has spent about N140 million on the procurement of science textbooks, equipment and ICT facilities for its secondary schools.

    Commissioner for Education Dr Badamasi Lawal said this when he received Old Students of Usman Nagogo College of Arabic and Islamic Studies in his office.

    Lawal said the textbooks were purchased in 2018 to boost science and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) education.

    According to him, the government plans to spend additional N136 million to equip 18 science and technical schools across the state.

    Lawal told the visitors that the government had recruited 500 science teachers and renewed the services of others on contract to enhance science education.

    The commissioner restated the commitment of the administration towards supporting such associations to enhance teaching and learning in the state.

    Earlier, the Chairman of the old students association, Malam Mustapha Lawal, informed the commissioner that they had initiated programmes to complement government efforts in moving the sector forward.

    Lawal said that the association undertook programmes like career guidance and counseling in secondary schools and lectures for students on the dangers of drug abuse.

    He said that the association also conducted extra lessons for Senior Secondary School Students, adding that they were ready to assist government in any capacity to move the education sector forward.

  • Rotary raises funds for schools, others 

    Rotary Club of Isolo Golden, District 9110 Nigeria, has raised funds to renovate, furnish and equip Estate Primary School, Ile Iwe Meta, Isolo.

    The club also donated desk and chairs to Anthony Village Senior High School, and gave wheelchairs to the physically-challenged.

    According to club President, Oladimeji Olagunju, who spoke at his investiture in Ikeja, Lagos, the gesture is part of its projects for 2018/2019.

    He said there would be free screening for Hepatitis B and C, adding that 1,000 will get free eyeglasses.

    “We will also embark on free cancer screening and awareness and vocational training in food processing for 20 school leavers.”

    Olagunju noted that this is the club’s way of making a positive contribution to the continuance and wellbeing of humanity.

    He urged members to show commitment, noting that he needs them to achieve anything.

    “For you to serve you have to look beyond yourself; you have to do good sacrificially; give to the community out of the little you have and the world would be a better place. Isolo community should look forward to us, be open-minded and more cooperative.”

    The event also featured unveiling of the club’s logo, launch of a song book and induction of members.

    He solicited support for Rotary, noting that the organisation is doing a lot, but can do more with outside support.

    The installation committee chairman, Shittu Olaleye, said that through Rotary, they can inspire and make a major difference in the community.

    “We rely on one another; we give what we can to those who are in need. We help because our help is needed and because there is joy in giving and in rendering help” he said.

    Chairman of the occasion Mike Omotosho said Rotary was all about service.

  • Lagos opens transfer window for schools

    Transfer forms into JSS2 and SS1 classes in public secondary schools in Lagos State are now available for sale until August 17, 2018.

    A statement by the Lagos State Ministry of Education noted that screening for pupils seeking transfer into the two classes has been scheduled for August 27, 2018 in the Six Education Districts by 9.00am.

    The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs Adebunmi Adekanye, who made this known at the Conference Room of Ministry of Education, said that applicants are first to obtain clearance slips from the Office of Tutor-General/Permanent Secretary in charge of the districts of the schools of choice to ensure that there is vacancy.

    She said application forms could be obtained and returned to the office of the TG/PS for a fee N5, 000 payable to any Skye Bank Branch.

    Mrs Adekanye said the JSS2 applicants are to attach their second and third term examination results of their J.S.S 1 class while those seeking transfer into SS.1 are to attach their Basic Education Certificate Examination (B.E.C.E) number.

    In addition, all applicants are to attach evidence of three years’ tax payment of their parents or guardians, Photocopy of LASSRA Identity Card and application form receipt.

    The Permanent Secretary said Model Colleges/Upgraded Schools are excluded from the transters

     

  • Whither NCE in Lagos schools?

    Lagos State is planning to upgrade its two colleges of education to universities. To some, the plan is good, but others fear that scrapping the colleges may not bode well. Their impending scraping, they argue, may affect their mandate of providing middle-level manpower for schools. ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA, JANE CHIJIOKE and CHIMAOBIM IHEDI-OBI report.

    To  the Lagos State Government, education remains a priority. For this reason, it has joined the Federal Government in ensuring that only graduate teachers will soon man basic and junior secondary schools.

    The state is planning to upgrade its two colleges of education – Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED) Oto/Ijanikin, and Michael Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED), Noforija-Epe – to universities.

    Upon the upgrading exercise, AOCOED will  become Adeniran Ogunsanya University of Education; MOCPED will be called Michael Otedola Open Distant Learning University.

    The groundwork for the exercise is at advanced stages. The governing councils of both  colleges have also been notified. Feelers indicate that once the colleges become universities, the government will scrap the National Certificate of Education (NCE) programmes.

     

    Govt’s position

    The House of Assembly Committee on Education Acting Chairman, Lanre Ogunyemi, told The Nation on phone that the government might do away with NCE programme because it is naturally phasing out like its teacher training cousin.

    “NCE is becoming the least qualification for employment in Lagos State,” Ogunyemi began.

    “You will realise that there is no teacher training anymore, and NCE appears to be going in that direction too. That is why MOCPED now has a mandate for primary education; and even at that, go and check their level of enrolment, it keeps falling every year.

    “If you don’t have a first degree, you cannot teach in any school in Lagos. Those who were employed with NCE have been asked to upgrade. It is only in private schools now that NCE is still being considered.

    “Now the idea (behind the proposed upgrade) is that we realised that many colleges of education are in affiliation with universities for a degree programme. If you go to AOCOED, for instance, they are also in affiliation with the Ekiti State University where the students receive the training at the college, but EKSU issues the certificate. We then said, if these schools (AOCOED) have come all the way and have the requisite personnel and facilities, why don’t we just upgrade them and let them start on their own?”

    However, stakeholders in AOCOED had eagerly anticipated the upgrade for the 59 year–old college of education adjudged the oldest tertiary institution in state. They believe the institution possesses physical and intellectual infrastructure to mutate into a university.

    However, while many await the pronouncement, some stakeholders led by the AOCOED Alumni Association are worried that the government is not thinking of retaining NCE by siting it elsewhere.

     

    Precedence

    In April 2013, the Federal Government announced plans to scrap colleges of education, thereby abolishing NCE, which, according to the National Policy on Education, is the basic requirement for teaching in primary and junior secondary school.

    The then Minister of State for Education, under former President Goodluck Jonathan, Kenneth Gbagi, announced it in Abuja while inaugurating the technical committee on the establishment of six new federal universities and the future of colleges of education, polytechnics, and mono-discipline universities in Nigeria.

    He said: “We are on the verge of whether we should phase out the colleges of education or upgrade them to degree-awarding institutions or convert them to purely technical schools. One of the universities we are going to set up  will be to train teachers for the upper echelon of education.

    “It is no longer fashionable for us to have this teacher training stuff with colleges of education. So, come up with an in-depth arrangement as to what we intend to do,” Gbagi further instructed the committee.

     

    Stakeholders react

    However, to Mrs Bumi Oluokun, headmistress of Ansar-ud-Deen Nursery and Primary School, Mafoluku, phasing out of NCE in the state is not a big deal. Mrs Olukokun’s concern is the government’s preparedness to allocate more funding and right personnel.

    “I do not see anything wrong if the government chooses to abolish NCE. The government should make it a gradual process,” she said.

    She continued: “Life is not stagnant; you can only keep updating your knowledge. NCE is gradually fading out like Grade 2. Even the teacher training school has faded out. If colleges are gradually being converted to a university, the government then needs to equip them with the right personnel and structures because becoming a teacher is different from every other programme. There are some basic knowledge that a student should be equipped with. Now I cannot employ an NCE holder without an additional degree. If, at all I do, I won’t place you in any of the upper primary classes.”

    Mrs Akintola Oluwatoyin of City of Wisdom Schools, Ijesha, appealed that NCE should not be scrapped, describing it as a programme that grooms people to become better and qualified teachers.

    She said: “There is no way the NCE can be scrapped, no matter how they try to phase it from the education system. This is because those colleges will forever enjoy that exclusivity where teachers are trained. There is always a clear distinction between a teacher who passes through Grade 2, NCE before acquiring a degree and a teacher who proceeded to university for a teaching programme after his secondary school.”

    Principal of Ghazlak Private Secondary School, Mafoluku, Mr Adebayo Ayinla pitched his tent behind Oluwatoyin

    “There is a big difference between teachers who went through the NCE programme and those who did not in all aspects of teaching,” Ayinla noted.

    A teacher from a public school in Lagos, who simply identified herself as Mrs Nwaneri, described NCE as the bedrock of teaching.

    “That (NCE) is where the basics of teaching are being acquired before going to the university. Without these basics, a teacher cannot teach effectively.

    Mrs Yemi Danisa from Olayomi Private School, Ijesha, said some, owing to their humble background, prefer to acquire NCE certificates first, with which they earn a living before proceeding to the university later.

    Miss Itanla Titilayo who teaches at Kingdom Kids Minders School, Lawanson, said any would-be teacher desirous of being grounded in the profession should go through NCE.

    “One should not just jump into a profession without following the right process, which is NCE because this is where one gets to know how to handle students, and gather other knowledge and skills required for teaching.

    Rather than separate them, retired principal in Lagos State Mr Abayomi Adegunle, is suggesting that both the NCE and degree programmesshould be allowed to run concurrently.

    “If we say we don’t want NCE graduates again, who will teach at the basic level,” he asked.

    In the area of cost implication, Adegunle said NCE graduates are better off, and cost a lot less to manage.

    “In terms of cost, an NCE graduate could handle two or more subjects because he would have specialised and be grounded in them before graduation. But a university graduate specilises in only one subject, so where is the money to pay all the university graduates when government eventually employs them?

    Moreover, Adegunle hopes the government is already considering the financial implication of such huge projects, urging the authority to take a cue from a Southwest state that once tried same, but ran into problem shortly afterwards due to its inability to adequately fund the school.”

    Mrs Christiana Olanipekun, headmistress of Honey Field Nursery and Primary School, Mafoluku, recalled her Grade 2 and NCE days with nostalgia.

    “I have my Grade 2, NCE and my degree certificates. During my NCE days, I discovered that my opportunity of getting employment was very slim because I did not have a degree.

    “I discovered that in NCE, the lectures were raw, practical as against what I experienced in the university. At the university, we do not have 100 per cent practical-inclined personnel, but because I had gone through NCE it was easy for me. You cannot use NCE to get a job in the public sector; that is to show how irrelevant it has become.”

    Last month, the College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) of AOCOED, in a briefing noted that the union welcomed the government’s initiative, adding that a college of education is no longer a fad.

    The union appealed to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to announce the new status at AOCOED’s forthcoming convocation in June, which will also coincide with the institution’s 60th anniversary.

    He said:  ”We have been able to convince the governor that the university of education is not only the trend, it is also cultural as our society is no longer interested in college of education again as reflected in the college previous admission statistics of students who deliberately chose AOCOED as their first choice,” said COEASU-AOCOED Chairman Comrade Michael Avosetinyen,

    ”The highest statistics in the Joint Admissions Matriculation Examination (JAMB) in the recent past is 24. The implication of this is that the state government and the college will be at a loss while the staff may not be able to justify their existence”.

    Similarly, during the college’s matriculation of NCE full time last month, its Registrar Mr Shehu Adedamola Muhideen, re-echoed the government’s stance

    He said:  “The government is considering doing away with NCE institutions in all the state tertiary institutions and transmuting us into a university of education. We’ve had some directives and moves were going on at the level of government to have this realised in full. So, it’s most likely that we may be having the last set of NCE students who were matriculated a few weeks ago. From the next academic session, we are looking forwards to seeing a university of education.”

  • Dapchi girls: Groups seek improve security at schools

    The Social Advocacy Project (SAP) of Al-Mu’minaat and Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) yesterday urged Federal Government to ensure adequate security measures are in place to prevent a similar occurrence.

    “Our hearts are really gladdened when news broke in the early hours of today (yesterday) that one hundred and one (101) of the abducted Dapchi girls have been released by the Boko Haram.

    They urged government not to relent on the war against terror and the “killer herdsmen.”

    SAP Coordinator Sherifah Yusuf-Ajibade said the PMB-led government cannot afford to relax on securing lives and property of Nigerians.

    Mrs Yusuf-Ajibade said: “We are using this medium to call for the release of the remaining Chibok and Dapchi girls. The intelligence that led to the release should be kept and not breached so that the remaining girls can come back alive and safe.

    “Stories of how girls have concluded that they won’t return to school get to us daily. Once beaten twice shy. No one can blame parents or even girls who concluded that school isn’t safe for them. Experience has taught them and nothing better that experience. This is one of the very important reasons why our government cannot afford to relent on ensuring security at schools.

    “Girl-Child education and women empowerment is at stake. If this apathy isn’t addressed, then the future of women, family may be affected negatively.”

    MSSN Lagos State President Dr Saheed Ashafa appealed that security should be tightened in all schools across the country, adding that attention should be paid to the medical and mental state of the released girls.

    The provision of a safe environment for education is very crucial and germane to the nation’s progress, he said.

    “Situations, whereby students are exposed to various degrees of security threats, are unacceptable. Government at all levels must deploy quality resources to address the issue of security pitfalls in schools and our country as a whole,” he said.

  • Minister orders relocation of security chief, deployment in schools

    Minister orders relocation of security chief, deployment in schools

    Minister of Interior Abdulrahman Dambazau yesterday directed Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) boss Abdullahi Gana to relocate to the Northeast and liaise with the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole and  governors of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states.

    Dambazau said they should also ensure the deployment of their personnel in all schools in the liberated areas.

    The minister’s spokesman, Ehisienmen Osaigbovo, said the directive became necessary to forestall a re-occurrence of attacks on innocent school children.

    He said the government was making efforts at rescuing the Dapchi schoolgirls and other Boko Haram captives, with the commencement of 24 hours air surveillance by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).

    The minister also condemned recent clashes that resulted in loss of lives and property in Kajuru Local Government Areas of Kaduna State and urged security operatives to ensure that the perpetrators were brought to justice.

    Also yesterday, Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan urged parents not to withdraw their girls from schools as a result of the abduction.

    Lawan told reporters in Damaturu that parents needed to trust that the government was doing everything to secure all schools for a conducive learning environment.

    Acccording to him, a state like Yobe needed to double its efforts to encourage more of girl-child education both in western and Islamic education.

    “Parents should continue to trust us that we mean business.  That we are always thinking of how to ensure   that there is security for the schools, especially in states like ours where girl-child education needs to be promoted and encouraged.  We  have to do a lot more to secure the  schools,  especially the girls’ schools, so that parents have some comfort and sense of satisfaction that their children are properly protected. They shouldn’t withdraw their children from school or become discouraged and start developing lukewarm attitude towards education. Our girls need to be educated both in Islamic and western education. In fact, it’s a challenge for us to encourage these girls to be in school,” Lawan said.

    Yobe State Commissioner for Education Mohammed Alamin accused the media of sowing fear in the minds of parents with their reports on the Dapchi attack.

    Mohammed Lamin was quoted as saying in an  interview with BBC Hausa Service: “You, the media people, are responsible for this fear. You are scaring the parents with your reports; that is why some of them are even thinking of not sending their children to school again, not even about relocating them to other places.”

    The Senate leader gave a pass mark on the response of the Federal Government so far in trying to rescue the girls, but faulted the security arrangement at Dapchi before the attack.

    ”I want to say that I am satisfied with the attention given at the moment, but I wasn’t  satisfied with the security arrangement before the incident. After the Chibok girls’ abduction where over 200 girls were abducted and we are still struggling  to get some of them back, we should have had a better security arrangement around our schools especially the girls schools.

    “The President responded promptly and gave leadership by asking the military to move in and, of course, by sending a high-powered  delegation to the state.

  • Niger primary schools in state of decay despite N9billion sunk (II)

    Niger primary schools in state of decay despite N9billion sunk (II)

    In the concluding part of this feature, which began last Sunday, Justina Asishana writes on how the Education Board in Niger State seems to have gone to sleep, leaving pupils and teachers frustrated as they grapple with grim learning and teaching conditions. 

    Education board in slumber

    The Niger State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB) seemed to have been comatose until recently. Despite the huge allocations from the federal and state governments, the state of basic education in the state has remained worrisome. The board has retrogressed from failing to complete projects to complete abandonment of projects.

    Efforts to get the funds accessed by SUBEB from 2013 till date proved abortive, and so were efforts to speak with the chairman of the Board.  However, documents obtained from the Planning, Research and Statistics Department reveals that 271 projects were undertaken in 2013 at the cost of N1, 495,400,000. But not all the projects were completed. In 2014, 175 projects at the cost of N1, 316,200,000 were undertaken under the UBE intervention for construction and renovation of schools and toilets.

    Also, 13,129 double-seater classroom furniture were documented to have been supplied at the sum of N239, 200,000 under the 2013 UBE Intervention while 10,710 double-seater classroom furniture was supplied at the sum of N321, 000 under the 2014 UBE intervention.

    Some of the contractors, investigations revealed, tried to cut corners in the supply of some of these furniture. Most of them reportedly supplied directly to the schools and simply delivered whatever they liked and hoodwinked some of the head teachers into signing their delivery notes. But some head teachers, like Haruna Hassan of Angwan Anyan Model Nursery and Primary School in Suleja, insisted on signing only after full delivery.

    According to Hassan, one of the contractors who were supposed to supply 60 seats ended up supplying 39 seats. “I was not around the school premises but when I was told that the contractor had brought the chairs, I rushed there but when I counted them, it was 39 instead of 60. He was agitating that I should sign the documents to confirm he brought the complete set and I told him that until he brings the others, I will not sign the document. And since then, he has not brought the remaining. “

    Some schools had to share the inadequate furniture given to them by SUBEB equally among the classes to ensure that they try to meet the furniture deficit but it has failed to address the problem. More than half of the population of pupils in primary schools across Niger State still sits on the floor. All the head teachers met during this reporter’s visit across the state all made appeal for chairs to be made available for them.

    In some of the schools visited, pupils spread mats on the floor to sit for lessons.

    However, the Commissioner of Education, Hajiya Fatima Magudu explained that if there are no furniture in any SUBEB completed project,  it may be because the contractors of the project are yet to complete the construction of the furniture.

    But some of the projects had been completed for over a year and yet the furniture has not been sent to the schools. Investigations show that not less than 10 contractors defaulted in the execution of their contracts. Yet the state has not done anything to bring them to account. Whether this is an indication of mischief on the part of the contractors or a case of collusion between the contractors and government officials is what is left to be seen.

    Contractors no-where to be found

    Trying to locate some of the contractors in Minna proved very difficult as SUBEB was unwilling to release their addresses. Search for them through the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) website was also difficult, as some were not listed there. The reporter tried to locate Dan Modibbo and Sons Nigeria Limited, the contractor that renovated a block of two classrooms in CPS Wawa in Borgu local government area, whose registered office address was said to be at No 122 Zarumai Road in Minna, but the company was not found at the address.

    A contractor who constructed a block of two classrooms for N4.03 million at Santali Primary School in Lavun Local Government Area of the state said the contract sum was exclusive of the supply of furniture to the classrooms. He also stated that the contracts for the construction or renovation of classrooms were given separately from that of the supply of school furniture by the board, adding that “except in very few cases, the board separated the award of contract for construction or renovation of building from the supply of school furniture.”

    He was quick to add that most of the contractors have not been fully paid for the contract despite having delivered on the terms of their contracts, and the buildings already in use.

    In his own case, the contractor said he was still being owed N3.15 million despite the completion and issuance of certificate of completion by the board since 2014.

    A document obtained from the Niger state Universal Basic Education Board confirmed that contracts for construction of the classrooms and the supply of furniture are given differently and may not be given to the same contractor.

    Frustrated Teachers

    Many teachers are dismayed over the inability of government to address the infrastructural decay in the primary schools over the years. A retired teacher who lives in Minna, Mallam Mohammed Umar, said the state of decay will only get worse unless drastic steps are taken towards addressing it. Umar, who was a former teacher at Rafin Sanyin Primary School, Suleja, was shocked when told the state of the school now. “I thought by now it should have been done. When I was there, I retired in 2015; the school was in dire need of renovation. The children were sitting on the floor, we had no diaries or registers, and we had to just manage what we had. So telling me the school still needs total renovation amazes me.”

    The Chairman of the Kontagora chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Dan Azumin Kabiru declared that the infrastructures of schools across the state are so bad that they are no longer manageable. “Government is not doing anything to help improve the standard of education through the infrastructures we have. What would the government show to the people to prove that it has much concern for education or regards for the infrastructural situation in the schools.”

    Kabiru said the recent effort by government at renovating one or two structures in a school would do nothing to improve the state of infrastructural decay, pointing out that despite all the talks of improved structures and huge money allocated to the education sector, there is nothing to show for it.

    Kabiru advised the state government to urgently address the infrastructure decay in schools across the state to avoid total collapse of education. He said renovating one out of a hundred schools is not a solution to the problem.

    He stressed the need for additional classrooms but added that the old ones that are dilapidated should first be put in good condition. “Government wants the students to be highly educated but they are not giving us the needed infrastructure and facilities. The schools are in bad condition and nothing is been done. If they do the right thing, they will get the right result. ”

    Another teacher in Suleja, Comrade Musa Nasiru echoed his colleagues. He said all the schools in Suleja are in need total rehabilitation, as a large number of the classrooms are decrepit and without furniture. He disclosed that the teachers’ union in Suleja was already looking beyond the government and had started approaching well-to-do individuals and the old boys associations to see how they can assist in putting the classrooms in good learning condition.

    A former teacher who is now Chairman of the Niger State House of Assembly Committee on Education, Science and Technology, Bako Kasim Alfa confirmed that the current decay in school infrastructure started years ago and due to government inability to quickly intervene, it ended up becoming worse by the years. He therefore said it will take years for any intervention to make noticeable impact.

    He said: “The decay we are experiencing did not just happen today, it was inherited from past governments. Since inception, there has never been any kind of intervention in some of the schools. Intervention for the education sector was zero.”

    Government Approach

    The Niger State Government claimed that when it assumed power in 2015, it met primary school infrastructure across the state in total decay, as they had been neglected by previous governments.  The State Commissioner for Education, Hajiya Fatima Magudu, who acknowledged widespread dilapidation of primary school facilities in the state, claimed that SUBEB was doing its best to rehabilitate the schools and ensure the rehabilitation is spread across the state.

    The state Commissioner of Education, Hajiya Fatima Magudu said the decrepit state of primary education in the state was due to lack of funds. She said even though the state had spent over N9 billion in the last five years without commensurate improvement in standard, previous administrations were to blame. She said what the current administration met on ground did not justify the money claimed to have been spent.

    The commissioner refused to respond to question on why the current administration did not probe previous expenditure on the sector. Her only response was that the current administration was doing its best to improve the system but lack of funds has been a hindrance.  She said in her two years in office as commissioner, the Ministry has only accessed about 80 per cent of education budget.

    “Right now, we have accessed the 2015 UBEC intervention fund but we have not accessed 2016 and 2017 UBEC fund to which the state government would counter fund. You should know that education is a capital project that is capital intensive. It cannot be completed at once; especially looking at the way we met some of the schools. It would be a gradual process for this government. That is why the government has adopted the whole school renovation approach to identify and work on schools that need intervention,” she said.

    She admitted that the ministry’s technical personnel reported that some contractors defaulted by executing shoddy jobs while some failed to complete the contract execution, but dismissed any suggestion of official connivance.

    This is however hard to believe, especially because erring contractors were not sanctioned, but only given “letters of warning” telling them their contracts may be terminated if they refused to fully execute.

    • This investigation is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. Concluded.
  • Take campaigns to schools, markets, others, cleric urges FRSC

    Take campaigns to schools, markets, others, cleric urges FRSC

    The Assembly Pastor of The Apostolic Church, Yaba, Lagos, Pastor Emmanuel Adebiyi, has called on the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to take road safety campaigns to churches, homes, schools and market places.

    The clergyman spoke during a service held in the church to mark the end of the 30th anniversary celebration of the FRSC.

    The Lagos State Command of the corps led by its Sector Commander, Hyginus Omeje, attended the activity with the theme: “The great Commision.”

    Pastor Adebiyi said the corps’ failure to continue enlightening the public on the use of roads would have negative effects on both social and economic lives of the people of this country.

    He urged the officers to work in accordance with the rules of the corps and  keep away from all forms of indiscipline that would hinder the FRSC from achieving its goals.

    The Sector Commander Omeje said the significance of the thanksgiving was to appreciate God for what he had done for the corps.

    Omeje said the FRSC would not relent in carrying out researches on the modern technology that would improve its operations until “it records more success of in the reduction of crashes on Nigerian roads”.

    He appealed to all road users to support the FRSC campaigns on obeying traffic rules, adding that the corps would from henceforth have zero tolerance for any indiscipline on the part of road users.

  • Proprietress urges schools to embrace ICT

    A school owner, Mrs Mosunmola Bello-Olusoga, has underscored the need for schools to integrate Information Communication Technology (ICT) into teaching and learning.

    She spoke during an ICT competition for primary schools hosted by her school, City of Knowledge Academy (CKA), Ijebu Ode.

    Mrs Bello-Olusoga advised schools to invest in ICT infrastructure, like CKA had done, so as to help pupils gain skills that would stand them out among their peers.

    She said already CKA was reaping fruit of its investment as its pupils were excelling in ICT competitions they participated in.

    “We believe that life is a competition.  We want to prove that it could be a lot better. In the robotics competition that CKA participated last year, the students came first, second and fifth.  It is about  catching the children young,” she said.

    However, in deploying ICT in teaching and learning, she said the school was not unmindful of the dangers of wrong internet exposure to young ones.  To this end, she said it had put in place checks to ensure that the pupils were not surfing the wrong websites.

    “Teachers have to be sure that their children do not visit prohibited sites, so monitoring the site is very important. Our students have laptop computers and all the lessons and education facilitates are there, but we are particular about some sites, which they are not allowed to go to. Once you attempt going there, it buzzes and the students are reprimanded.”

    Mrs Bello-Olusoga said the school chose to organise the competition for primary school pupils with the hope that they would benefit from the early exposure to technology.

    “The competition was designed to, among others, enhance pupils’ technological knowledge. It is about catching them young – the reason we are focusing on primary school pupils. So, once the primary school pupils know about digitisation, it makes learning easier for them when they get into secondary school,” she said.

    At the end of the competition, which tested the theoretical and practical knowledge of participants from 16 primary schools, Supreme Education Foundation, Magodo, came first with 39, 853 points and its team was rewarded with a laptop computer for the school.

     

     

  • The rot in our schools

    The rot in our schools

    In the half of first term of the season and by the grace of God we have accomplished our set goals so far.
    But I must say that the challenge is enormous. In particular, what is obvious to all of us is the issue of overstretched facilities in every component of the system

    The above quotation is by a principal in a newsletter of a top federal government secondary school most parents dream their children attend.

    Being a civil servant who cannot afford to be seen to indict the government, the principal in the few words above tried her best to draw attention to challenge she is having to cope with given the limited resources at her disposal.

    If she could admit that the challenge she is facing is enormous, despite the very top position her school occupies among other federal colleges, the challenges her colleagues have are better imagined.

    I am not sure what the set goals she claimed to have accomplished are, but they definitely cannot include providing the students a conducive learning environment. It cannot include having all the necessary learning instructions they need.

    With overstretched facilities and personnel, the college like many others cannot definitely claim to be living up to the expectation of providing the students the kind of education they really need and what their parents are paying for under various guises.

    If I had my way, I would not have sent my child to this school despite the high reputation it still has, but I had to yield to pressure from my wife who believed the lie that the school is better than the ones in our neigbourhood in the ‘outland’ of Lagos.

    It didn’t take up to a term in the school for my wife to see through the deceit of its living on past glory, no thanks to the government that has failed woefully to meet its obligations of providing necessary facilities and personnel.

    Most of the facilities in the school are run down and insufficient for the large number of students admitted. Many of the beds in the hostels and desks in the classrooms are broken and the students just have to manage with what they can get.

    As if that is not enough, there are not enough teachers to teach some classes and in some instances, the Parent Teachers Associations (PTA) have to assist the school in paying part-time teachers to take some key subjects.

    How can students do well in the West African School Certificate Examination when they don’t have teachers to teach them some subjects? Or the some of the teachers are not putting in their best to impact necessary knowledge?

    In some states where the governments claim to be providing free education, only few books and facilities are provided. So bad is the situation that students in some senior classes can barely write some simple English words.

    It is high time that the government at all levels gave education the priority it deserves. We cannot continue to pay lip service to educating our youths who are supposed to be leaders of tomorrow by underfunding the sector that is crucial to our development.