The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Students

  • YABATECH students protest colleague’s death

    YABATECH students protest colleague’s death

    •UNILAG medical students reject course change

    Academic and other activities were grounded at Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Lagos, yesterday following students’protest over the death of a final year student, Comfort Olubukola Dazan.

    Dazan, who had sickle cell anaemia, reportedly died, following a crisis.

    Her colleagues claimed that Dazan, who was studying Office Technology Management, might not have died if she had not been rejected at the medical centre where she was rushed when she collapsed at midnight. They also faulted the institution for not helping to raise the N35, 000 deposit demanded by the hospital she was taken to from the clinic.

    They said they paid for medicals but do not get value for their money. They said the late Dazan’s father has stroke; the mother has a bad leg.

    They regretted that the late Dazan, who was the best student in her class with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.93 died on the day she was to start her practical examination.

    One student, who refused to give his name, told The Nation that the medical centre treated Dazan shabbily even in death.

    He said: “The school clinic did not take the body to the mortuary immediately. They put the body in the ambulance and then back to the clinic and did not even clean the body up as it was stained with vomit and excreta; so students got angry and started protesting. Two other students even fainted today (yesterday)”.

    The students presented a 10-point demand to the Rector, Dr Margaret Ladipo and took her round the school to show her bad structures. ýAt the rector’s premises, they saw two parked ambulances and asked what they were doing there.

    The rector appealed for calm, but when some security agents shot into the air, the students got angry and burnt down the clinic.

    The students also blocked the college’s gates, causing traffic gridlock in its environs, especially on Herbert Macaulay Road, where they burnt tyres.

    They asked for two-week mourning for the late Dazan and postponement of examinations, lectures and practical.

    Their other demands included: visit and payment of compensation to the bereaved family; autopsy by forensic experts on cause of death; re-instatement of the student union; fumigation of hostels, classrooms and laboratory facilities each session; rehabilitation of toilet and hostel facilities, among others.

    In a statement, the school’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Charles Oni, refuted claims that the late Dazan was neglected.

    He said she had been under the clinic’s care days before her death, adding that she was discharged to allow her prepare for her practical examinations, which started yesterday.

    Oni said: “She had developed a crisis in the afternoon of Tuesday, February 9, 2016 and was temporarily on admission at the College Medical Centre under close watch of the Centre’s Management. She was however discharged when her condition became stable so that she could prepare for her examination today, Wednesday, February 10, 2016. Practical examinations began round the College last Monday as a precursor to the main general examination scheduled for Monday, February 15.

    “The late Dazan’s crisis relapsed around midnight and her room mates rushed her back to the medical centre where precautionary medical attention was given to her, with a promise to refer her to Federal Medical Centre at Ebute Meta as soon as day break.”Oni claimed the students cashed in her death to pressure the institution to postpone the examination which begins “fully” next week.

    “ýStudents immediately cashed in on the death of the late Dazan to engage in opportunistic clamour for the extension of the semester. They demanded for the extension of the semester for two weeks contrary to the College calendar.

    Unfortunately, many students do not prepare for examination until such examinations are a week or three days away, and customarily, they always plead for extension until the Management put a stop to such opportunism about two years ago. The hydra-headed clamour sprang up again Wednesday because of the death of Miss Dazan. “

    A lecturer, who is a member of the college’s academic board, said the board was meeting at the time of the protest, adding that the students restricted movement within and out ofý the college.

    ”We were meeting during the protest. The students did not allow us to go in or come out. They wanted the board to shift the examination immediately,” he said.

    Dazan’s remains were buried at Atan Cemetery, Yaba, yesterday.

    Meanwhile, there was tension at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) yesterday when medicine students protested against what they called “forceful change of our courses”.

    The students and their parents disrupted activities at the university from 2pm till late, yesterday to get the university to address the issue.

    For over one week, the students have been gathering at the university for resolution of the matter.

    Things came to a head yesterday when the students and their parents besieged the Senate Building, following the re-distribution of students to departments in the faculties of science, social sciences, and education.

    The students, called cross-over students, comprised those admitted through the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the university’s Foundation Programme, and Direct Entry. After spending one sessiono in the Akoka  Campus, the students were to continue their studies at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos (CMUL) at Idi-Araba, subject to meeting the requirements.

    The students alleged that three weeks to the end of their second semester, the requirements were changed.

    A student simply called Anthony said the sub dean of the Science Faculty,  Dr Ade Ademilua, told them of the possibility of changes in the cut off marks.

    He said: “When we resumed 100-Level,  they sold a prospectus to us showing all our cut off marks.  For my department,  they said with a minimum average score of 50 percent in my three core,  physical, chemical and biological sciences, we could proceed to 200-Level. Then just three weeks before exam last semester,  the sub dean,  Dr Ade Ademilua told us that they may change the Cumulative Grade Pont Average (CGPA). There was no official notice or written notice to the effect. Then the list of those who made it into 200-Level was supposed to be released in January as was done for sets before ours but they delayed ours until February and changed so many people’s departments.”

    He said he found his name in the list for pharmacology department,  rather than his choice of surgery,  with his 3.75 CGPA and appealed to the school to allow him proceed to the medical school.

    Another protester, Tolani, said she was supposed to qualify for the promotion because she had a CGPA that was much higher than the one stated for her department in the prospectus.

    “What they gave for my department was 2.5 cgpa but now,  they have suddenly raised it to about 4.0. And they did not allow us proceed. That’s unfair! I think it is because the National Universities Commission (NUC  ) gave them a directive that they are making us suffer for it. We will protest until they give us what we deserve.”

    A student, who did not want her name in print, faulted the delay in announcing changes in the criterion.

    She said: “All of us admitted for medical courses were not told of the new assessment method. We were told after admission that we only needed to score 50 per cent in all the courses in the first year. Many of us scored beyond the average mark, but the school secretly introduced a new criterion. If they had told us in the first semester that our CGPA would be used, many of us would have studied hard.”

    In an interview with The Nation, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Rahamon Bello, said the university had been mandated by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to index all its medical students or lose accreditation. Consequently, he said the college could only admit 130 as against 150.

    “For a while, the college had not been indexing the students admitted for medicine. However, now the MDCN, which regulates the programme, is insisting on it. We can now only admit 130. Last year, students admitted from the Foundation programme got into the college with 13 points. But this year, we could only take those with 16 points,” he said.

    He assured the students that they would be absorbed by other departments where there is space.

    A statement from the university’s information unit directed the students to register their new courses on the university portal.

    The statement reads: “The health professions courses at the College of Medicine are regulated by their professional bodies, and these bodies regulate the numbers to be trained, to ensure the quality of the health workforce, based on the availability of facilities and resources.  They all, therefore, have quotas that are applied at the 200 level.

    “These quotas are now being enforced by the assignment of student index numbers when they cross over into the professional programmes in the College of Medicine.”

  • Students protest ‘insufficient’ test time

    Students protest ‘insufficient’ test time

    Second year students of the Department of Psychology of the Benue State University (BSU),  Makurdi, have protested against what they called the insufficient time allocated for a test. JOSHUA OBELLE (300-Level Mass Communication) reports.

    •HOD: they’re unruly

    Psychology students of the Benue State University (BSU) in Makurdi, last Saturday, complained about what they called their lecturers’ penchant for allocating “insufficient time” for continuous assessment quiz.

    Their complaint followed a PSY 205 test organised for 200-Level students. The students moved round the campus, protesting the clash of the test time with other activities.

    The students trooped out of the venues of the test to demand its cancellation.

    It was gathered that the test was fixed for 7am at the New Lecture Theatre but was moved to another venue, because 300-Level students from some departments were using the venue for Entrepreneurship Studies (EPS) test scheduled to hold at the same time.

    The students were asked to move to the Department of Chemistry Hall, which was occupied by another set of students who were also writing a test. The Psychology students were, again, moved to Lecture Rooms (LR) 10A and 10B.

    Frustrated, the students threatened to eject their senior colleagues from the previous hall, but one of them, Joshua Tarbunde, called for calm, urging them not to take the laws into their hands.

    It was gathered that the test was eventually held in LR 10A and 10B. But the exercise was described as irregular because the two lecture rooms could not contain all the students.

    “Since the lecture rooms could not contain all of us, the rest of us were taken to LR 10B. The students in LR 10A were the last to start after a series of delay,” Joshua said.

    According to him, the test was supposed to last for 30 minutes but the students in LR 10A did not spend up to 10 minutes before their answer booklets were collected.

    Joshua added: “We started the test before those in LR 10A. To our surprise, everybody was told to submit at the same time. Our colleagues in LR 10A did not spend up to 10 minutes before their answer scripts were collected.”

    This was followed by disorderliness in LR 10A, which scared the invigilators. The angry students moved to the department in protest.

    They chanted protest songs as they moved to their department, demanding the cancellation of the test. The incident caught the attention of the Students’ Union Government (SUG) and its officials identified with the demonstrators.

    A student, who refused to give his name, said he was not happy with the development, noting that he read all night to prepare for the test, only to be denied appropriate time to write it.

    He said: “I am not happy with what is happening in my department. Whenever we are writing test or examination, our lecturers usually take abnormal decisions by not giving us enough time to answer questions. I spent the whole of Friday night preparing for this test. Yet, they did not allow us to write our names before they told us to submit. They must cancel it.”

    Another student, who gave his name as John, said he was able to finish but said he was not happy, because many of his colleagues could not write anything.

    “I was in LR 10B and I finished before the time. But, I am not happy that other classmates were not given time. We are all mates and there should be a level playing field for everyone.”

    The Head of Psychology Department, Dr Grace Awoputu, who gave the test, defended the invigilators’ decision, saying it was as a result of some students’ “unruly behaviour”.

    She said: “Some of your colleagues don’t have good manners and home training. I am disappointed in all of you today. It was as a result of the unruly behaviour you displayed that made the invigilators to take the decision. I am not happy. We want to train you not only in academics, but also in character. Even if anything is bothering you, there is a manner you present yours grievances.”

    Awoputu said she would not cancel the test, but said students, who wrote in LR 10A, would be considered to re-take the test.

  • German firm trains WAUU staff, students on emergency management

    A German-based company, Randmed Pharmaceuticals, has trained some students and staff of The West African Union University (WAUU), Cotonou, Republic of Benin on emergency management and first aid medical response.

    The programme, which was held at the weekend on the campus of WAUU, is under Randmed’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm for Africa, Africa Medical Capital (AMEDICAP), through its maiden edition for tertiary institutions across the African continent.

    Project Manager of AMEDICAP, Andreas Reiner, who met with the management of WAUU earlier before the training session, emphasised that many avoidable deaths occur in Africa owing to lack of effective emergency management, which necessitated its (AMEDICAP) set-up as a response squad to give Africans effective and professional training on the subject matter.

    The training session was attended by the management staff  of WAUU including the President, Dr Bishop Adeyemi; Registrar, Alhaji AbdulKabir Onifade; Sub-Dean, Faculty of Science and Technology, Mrs. Benedicta Egbuharan and Head of Nursing Science Department, Dr Djibril Nadjim among others during which some medical equipment and defribillator, a diagnosing machine on emergency health management,  were presented to the institution.

  • Jigawa’s N900m for 60 medical students abroad

    The Jigawa state government has set aside the sum of N900 million to sponsor 60 students for the study of medicine in the Republic of China.

    This was disclosed by the state’s commissioner of Health, Dr Abba Zakar, yesterday while fielding question from newsmen on the level of preparation for and departure of the students.

    Dr Abba Zakari Umar explained that Governor Badaru’s administration had promised to sponsor 200 students from the state to study medicine and nursing in China in its bid to produce enough manpower required to achieve its policy on health for all.

     

  • Misbehave and be expelled, rector tells students

    Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Rector Mr Samuel Sogunro, has enjoined freshers to study hard to achieve academic excellence. The rector also urged them to abide by the school’s rules to avoid expulsion.

    Sogunro spoke at the matriculation of 3,000 freshers at the School of Agriculture Auditorium last Thursday. The ceremony was attended by top members of management, parents and guardians.

    The rector told the freshers to brace for the challenges ahead, saying the institution would not compromise its standards in favour of any student. He also advised them against joining groups not registered with the Students’ Affairs Unit of the polytechnic, adding that membership of unlawful club attracts severe sanction.

    Speaking on the modality of admission, Sogunro said the polytechnic emphasised on academic competence in its selection process.

    He said: “We have been strict in our selection process, because we are anxious about maintaining acceptable academic standard. We also want reasonable good candidates, and we try hard to produce good graduates who will be able to compete with their peers anywhere in the world.”

    The institution’s Public Relations Officer, Olanrewaju Kuye, assured that the polytechnic would provide conducive environment for the students to attain their academic pursuits.

    After the ceremony, it was all celebration outside the auditorium. Various fellowships on campus organised thanksgiving on behalf of the freshers. Prominent among them is the Redeemed Christian Fellowship (RCF), which organised a welcoming programme for the freshers.

     

     

     

  • NGO pays WASSCE fees for 50 indigent students

    In its bid to enhance education of  youths in Edda land, a non-governmental organisation, Edda Volunteers’ Initiative (EVI) in Afikpo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, has paid the fees for the May/June 2016 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) of 50 indigent students worth about N5 million.

    The NGO issued the cheques of N90, 000 each to the benefiting students from 12 secondary schools in the area.

    The schools include: Amaiyi Comprehensive Secondary School, Ettiti Technical Secondary School, Community Secondary School Ekeje, Ebunwana Girls Secondary School, Community Secondary School Nguzu, Oso Technical Secondary school.

    Others are: Item Secondary School, Secondary Technical School Nguzu, Government Secondary School Owutu, Comprehensive School Libolo, Ekoli Girls High school, and Umunna Comprehensive Secondary School Oguma.

    Dr. Nnanna Onuoha, founder of the NGO, said the gesture was to promote education in the area.

    He noted that he had always been inspired to assist the downtrodden especially the youth and the elderly.

    Onuoha, an engineer, promised to make the gesture an annual event, and extend it to other parts of the state.

    He praised the government’s free education policy and urged the youths to avail themselves of the opportunity to improve their lives.

    However, Onuoha lamented the suffering Edda candidates encountered in their quest to write the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in far-flung centres, and promised to attract a centre to Afikpo South.

    Traditional Ruler of Ebunwana Community, Ezeogo Charles Azuenya, advised the beneficiaries to take their studies seriously and excel in their examinations to reciprocate the NGO’s kind gesture.

     

  • NGO pays WASSCE fees for 50 indigent students

    In its bid to enhance education of  youths in Edda land, a non-governmental organisation, Edda Volunteers’ Initiative (EVI) in Afikpo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, has paid the fees for the May/June 2016 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for 50 indigent students of the area to the tune of about N5 million.

    The NGO issued the cheques of N90, 000 each to the benefiting students who are from 12 secondary schools in the area.

    The schools include: Amaiyi Comprehensive Secondary School, Ettiti Technical Secondary School, Community Secondary School Ekeje, Ebunwana Girls Secondary School, Community Secondary School Nguzu, Oso Technical Secondary school.

    Others are: Item Secondary School, Secondary Technical School Nguzu, Government Secondary School Owutu, Comprehensive School Libolo, Ekoli Girls High school, and Umunna Comprehensive Secondary School Oguma.

    Issuing the cheques, Dr. Nnanna Onuoha, founder of the NGO, said the gesture was to promote education in the area.

    He noted that he has always been inspired to assist the downtrodden especially the youth and the elderly.

    Onuoha, an engineer based in Abuja, promised to make the gesture an annual event, adding that subsequent editions of the programme would be extended to other parts of the state.

    He expressed delight with the compulsory free education policy of the state and urged the youth to avail themselves of the opportunity to improve their lives and brighten their future.

    However, Onuoha lamented the suffering Edda candidates encountered in their quest to write the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in distant centres, and promised to attract a centre to Afikpo South.

    Traditional Ruler of Ebunwana Community, Ezeogo Charles Azuenya advised the beneficiaries to take their studies seriously and excel in their various examinations to reciprocate the NGO’s kind gesture.

    He warned them against examination malpractice.

     

  • Why students fail mathematics, by NMC DG

    Why students fail mathematics, by NMC DG

    The Director-General, National Mathematic Centre, Prof. Adewale Solarin, has attributed the high rate of failure in the subject to poor quality of teachers.

    He also blamed the failures on the wrong teaching approach adopted by teachers.

    The DG, who described failure in the subject as a national problem, called for an emergency in the teaching of algebra in schools.

    The NMC boss disclosed these in Abuja at the inauguration of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Chair Programme on Mathematics on the centre and a Workshop on Algebra.

    Prof. Solarin explained that the use of non experts to teach algebra, which is a core subject in the training of mathematicians at the undergraduate level, had not yielded much result.

    He said: “We are not calling for emergency in mathematics. We are calling for emergency in algebra.

    “The high rate of failure in mathematics is a national problem we are addressing. We have done a lot of pilot survey.   “The teaching approach, methodology used by teachers is partly responsible. That is why students have to cram the subject.

    “The best way to handle mathematics is to allow the student to discover the concept so that they don’t have to cram the subject.

    “If all teachers are trained by us, you can be sure that in the next three years there will be difference.”

    He said that the centre had adopted a new approach where students had to discover new concepts and create formulas themselves so as not to cram the subject.

    The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, said the award of UNESCO Chair on Mathematics to the centre would be useful to Nigeria as countries seek to share experience and learn from one another to strengthen the education system.

    Adamu said that no socio- economic transformation can take root in any nation without sound education in science and technology.

    This, he stressed, had made the teaching of mathematics imperative in modern education of Nigeria.

  • Chef woos male students

    An executive Chef with Leadway Hotel, Maryland, Lagos, Mr Wayne Mitchell, said schools and governments must find ways to encourage more male students to become catering and hospitality professionals.

    He said in an interview that it was erroneous to think the profession is mainly for women, as is the case in Nigeria where more women train in the profession than men.

    “My biggest fear is that I am seeing more women than men coming into the profession.  In South Africa where I come from, it is actually a man’s job.  It is a lucrative profession and more boys need to get into it in Nigeria,” he said.

    However, regardless of whether they are males or females, Mitchell said they need to work hard and pursue excellence to be recognised worldwide.

    That was why when he had opportunity to deliver the keynote address at the 2015 Catering Day of the Federal Science and Technical College (FSTC), Yaba, where he shared the story of how he rose to prominence through hard work, diligence, and creativity.

    Apart from speeches and entertainment, the highlights of the Catering Day programme were the cooking competition and the launch of Tomorrow’s Chef, a magazine published by the Catering Section of FSTC, Yaba.

    Unoma Omenyi of Queen’s College, Yaba, won the cooking competition.  Her Beef Oha soup with Semovita got her an industrial cooker, courtesy of Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island.

    FSTC’s Chinomye Onyebuchi came second for cooking a delicious pot of Assorted Meat in Igbo Egusi and won a deep freezer sponsored by May and Baker, makers of Mimee Noodles.  Another representative of FSTC, Emem Akpan, came third with her fish in egusi soup and semovita.  She got a gas cooker courtesy of the FSTC PTA.

    Zaynab Ganiyu of the Federal Government College, Odogbolu came fourth with her Orugbo Soup served with Amala.

    The launch of Tomorrow’s Chef, a publication of the Catering Section, FSTC, was a milestone that Mrs Chinwe Nwaka, head of Miscellaneous Trades was happy that the department achieved last year.

    In her address, she said the magazine would showcase the college’s achievements in the area of catering and hospitality management and demonstrate the viability of the profession to students.

    “This magazine is borne out of the desire to educate and enlighten the students of Hospitality and Catering on the ethics of the industry,” she said.

    The publication featured articles on nutrition, career potential in hospitality, leisure and tourism industry, interview with Simon Hague, Executive Chef, Eko Hotel and Suites, recipes, as well as reports of two landmark events that are fast defining FSTC as a reputable institution for training hospitality management professionals, the world chef day and the catering day.

    Mrs Nwaka said the school has proven to be a reputable institution for training in catering and hospitality as a result of the competition and organizing the World Chef Day of 2014.

    A Culinary Specialist from Nestle Nigeria Plc, Mr Kefas Punshak, who also judged the cooking contest, praised the organisers for the event, which he described as a ‘catch them young’ initiative.

    “Over the years a lot of people have not seen it as a career but today we are testimonials. And that’s why we want to showcase and to be able to say our stories and then the younger ones will be able to see that there is a future in this career,” he said.

    Principal of the school, Rev Chris Ugorji, said the Catering Unit was adding value to the school’s mandate of practical training.

     

  • Medical students teach pupils computer programming

    Medical students teach pupils computer programming

    To commemorate the world’s Computer Science Education week, medical students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), last Wednesday, visited Ishaga Close Primary School in Mushin to teach the pupils how to perform coding on computer.

    The volunteer students, under the banner of Codes Without Borders, said they were committed to raising next generation of computer programmers. Hour of code is a trademark of Code.org, which has the objective to introduce computer science to children of all ages.

    The convener, Babatunde Alli, a final year Dentistry student, said the initiative was borne out of his experience with unnamed 12-year-old pupil whose ability in computer operation surprised the group. He said the group believed it was unalienable right of the Nigerian child to be exposed to basic computer science education.

    He said: “Exposing children to basic computer education at tender age would go a long way in preparing them for the future, irrespective of their chosen careers.It would also help them to be technology-inclined like their counterparts in other parts of the world.”

    The Head Teacher of the school, Mrs Abosede Oginni, received the volunteers and divided the pupils into different groups. The primary six pupils were placed in groups of three and attached to a volunteer. They were introduced to fundamentals of coding, such as algorithmic thinking, sequencing, pattern recognition, loops, conditionals and debugging, through engaging puzzles in Box Island application. The pupils learnt how to give instructions to computers and how to implement it in order to solve a problem.

    Miss Christiana Akande, a volunteer, described it as a beautiful initiative. She said: “It is a great idea teaching these young ones how to code. It is a good way of opening their eyes to the advantages of the computer in the 21st century. The children in my group were excited and did not want the session to end.”

    One of the pupils, Miss Oluwaseun Adeola, said the training had developed her interest in computing and programming. She said: “I want to be able to use the computer to create games.”

    The volunteers praised the school for partnering with them to teach pupils about computer programming. They said the skill could be used to change economy of the country.