The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Teacher

  • Maths teacher for ICT

    The School of Science, has organised a training workshop, for 50 mathematics teachers, from Ondo East and West local government areas of the state.

    The programme, sponsored by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), had participants drawn from various public and privately-owned secondary schools in the two council areas.

    In his welcome address the College Librarian, Dr. Rotimi Egunjobi described the workshop, as timely and very important.

    According to Egunjobi, who represented the Provost, the fact that ICT has contributed meaningfully to the nation’s socio-economic development, it has also helped in enhancing knowledge acquisition. Teachers, as members of the global community, should avail themselves of the vast opportunity derivable from it, so as to improve, their efficiency, in service delivery, Egunjobi added.

     

  • An Edo teacher’s confession

    An Edo teacher’s confession

    Some days back, I boycotted a competency test organised by the Edo State government for teachers in its employ. Many of us shunned the test. I don’t know the real reason others avoided the test, but I know why I did and was very glad the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) gave us its backing to hide our inadequacies. The committee headed by Prof Denis Agbolanhor would have unravelled the fraud in me.

    Please you need to hear my long story for you to appreciate where I am coming from. It is not that I am pleading for mercy or any of such nonsense. I have gone too far to care about that. Whatever happens to me as a result of my actions, I take as act of God and will not blame anybody for it.

    I was born into a polygamous family. My father had ten wives. Our father, who had 22 of us, claimed that his religion and tradition supported his polygamous nature.

    Growing up in our home in Auchi was interesting and intriguing. Wives were always engaged in one intrigue or the other to take the slot of the favourite wife. Fights broke up once in a while, but like a born polygamist our father had a way around those things. He fixed them accordingly.

    To our father, we were tools he used on his big farms. We, the children and his wives, were the farm hands. Education was not a major agenda for him. He managed to send a few of us to secondary school.

    After my secondary education, an uncle brought me to Benin, the Edo State capital. It was in the early days of the state. I was roaming the streets looking for job when a man I met on a primary school field told me teachers were to be recruited for secondary schools. Before I could tell him I was not qualified, he made me know that he was one of the state officials who would pick the successful applicants. He assured me that he was going to fix the neccesary documents for me.

    It did not take long before I was issued an appointment letter. All this while I was wondering what the man was after. He told me the day I received my letter of appointment. I must be giving him half of my salary every month. To make sure I did not fail him, we swore an oath and in the last decade he has been taking half of my pay. He is still a big man in government and is actually one of those telling the NUT not to take the competency test.

    The other day one of our colleagues was discovered to be incapable of reading well. I dare say there are many like that. Their own category is different from ours. Really, people in that category do not really teach. They are ghost workers if you like. The person that was caught was most likely just hired to come and shop face at the verification centre but was unfortunate to have been pounced on by the governor.

    You may wonder how I was able to cope with teaching job despite my inadequacy. The truth is I have not been teaching in the real sense of the word. My godfather makes sure I am always posted to one remote school or the other where teachers really do not bother to impart any knowledge on the pupils. Most of the time I do not even go to school. Over the years, I have managed to acquire some skills to teach some nonsense to the pupils.

    You may wonder if I do not have a conscience to be involved in such a scam. Well, my conscience died the day I realised that many of our leaders do not have our interest at heart. So, why should I bother myself? They are thieves and armed robbers rolled into one. We mean nothing to our leaders whose greed is bigger than our needs.

    I know that Governor Adams Oshiomhole is sincere. But, I care less. His sincerity will not put food on my table. So, sincerity my foot. As long as the NUT’s backing is there, I will continue to hide under it to get paid for a job I am not qualified for and my godfather will continue to receive his cut.

    Nigerian leaders must act with courage, conviction and be decisive to stem the rot in the education sector.

    Like Oshiomhole said at the 20th National Economic Summit in Abuja, leadership, I believe, is about courage, about conviction and being able to act. Our political leadership must go back to the basics if cheats like me must begin to see reason to give up our bad acts.

    Like Oshiomhole, I believe that the quality of the Nigerian leadership deteriorated from the days of the military. They helped spoilt everything. Misfits like me got in during those era.

    Please don’t be deceived by the good English in which this confession is written. Someone helped me out. Of course, at a cost.

     

  • Teacher to present Physics books

    To further demystify Physics in the West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) and make the subject easier for pupils, Mr Augustine Okeke-Agbaga, an educationist/author has written three textbooks on the subject for each of the three levels in the senior school cadre.

    Titled: ‘Fundamentals of Physics for West Africa 1, 2, and 3, Okeke-Agbada believes some of the challenges students experience in Physics is because of English a borrowed language in which the textbooks are written, as well as non-tropicalisation of illustration and experiments in such books.

    Okeke-Agbaga said: “When I was in the college, I did sciences – Maths, Physics, and Chemistry almost alone. That was not easy at that stage and that is still the problem with our students till now. With my books, I want to make life easier in subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics by using simple expressions and local examples to repeat the story so as to make it more understandable.”

    Okeke-Agbada, who resides in Munich, Germany, said the SS1 book with 252 pages mainly consists of introductory aspects to Physics expressed in a layman language. “In the book, you have the general definition of all the areas of physics but mentioned without much details because they are reserved for the next class,” he added.

    Explaining the SS2 version, he said he made efforts to break concepts into details according to the syllabus. “This explains why it is the most voluminous with 637 pages, while the SS3 edition is a recap with just 264 pages, including all new topics,” he said.

    Okeke-Agbada, who studied Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry between 1993 and 1997 at University of Munich, Germany, said he wants Nigerian students to appreciate life in sciences, especially physics to enable them to understand that if they choose Physics as ther favourite, they won’t have any cause to regret their action.

    “Physics is life and my books try to make students understand this branch of life better. Using several calculations I try to bring the story home than in foreign books we use and local ones that are almost empty,” he added.

    The textbooks, according to him, have a problem-solving feature. “We spent time solving problems as seen in the examples to aid understanding and to add more flesh to theories,” he added.

     

    In addition, we introduced the concept of graphical presentation in SS1 to help students appreciate the relationship between quantities. For instance a velocity-time graph. Diagrams are also used extensively to illustrate matters more elegantly.

    Advising his target students, Okeke-Agbada said they need not be intimidated by any science-oriented subject, adding that they need to first discover if they have flairs for sciences.

    “We are all intelligent because we are differently talented. No subject is easy or hard. Bible Knowledge is not easier than Mathematics and Physics is not harder than history. Everything is a matter of gift. Your talent determines your choice of subjects. But one thing remains true. Nothing is easy including physics.

    “To be like your friends you must be able to achieve what they accomplish at the same time. Choose your subjects very well and there is no point running away. Running away indicates that the original choice of subject is wrong.

     

  • ‘Motivate teachers, commit them’

    ‘Motivate teachers, commit them’

    Want to win your teachers to work hard? Mrs Ohakawa Lilian, Proprietress Cardinal Nursery and Primary School, Idowu-Egba, Lagos State advises that proprietors to motivate them.

    She said interview with The Nation that by so doing, school heads will get the best out of their teachers.

    Mrs Ohakawa said this tested rule has improved the attitude of teachers to work and to the pupils in her school.

    “To make a teacher committed, the school management must motivate them by giving gifts. Make them feel they are cared for by listening to them and assisting them with personal problems. If a school can do this, the teachers will love the children, find ways to get more qualifications required to teach handle the children well and be nice to them.”

    She also called on teachers to on the other hand to always be ready to stay with the school through thick and thin and not just collect their salaries at the end of the first month and run off to another school.

    With motivation, Mrs Ohakawa said even pupils that are not fast learners can improve tremendously. She said acknowledging those of them in her school who achieve more in the space of one week works magic.

    “There is a purple board at the entrance of the school where we write the name of the child that had the highest improvement every week. We don’t just put names of the best children on the board. We put names of our not too smart children who improved that week. This encourages them and others to do well in their academics and other activities. We have different ways of teaching different children so that they won’t be left behind,” she said.

    Asked about transparency in grading and rewarding pupils in her school, Mrs Ohakawa said only those that deserve it are rewarded.

    She said: “We don’t do it here. We have children of about three honourables in this school but they have never come out first. We even call their parents and warn them when the children are not doing well academically. My children also passed through this school, and they didn’t come out first either.

    “In fact, my son was always being brought out to the assembly ground and flogged because he didn’t copy his notes and he is still being flogged where he is now for the same reason. The only time he won something was when he won the neatest boy and that was because I would wash andiron his uniforms to make sure he was always neat to school.”

     

  • Institute trains Lagos technical teachers on entrepreneurship

    Institute trains Lagos technical teachers on entrepreneurship

    The Executive Secretary, Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEP) Mr Olawumi Gasper, has urged Nigerians who have the opportunity of any vocational enterprise to latch on to it.

    According to him, it might just be a brainwave to launch into endless strings of opportunities.

    Gasper spoke while declaring open Industrial Work Experience for teachers of state government technical colleges at the Institute of Entrepreneurs (IOE) office.

    He said the piece of advice he gave was the same magic that worked for the industrialist and Africa’s richest man Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

    “I wished I had had someone who told me the secret of entrepreneurship at my early age. Unfortunately, my father kept on hammering about passing Maths, English language and sciences for onward journey to university towards securing a white collar job.

    “But unlike me, Alhaji (Aliko) Dangote was privileged to have had an uncle who was an industrialist and a mentor, Alhaji Dantata, who exposed him to the secret of entrepreneurship. And today, Dangote is better of for it.

    “So, you participants are going to be addressed and given more tips on how you can sharpen you performances entrepreneurially. Kindly take advantage of this opportunity as someone who did many years ago is now one of the world’s richest.”

    Gasper, who commended the institute for trying to push further the gospel of entrepreneurship in Lagos, said the institute’s objective tallies with the dream of Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola to get many jobless youths off the street through sound entrepreneurship education.

    “I can assure you that our ministry is ready to partner with you because you also share in our dream as we are all in the forefront of pushing forward the gospel of entrepreneurship education. Pleas keep the flag flying; you have our support any day.

    The Executive Secretary, Dr Rotimi Oladele, who earlier gave a welcome address, assured LASTVEB of continuous partnership and support.

    “I will like to assure you that our partnership shall be enduring, cordial and mutually beneficial. We hope to join you in breeding professional entrepreneurs who will be pioneering army of wealth creators emerging from your technical colleges, and not just artisans looking for employment,” he said.

    For pioneering the Lagos Enterprise Day held in July, which is the first of its kind nationwide, Dr Oladele announced that institute’s Council had already penciled Gasper for honour to be conferred at an event scheduled for September 24.

    The institute Director Membership and Marketing Dr Folu Olagunju said the institute was established on 21 May, 2001 as a non-governmental professional body to advocate, support, and strengthen entrepreneurship and entrepreneur’s development.

    Two of the participants Mr Raheem Rasheed from Lagos State Technical College, Lagos Agidingbi and Mrs Badru Latifat from Lagos Technical College Ikotun, expressed hope that the training would complement their skills to impact more on their students.

    Mr Raahedd, a graduate of Accountant, who turned a farmer, said: “I have had trainings in the past. But in this training, I hope to learn in an advanced way how a business plan can be prepared. As a farmer, I am a bee keeper, so I wish to be further enlightened on international standards as regards bee keeping.

     

  • Teacher, two children abducted in Edo

    •Police foil attempt to abduct Lebanese

    A  teacher at Ile Primary School, Ekpoma in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State, Mrs. Queen Ogbodu and two unidentified children have been abducted.

    They were reportedly abducted on Monday, the day public schools resumed from a long break.

    Police spokesman Moses Eguavoen confirmed the incident.

    Chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Patrick Ikosimi described the kidnapping as sad.

    He said: “I received the information yesterday. Teachers are the least paid. In fact, the day a teacher receives his salary that is when his trouble begins.”

    A teacher, Mrs. P Elebe, who was abducted with her three children on August 18, is yet to be released.

    In Bayelsa State, the police foiled an attempt by a five-man gang to abduct a Lebanese working with a construction firm, Dantata and Sawoe.

    One of the kidnappers, it was gathered, was shot and arrested by the police.

    The incident was said to have occurred at Igbogene, a suburb of Yenagoa, the state capital.

    Dantata and Sawoe is handling the dualisation of Igbogene road that links Okolobiri and the East-West Road.

    Kidnapping attracts death sentence in the state.

    The kidnappers were said to have engaged the police in a gun battle before escaping.

    A resident , who identified himself as Emmanuel, said the gun battle created panic in the area, forcing people to scamper to safety.

    Police spokesman Alex Akhigbe confirmed the incident.

     

  • Special teachers learn to teach without resources

    How can teachers teach visually-impaired pupils to read without a Braille machine? How can the hearing impaired recall what they were taught more effectively? Can intellectually challenged children actually learn enough to sustain themselves and contribute meaningfully to the society?

    One hundred teachers from the five special schools and inclusive units attached to conventional public schools in Lagos State learnt there are thousands of ways to teach children with learning disabilities during a three-day workshop organised by the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LSUBEB) last week.

    Using a tailor’s tracing wheel, facilitators from Viewpoint Educational Services Ltd taught the teachers how to trace letters, shapes and other symbols on paper thereby creating an embossment on the reverse side which the visually-impaired pupils could touch with their fingers and learn concepts.

    They also learnt to use inexpensive beads and grains to outline symbols for a similar purpose – in addition to how to use visual aids to help hearing-impaired pupils remember, and hands on activities to support the education of intellectually-challenged learners.

    In addition to improving their pedagogical skills and ability to produce instructional materials from readily available resources, the teachers were taught how to identify children with learning disabilities and motivate them to learn, and how to use the internet to source for instructional media for use in the classrooms.

    One of the participants, Mr Muhammad Adebisi, who heads the Inclusive unit at the Local Government Primary School, Ipakodo, Ikorodu, said with 10 of his teachers in attendance, the training has imbued them with skills to revolutionise their teaching when the 2013/2014 session begins this month.

    “This workshop has changed me despite the fact that I have not been to school yet. I brought about 10 teachers. They have been informed here so they are going to transform the school when we resume. We were taught to produce and utilise instructional at little or no cost,” he said.

    Another teacher, Mr Philip Adeleke who works at the Ojuwoye Inclusive School, Mushin, praised the facilitators for showing teachers how to achieve so much with very little.

    “The training was practical-oriented. Children without special needs learn better when you couple your teaching with instructional materials. For special needs learners, it helps even more. For example you may sign as many times to a hearing impaired and they will not understand. But if you show them, they will understand and remember,” he said.

    As an expert in instructional medial, Chief Executive Office of Viewpoint Educational Services, Mrs Sidikatu Abiola, told The Nation that no child is un-teachable even with learning disabilities. She said this is so because the thousands of instructional media available appeal to one or more of the five human senses, which can be applied in the classroom.

    “Special teachers need to use instructional media to teach their students so they will learn and changes will take place. There is no way you use instructional media to teach and the children won’t learn. Instructional media are attached to one or more of the five senses. If a child cannot see, he can hear and feel, smell or taste. So you can use media that can appeal to others senses to teach him,” she said.

    Mrs Abiola urged philanthropists, NGO, and corporate organisations to support parents and government to education children with learning disabilities.

    “Society should come up. They should not leave children with learning difficulties to their parents or government alone. These children can be useful. Visit their schools and donate equipment for them to learn,” she said.

    In her speech, Lagos SUBEB Chairman, Mrs Gbolahan Daodu, who was represented by board secretary, Mr Olakunle Idris, said the board will continue to enhance the capacity of teachers through regular training programmes.

     

  • Parents assured of quality teaching

    The management of JABU has assured parents of high learning experiences for their children in order to make them worthy successful citizens.

    Speaking at the parent’s forum of the university, the Prof Fajana stressed the need for parents to support the institution in its bid to help train the students to meet the rapidly changing future.

    Fajana said: “Our improvement plan that will take us to a guaranteed future is in place. Our values that underpin life in the school and prepare our young people for fulfillment in a challenging environment beyond school have been identified and articulated following extensive meetings and deliberations with various committees on the campus. Our teachers are committed lifelong learners who will continue to work hard to deliver the best for all our students.”

    He added that the institution is preparing to host the forthcoming Nigeria Private Universities Games (NPUGA) coming up in December.

     

  • 470 Ogun teachers trained in ICT

    470 Ogun teachers trained in ICT

    No fewer than 470 secondary school teachers in Ogun State have been trained in the CISCO academy organised information technology essentials for a train-the-trainer programme.

    Another 55 instructors have also been trained by the academy and they are now teaching in the various ICT polytechnics in the state.

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun made this known at the Cisco African Academy Safari Conference 2013 held in Abeokuta, advising Nigerian youths and the participants to be more innovative in order to develop software needed to solve basic challenges hindering maximal use of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) in the country.

    He also enjoined stakeholders in the ICT sector to assist the youths to unlock their potentials.

    Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Taiwo Adeoluwa, a lawyer, Governor Amosun underscored the need for Nigerian youths to be ICT compliant in order to be active members of the “global village which the whole world has become, pointing out that virtually all human activities are now driven by information technology. In the same vein, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA), to the Governor on ICT, Mr. Bunmi Adebayo, pointed out that the world has turned out to be a “global village” whereby the people can unlock their potentials through the use of information technology and become relevant in the world at large.

    According to him, the Senator Ibikunle Amosun believes that knowledge in information technology remained the only means of making any individual an active member of the “global village,” assuring that government would continue to do the needful to enhance human capital development in the State through ICT knowledge.

    Adebayo, in a statement signed by the Information Officer of the Gateway ICT, Mr. Ademola Orunbon, emphasised that educational development occupies a prominent position in the mission to rebuild, recalling that the highest singular allocation of the state’s 2013 budget was devoted to the sector.

    “This government will continue to lay emphasis on youth empowerment and development through the use of ICT. This explains why it devoted the largest single allocation of its 2013 budget to the education sector as it believes that investment in the youth today is a move to secure their tomorrow,” Adebayo noted.

    In his remarks, CISCO’s Regional Manager corporate Affairs, Mr. Alifie Hamid disclosed that out of the five institutions that submitted proposals to be appointed as the academy support designated centre for English West and Central Africa, only two, one of which is the South West Resource Centre were given approval.

    He advised the participants to make good use of the knowledge imparted to them, emphasising that anyone without requisite ICT knowledge would be an outcast in the global village.

     

  • New Rivers teachers for training

    The three-month training for the 13,000 new teachers that have been employed by the Rivers State Ministry of Education is part of an induction recommended during the education summit in Port Harcourt, March this year.

    Drawn from a template recommended by one of the summit speakers, Prof Joshua Aisiku and others, the induction was part of the continuous teacher development pro-gramme they will undergo while in the employ of the Rivers State government.

    Prof Aisiku said the training will prepare them for classroom management and fill gaps in their pedagogical and knowledge skills such that when they are distributed to the over 100 model primary and secondary schools the state government has built and equipped in September, they will be able to offer the pupils quality education.

    “New teachers must know how to meet the varying needs of students in their classrooms,” Aisiku said.

    He added that though all the newly-employed teachers may not be First Class graduates, they can be groomed to become very good teachers.

    Mr Charles Magbe of PriceWaterCoopers, the firm that handled the recruitment for the state, said the grooming is necessary for the teachers to deliver on the state’s objective of providing access to quality education for all school-aged pupils irrespective of socio-economic background.

    “Post recruitment, government must continue to invest heavily in developing the teaching capacity of teachers. A rigorous programme of induction must be pu in place for the new hands; and close monitoring and appraisal of performance is important,” he said.

    The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Country Director, Prof Hassana Alidou, Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi said the recruiting was in recognition of the important roles teachers play in the school system.

    Since Governor Chibuike Amaechi declared a state of emergency in the education sector in 2008, the government has completed 264 of the 750 model primary schools it plans to build, 100 of which have been equipped and now in use.

    However, Dame Lawrence-Nemi said the government recognises that infrastructural development alone will not automatically translate to good performance, hence the decision to recruit and train teachers to meet this important need.

    With their employment, she added that the teachers will be filling a shortfall numbering tens of thousands as the rehabilitation of infrastructure had led to increased enrolment.

    She said: “The recruitment of 13,000 teachers will reduce the burden of teachers teaching several subjects at a time, when in actual sense, they are meant to teach only one subject each. The 13,000 teachers will be distributed to the primary, junior secondary and senior secondary schools.

    “The plan is aimed at boosting the manpower in the educational sector and reversing the poor performance of students in external examinations like WAEC and NECO.”

    Mrs Lawrence-Nemi noted that this recruitment marks the end of the era of cutting of corners in terms of quality. She noted that the government wants to instill professionalism in the teaching profession.

    Of the 13,000 teachers recruited, 90 per cent (11,700) are indigenes of the state, while 10 per cent of 1,300 are from other states.

    The Commissioner said teachers already in the teaching force are not left out of professional development as the state has organised programmes for their training.

    “The Ministry of Education is devoted to continuous teacher training and re-training in order to enhance specialisation and efficiency. The Ministry in partnership with the British Council and Cambridge University introduced the TKT Essentials training and certification. Today, well over 9,000 teachers across the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State, 75 per cent of who are in primary and junior secondary schools, have received in-service training.

    “We also embarked on the re-certification and verification of teachers’ credentials in order to ascertain the current numerical strength of teachers in the state to ensure that only qualified teachers are allowed to teach in the Schools,” she said.