Tag: Tahir Mamman

• ‘We’re implementing existing laws’

The Federal Government has defended its ban on pupils under 18 years old sitting for the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), accusing parents of hurrying their children/wards.

Education Minister Tahir Mamman said this yesterday in Abuja at a briefing by government officials on the preparations for next week’s celebration of the nation’s Independence anniversary on October 1.

In July, Mamman had announced that that starting from 2025, candidates below 18 would not be allowed to sit for the SSCE.

Although the minister said the development was in line with the country’s laws, the move had created ripples across the country, prompting a backlash from several quarters.

But at the Inter-Ministerial Press Briefing in Abuja, Mamman defended the policy, saying it would pay the country in the long run.

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“Our laws, the Universal Basic Education Act, and the Minimum Standards Policy Act established in 1993 prescribed specific age limits and provisions for every level of education: six years in primary school, three years in junior secondary school, three years in senior secondary school, and then five to six years before primary school (in pre-primary school). A child is expected to enter school at the age of six.

“But what has been happening is that our parents have been in a hurry. They frog-jump their children, get them into school at the age of four, skip level six at primary school, and also skip level six at secondary school. So, the children finish quite too young.

“Now, what we have done is that with the type of curriculum that we have introduced, we need them to be in place as prescribed by the acts,” he said.

The minister said the ministry was only implementing already existing laws and not introducing new ones, as many were speculating.

“As for those two acts that I have mentioned, we need them to be in place (for the pupils) to learn and acquire knowledge and skills. I remember these acts are not the ones prescribed by the government. They were not enacted during this government’s time.

“This is an Act that was established in 1993. The 6-3-3-4 came into being around 1982. So, this is already a very, very old policy.

“All that the Minister of Education did is say: ‘Ok, we come back to implementing these policies so that students can remain in school and learn skills so that when they finish, they will be able to be engaged productively, even if they don’t go to college of education or universities, they will have skills that they can be employed with or be even self-employed’,” Mamman added.

The minister said the ministry was only implementing already existing laws and not introducing new ones, as many were speculating.

“As for those two acts that I have mentioned, we need them to be in place (for the pupils) to learn and acquire knowledge and skills. I remember these acts are not the ones prescribed by the government. They were not enacted during this government’s time.

“This is an Act that was established in 1993. The 6-3-3-4 came into being around 1982. So, this is already a very, very old policy.

“All that the Minister of Education did is say: ‘Ok, we come back to implementing these policies so that students can remain in school and learn skills so that when they finish, they will be able to be engaged productively, even if they don’t go to college of education or universities, they will have skills that they can be employed with or be even self-employed’,” Mamman added.

The minister said all efforts were being made to prevent the planned strike by the Academic Staff Union of the Universities (ASUU).

The union has issues a 14-day ultimatum to the government on its plan to embark on a strike.

Mamman said a panel, led by a former Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HoCSF), Alhaja Yayale Ahmed, had been set up and that the ASUU leadership would be invited for discussion to attend to the union’s grievances.

He added that non-academic workers in the universities would be paid two months’ outstanding salaries, following payment approval by the Federal Government.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has pledged to flush out persons in public and private organisations working with fake certificates.

Mamman made this known while speaking in Abuja yesterday when he received the report of an Inter-Ministerial Investigative Committee on Degree Certificate Milling from the Chairman of the committee, Prof. Jubrila Amin.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Minister of Education on January 9 inaugurated an Inter-Ministerial Committee to examine the veracity of allegations of degrees racketeering within both foreign and local private universities.

The committee was mandated to review the role of any MDAs or its officials in facilitation of the recognition and procurement of fake certificates in question.

Mamman, who expressed sadness over what has been uncovered during the investigations, said that the ministry would work with relevant agencies to sanitise the education sector and rid it of any fake tendencies.

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“We can’t afford to have the integrity of our education soiled by some few persons.

“It is possible that some are carrying fake certificates in public and private organisations who needs to be flushed out. This report is a product of a thorough investigation.

“It is sad that someone who should come out from a Nigerian institution with a 2:1 or 2:2 is now parading an international certificate of first class.

“The ministry is determined to take steps to sanitise the system,” he said.

He pledged to take decisive role to ensure standards were enshrined in the system, saying “we can’t afford to let down our country when it comes to standards”.

Presenting the report, Chairman of the Inter-ministerial Committee, Amin, decried the horrible standards of education in those schools, saying that many of those schools awarding degree certificates were an eye saw.

Amin said the problems at hand required speedy intervention, recommending that all agencies in the sector must digitalise/automate their system.

He said that automating the entire education system was a way to go in such a way that you could sit in your office and monitor what is happening in all tertiary institutions.

According to him, “in the course of our investigation, we realised that the present programme of accreditation and evaluation of results is inadequate”.

He called for more universities in the country, saying that more universities to train PhD holders would help a lot rather than Nigerians going outside in search of certificates, ending up getting fake ones.

He, therefore, urged the National Universities Commission (NUC) to pay more attention to institutions offering part time or sandwich programmes so we don’t have a repeat of 2017 saga of centres offering unaccredited courses.

“People go and get fake degrees and we have been to those countries and we know what a proper degree looks like, we know what the fake one looks like.

“We have given it to the ministry to scrutinise anyone presenting a certificate from those institutions and anything else is fake.

” It is up to the ministry to find out people with fake certificates and deal with them in whatever way they deem fit,” he said.

The Federal Government has directed that admission into tertiary institutions should not be given to candidates that are younger than 18 years.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, gave the directive yesterday while monitoring the ongoing 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) at Bwari in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The minister decried the activities of some parents who he said put pressure on their underage children to get admissions into tertiary institutions,

He explained that the 18-year benchmark is in line with the nation’s 6-3-3-4 system of education.

“The minimum age of entry into the university is 18, but we have seen students who are 15, 16 years going in for the entrance examination.

“Parents should be encouraged not to push their wards too much. Mostly, it is the pressure of parents that is causing this.

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“We are going to look at this development because the candidates are too young to understand what university education is all about.

“This is the period when children migrate from controlled to uncontrolled environment; when they are in charge of their own affairs.

“But if they are too young, they won’t be able to manage properly. I think that is part of what we are seeing in the Universities today,” Mamman said.

On skill acquisition for those who will not be able to gain admissions into tertiary institutions, the minister said the ministry was taking skills to pupils from primary school.

“In overall, it is 20 per cent that can be admitted into the university, polytechnic, and colleges of education system.

“So, where will the 80 per cent go to? That is why the issue of skills acquisition is very important.

“Any student who is unable to proceed to tertiary institutions should be able to have a meaningful life after primary and secondary school education. The only solution to this is skills acquisition,” he said.

The spokesperson of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Dr. Fabian Benjamin, corroborated the minister’s position, saying 18 years is in line with the 6-3-3-4 education system.

The Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, who was in the monitoring team, applauded the conduct of this year’s UTME, particularly the introduction of online examinations to check malpractices.

He said the Computer-Based Test (CBT) had reduced examination malpractices to the barest minimum.

Sununu praise JAMB for setting a good simple and high standard for the examination.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, yesterday met with the leadership of the striking Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU), and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) on how to end the ongoing seven-day warning strike by the unions.

Mamman told reporters after the meeting that the Federal Government would continue to dialogue with the unions to ensure that things do not escalate beyond where they are.

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the unions started a seven-day nationwide strike on Monday to protest the refusal of the Federal Government to release their four-month salaries withheld in 2021 because they embarked on a strike.

He said: “It is our expectation that things will not go beyond what it is. We have a good understanding with the unions to ensure stability in our tertiary institutions.

“We will do everything possible to maintain confidence in the unions so that the issue of the strike can be rested.”

NASU General-Secretary Peters Adeyemi lauded the openness of the government to end the strike.

“We have been duly briefed by the government team, led by the Minister of Education, in the efforts that government is making in respect of our demands.

“We have said that since this is a warning strike, this effort should continue and, hopefully before the end of warning strike, something reasonable and tangible will come from government.”

Minister of Education Tahir Mamman has asked the management of Al-Muhibbah Open University, Abuja to offer programmes that are relevant to the local communities.

Mamman spoke in Abuja on Friday at the unveiling and maiden matriculation ceremony of the university.

At the event, 105 students across three faculties and 14 programmes were matriculated.

The Minister said owing to the large pool of students searching for university education, there was a need to open up the system for private education to meet the educational yearnings of the youths.

Mamman said: “Open distance learning education is a relatively new frontier for us and that is the direction our tertiary education is moving.

“I know as a fact, the government ownership of open university has risen to over 700,000 students, the largest in Africa and the pool of young men and women who are interested in education is unsearchable and very large so certainly the government cannot meet these demands.

“So it is appropriate that we open the system to the private sector who are really committed to the provision of this level of education.”

The Minister charged the National Universities Commission (NUC) and other regulatory agencies to come up with quality assurance mechanisms to strengthen open universities.

He said: “What we have at the moment is largely focused on conventional institutions, as we strengthen this level of university education, the public must have the assurance that they deliver the quality programmes which they give approval for.

“Secondly, one of the focus area of this government are qualifications that are relevant to our local community, they must be relevant while having the same quality that will make you competitive in the international arena.

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“How do you become relevant within the local frontier? It is by ensuring that you have programmes that embed in them skills which will make them readily employable or better still employers of Nigerians.

“This government is set and already working with corporate skill sets of the Nigerian education sector right from primary schools to the university because the level we are now is such that we need more people with skills who will provide solutions to Nigerian problems.”

While congratulating the newly admitted students, Mamman charged them to adhere to the university’s regulations and contribute responsibly to the institution.

The federal government has said it is processing the stipends of Nigerian students studying on the Bilateral Education Agreement scholarships.

Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman said this at a briefing ahead of the 2024 Commonwealth Day on Thursday, March 7, in Abuja.

The scholars, who are studying in Russia, Morocco, Algeria, China, Hungary, and a few other countries, said they have not been paid their stipends for the past six to eight months.

The scholars, enrolled in various institutions abroad, said they have endured financial strain due to the delay in receiving their stipends

But speaking on Thursday, the minister assured the scholars that their stipends would be paid.

“Their allowance is being processed,” the minister said.

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Mamman said the federal government was investing in innovative teaching methods for a sustainable future.

“The Federal Government is investing in innovative teaching methods, supporting teachers to embrace technology, and promoting a culture of lifelong learning to enable all in the attainment and sustainability of a more equitable and prosperous future for all nationwide,” the minister said.

He urged the state ministries of education to participate in the 2024 Commonwealth Day.

“In furtherance of the aforementioned theme, the ministry is imploring all the thirty-six (36) states ministries of education and Federal Capital Territory Education Board to commemorate the Day on 11th March, 2024 as traditionally scheduled for the commemoration event every year.

“This will provide an enabling opportunity to promote democracy, human rights, cultural diversity, cooperation, equality, and mutual respect for nation-building,” the minister added.