The Nation Newspaper

Tag: teachers

  • Teachers want food vendors monitored

    The head teacher of Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School in Angwandodo community in Gwagwalada area council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Ahmed Shangalo had said that government should set-up machinery to monitor and make adequate supervision of food vendor in schools and public palace to enhance healthy living.

    Shangalo who made the call at the 2015 World Consumer Rights Day at Angwandodo community, said Consumer Protection Fan Club (CPFC) in the LEA primary school is a unique club that was established in to help the pupils to know their rights and responsibilities as young consumers and invaluable parastatal of the government.

    He stressed the need for people to remain healthy and strong, as there is need for people to distinguish between healthy and harmful items.

    On her part, the teacher in charge of Consumer Protection Fan Club (CPFC), LEA primary school in Angwandodo, Mrs. Ogu-Chinma Chinyere, said consumer protection fan club was created out of passion for young consumers, whom they feel should be able to know their rights and responsibilities, so as to protect them from being unduly taken advantage of some manufacturers and producers.

    Chinyere said such knowledge will help them to be able to identify and avoid substandard products and services, that humble assertion has been proven right by the recognition of the club by consumer protection council.

    According to her, it has made members of the club to share information about things they have learnt amongst people in their immediate environment, saying that their young consumers have also been taught about their rights and responsibilities as consumers, how to check their BB (Best Before), PD (Production Date) and BN (Batch Number) and how to shop and make complaints about defective and expired production.

     

  • Stop victimising teachers, says APC

    Stop victimising teachers, says APC

    All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has accused Governor Ayodele Fayose of victimising teachers, who are perceived enemies of his administration.

    The party said victimising a section of the populace on the basis of partisan sentiment is not a mark of dispassionate leadership.

    Reacting to reports of selective transfers of some teachers to remote communities, APC’s Publicity Secretary Taiwo Olatubosun said such action by the governor was an abuse of power.

    “We are worried that shortly after he was sworn in, Fayose started marking down all the ‘enemy-teachers’ he perceived as not supporting him, for punishment. What we have now is taking authority to transfer teachers from the Teaching Service Commission and placing it in the hands of his Special Assistant on Internal Security, who goes around schools pointing those to be transferred and telling them the reasons for that punishment,” Olatubosun said.

    APC spokesman also accused the governor of alleged plans to downsize the state work force after election promises to enhance workers’ welfare and provide jobs for the youth. He said it was callous to plan retrenchment of workers after refusing to pay their two months salary.

    His words: “We now know the reason why the governor called workers to a meeting at Ekitiparapo Square where he told them that it would be difficult to pay their salaries starting from March.

    “The question is, what is the governor doing with the allocations and savings made through cuts in running grants, sacking of permanent secretaries and abolition of social security scheme for the elderly, traffic management agency and Peace Corps running into millions of naira, particularly as he runs a lean government of a four-member cabinet

    “Ekiti workers have now seen through the tricks of the man who calls himself the friend of workers. We warned the workers against supporting a man who would take them to the black market.

    “As seen in the Ekiti election rigging tape, the world now knows how the governor got his purported victory after which he rallied workers to defend a fraudulent and illegitimate victory. He is now punishing the same workers with unpaid salaries, punitive transfers and plans to retrench.”

  • ‘Motivate your wards, parents, teachers told’

    It was not just fun galore for  parents and teachers of  Doregos Private Academy at  the school’s prize giving day, but it was a time to remind them  of their roles in the lives of the pupils.

    As they gathered to celebrate at the programme which was part of the activities to commemoration the school’s 25th anniversary, the parents and teachers were advised to cooperate as they complement each other in the upbringing of the child.

    The Chairman of the occasion, Mr Ezekiel Ejidele, who gave the advice in his remarks said:  We are expected to assist, guide, pilot and encourage as well as motivate our children towards realising their full potential. We all know that appreciation is the feeling of happiness that we get the moment we realise we have done something good.  Even when they (students) are failing, you need not to hammer on their weaknesses but try to encourage them; they can do better. We need to appreciate them when they perform well but we need to appreciate them the more when they are failing. That which they think is impossible; we must always assure them that it is possible with minimal implemental effort”.

    To boost their morale, Ejidele said teachers and parents should compliment pupils’ efforts by using such words like “well done, thank you, you can do better, I am proud of you. These words as simple as they appear could motivate our pupils to wanting to do more”.

    He noted the performances of the prize winners serve as encouragement to both parents and the school and urged the non recipients to work harder.

    Corroborating the chairman’s speech, Mr Babatunde Babalola, a professor of Educational Management, University of Ibadan, who spoke on the theme “Learning for Sustainability”, said education should not be restricted to school as learning starts from home.  Therefore, he said the home has a basic responsibility to play. He explained that there are dynamics of teaching which is evolving and encouraged the school to be technologically alert in its teaching process. He however warned that teachers, pupils as well as school administrators should recognise their boundaries and responsibilities to make learning sustainable.

    The highlight of the event was the presentation of prizes to 94 pupils and 33 members of staff as well as the inauguration of the school’s science laboratory and tuck shop.

    Inioluwa Ejidele, who is the school’s ambassador for SS2 Class, attested that motivation from his parents has really helped him.

    I have always been lagging behind in Maths and English. My parents supported me by giving me private tutor aside the ones in school.  I receive home lessons at 8pm; at times my tutor sleeps in my house and by three to four in the morning, we tackle mathematics.  My Mum has really been by my side, every time she wakes me up, or keep alarm clock by my side.  At times she sits down with me and we study together.  My Dad is another source of encouragement to me. The presence of my Mum here is the major reason of my happiness today.  Her efforts truly have not been in vain”.

    On his part, Mr Ejidele said he relates with his son like his friend.

    “He is more like a friend to me; I don’t see him as a son. We are very close; we talk intimately. There are certain things I share with him that even his Mum does not know.  He has a big dream so we are always there to encourage him.  He knows how to manage his time.  At times when he feels he has disappointed himself as a friend I support him,” he said.

    Another prize winner from the JSS1 category, with 28 prizes, Bello Abubakar  fondly called ‘professor’ said he is a strong advocate of hard work and through the effort of his teachers and parents he has been able to abide by it.

    Mr Benardino Doregos, Executive Director of the school, said the occasion was an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of pupils and members of staff as well as parents who have contributed to the progress of the school.

     

  • N1.6bn salary arrears raises anxiety among Kogi teachers

    There is disquiet among Kogi State teachers over unpaid salaries, close to two months into 2015.

    The Kogi State government has put unpaid salaries of teachers for the months of November and December last year at N1.6 billion.

    While teachers’ salary indebtedness in the 21 local councils is about N1.4 billion, another N321 million is outstanding for the November 2014 teachers’ salary.

    One of the teachers, who confided in our correspondent, said: “My colleagues are not happy, nobody is happy. Let me ask you how many people will head SUBEB before we get to see the light of day. They just have to fulfil their promises to us. We can’t take promises to the market.”

    Findings show that the last Interim Management Committee under Stephen Akawu, which was put in place by Governor Idris Wada to oversee the activities of the State Universal Basic Education Board(SUBEB), left office without paying teachers’ salary in at least three local governments.

    Under Akawu’s successor, Mallam Nuhu Ahmed, the number of local councils rose to five (Okene, Omala, Ofu, Ajaokuta and Olamaboro).

    Reacting to the development, Ahmed, who assumed office on January 15 this year told The Nation that teachers will begin to get bank alert beginning from this week.

    He said the board in conjunction with the government is working hard to offset the amount. He assured that teachers would be paid their January salary this week.

    He said the aforementioned five local councils are still owed November salary, while all the 21 council areas are yet to be paid December salary.

    Akawu said though, the board is working with finance experts to ensure that no teacher is left unpaid; nonetheless, he noted that teachers may not be paid their full salary owing to the dwindling allocation from the Federal Government.

    “I will not want a situation where some teachers will be paid while others will not.  We are working to ensure that all teachers are paid, even if it means that they will not collect full pay,” he said.

    He pleaded for patience on the part of the teachers, saying everything is being done to ensure that they are promptly paid.

    Praising teachers for their understanding, he stressed that the government is working very hard to make life better and more meaningful for them.

     

  • Kwara trains teachers on CBT

    To arrest mass failure among pupils in computer-based testing (CBT), the Kwara State government has trained scores of secondary schools teachers across the state on CBT dexterity. The teachers are to in turn impact same knowledge on their respective pupils.

    Executive Director, Easi-Prep Nigeria Limited and consultant to the state Ministry of Education on CBT training, Babs Iwarere, spoke to reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, at the end of the week-long exercise.

    Iwarere said: “We discovered that in public schools teachers have not been introduced to computer-based testing and you find out that these students when they graduate encounter problems in writing their Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), which is now computer-based, used for admission into tertiary institutions.

    “Regardless of the institutions, prospective students have to pass through some pre-admission tests. So, it is necessary that teachers are introduced to these computers so that they can prepare their students adequately for this exercise.

    “Now, we have selected teachers from all the junior and secondary schools across the state. They are about 744 government-owned schools in all.

    “The response from the state ministry of education has been tremendous. The participants after every exercise have been allowed to assess the training and the feedback has been very fantastic. It is encouraging and participants welcome it as a development for them. We are recommending it to other states of the federation particularly government schools.”

    Deputy Director, Information Communications Technology in the state ministry of education, Alhaji Hameed Yinusa, noted that the 21st Century education is drifting towards digital.

    His words: “It (education) has gone digital and if we don’t start with our secondary school students they will not be able to cope when they get to higher institutions. Education is categorised into what we call teaching, learning and assessment. We have to teach digitally and students must learn in digital way, otherwise they will not be able to do the assessment.

    “We are starting in a way that a teacher is being sent from each junior and senior secondary school to the training which is done in the three senatorial districts of the state.”

    A Senior Secondary School teacher from Guasara, Baruten Local Government Area, Musa Halilu, said of the exercise:

    “I happen to be one of the participants of the programme. I am happy to be called to attend the training exercise. I have seen the usefulness of the programme, which will help to train students under us,” he said.

    He urged government to complement the gesture by deploying computer tests in schools.

     

  • Lagos teachers to bid farewell to registers, broadsheets

    The days of taking attendance and entering examination scores into broadsheets manually may be over for teachers, thanks to a software developed by Applied Services (APPSERV), an IT solutions firm that manages the Lagos State Government Education Management System (LASGEMS).

    The new software application allows teachers to generate e-report cards and do a variety of other administrative tasks online.

    APPSERVE organised a train-the-trainers workshop for private school teachers on how to use the application last week at the Martinos event centre located in the Central Business District (CBD), Alausa, Lagos.

    LASGEMS was created in 2005 to generate a database of primary and secondary schools (both public and private), teachers, bio-data and school records of pupils as well as their parents to provide government with the data to plan.  The new initiative is expected to boost the effectiveness of the LASGEMS database.

    In an interview with APPSERV Managing Director, Mr Yomi Erogbogbo, during the training of teachers from Education District I, he said with the application, teachers would do away with manual registers, input their examination records faster, and get the results collated easier.

    He explained that many teachers can input scores at the same time; and once the result is ready, it can be printed, emailed to parents or the summary sent by SMS.

    Erogbogbo said: “It is now fully computerised i.e. the school attendance, submission of scores are now done online whereby schools can do away with their manual registers.  And the system inputs all the scores and produces all the reports automatically.  It has automated the process for producing the end of term report cards; the broadsheet; school attendance issues; and they can communicate with parents online by email and text messages.

    “It is of high value to parents.  If your report card cannot be found; if it is lost, schools can always reproduce it.  It is a permanent lifetime record.”

    After last week’s workshop, Erogbogbo said participants are expected to train teachers and school managers in their various schools.  He said APPSERV has provided dedicated servers for training and urged the teachers to take advantage of them.

    Save for providing internet access for teachers to input data using computers or internet-enabled phones, Erogbogbo said migrating their school records online would not cost schools so much to do.

    “Schools just need internet connectivity.  You can use your phone or laptop.  Anybody, who is a school teacher, anybody who owns a school, if you have a private school and you do not have a laptop, I do not think such person is serious about business. What is the cost of internet bundle?  Not that you are only using it for LASGEMS; it is your existing resources you are using.  If there is advancement in technology and you cannot apply it to improve yourself, it is a problem,” he said.

    Over 100 teachers from private schools in Education District I attended the training.  While some teachers commended the initiative, others, particularly those whose schools have not integrated the use of technology into administration, complained about the process being tedious.

    For instance, while Mr Femi Aborisade a Mathematics teacher at Adegoke High School, Agege, said he likes the use of technology to generate e-report cards, he complained that it is not feasible to use the online platform to mark attendance.

    “When you talk of manual, it is still better because it is what we do everyday – taking attendance.  However, it wont be easy going online to record attendance between classes.  The report card part is okay.  What I like mostly about that is getting it done and sending it to parents.  It is an advancement of technology,” he said.

    On the contrary, Mrs Olabisi Olaleye of Taqwa Private Schools, Ifako, Agege, described the initiative as laudable.  She said her school uses a similar platform, which needs to be upgraded with some things she learnt from the workshop.

    “We have a database where we manage all students.  So, it is just that when you go out you learn more.  With this one, I have learnt what you have to do to update on our own system.  What I just want to implore private schools is that they should adopt it because it is a good thing that will bring a lot of relief to teachers. It will relief teachers of the stress of writing, which consumes most of their time and affects teaching and learning,” she said.

     

  • School where pupils pay teachers’ salary

    School where pupils pay teachers’ salary

    Have you ever imagined a scenario where pupils of primary schools pay teachers’ salary? That is the situation in a yet-to-be-approved Government Primary School in Ijoko, Ogun State. It is usually interesting to hear government officials say that education is free in Nigeria, especially at the primary level and the most important section as it is. How true is this saying?

    For several reasons ranging from Community Development Association’s (CDA) inability to further maintain facilities (rented building and provision of Chairs and textbooks in some cases) and to manage both teachers’ and pupils’ needs, to their inability to erect a structure suitable for government approval, the school has changed locations for about 4 times.

    What now poses as St. Saviour Primary School Olayemi Annex, Oluke Tuntun, Ijoko, Ogun State, used to be United Community Primary School, established in 2005 by the collective effort of the members of Olorundusin (Fadunsin) CDA, area of Ijoko.

    However, the farther the school goes the more or less accessible it became for some pupils, and some hopes to attend primary school were dashed. At Basic (Primary) 6, the pupils are merged with an approved school for placement into Basic 7 (Junior Secondary School 1) at the nearest Government Secondary School.

    Government at all levels calls it Free Education but Pupils of St. Saviour Primary School, Olayemi pay N600 while their colleagues in the yet-to-be-approved annexe pay N1600. This is because, at the yet-to-be-approved annexe, pupils pay N500 for teachers’ salary and N500 for the school building. The other N600 supposedly paid to the government, is N300 for maintenance and N300 for insurance from the government. What then is free? This is obviously not peculiar to St Saviour; it seems to be the culture in Ogun State.

    For new intakes in an unapproved school like St. Saviour Annex, the story is slightly different. They pay N2200. This is the regular levy of N1600 plus N100 for a chair and N500 for government approval of the school. Only God knows how long this payment for approval will last before nature smiles on them.

    The said N600 supposedly paid to the government is per session since its introduction until early 2014 when pupils now pay every term, which now amounts to N1800 per academic session in an approved school and N4800 for the yet-to-be-approved school pupils. Maybe the cost of insuring and maintaining these pupils has increased.

    Meanwhile, the curriculum at primary school level is expected to provide a permanent literacy for children from ages 3 and 5, including pre-primary. It also extends to the laying of a sound basis for scientific, critical and reflective thinking, inclusive of equipping children with the core life skills to function effectively in the society. It could not have been otherwise, that is what makes it a primary education to human existence anyway.

    St. Saviour Oluke annexe has tried to do just that for about 9 solid years now. This poor to-be-public primary school, in its unapproved form, has continued to produce primary school graduates, laying a questionable foundation.

    After going through hell, the school now has a structure of four classrooms, which is one of government’s requirements to approve a school as fit to offer public primary education. Just as the Basic 6 pupils occupy a classroom that also doubles as office due to the inadequacy of classrooms, the pupils of Basic 1 also occupy a classroom out of the four classrooms available. On the contrary, Basic 2 and 3 share one classroom, while pupils of Basic 4 and 5 also share a classroom. All these are efforts of the children of the masses to acquire education by all means.

    It is, therefore, logical to best describe this kind of education as cheap and not free education. If the government does not know what it is doing, the citizens know.

    It is pertinent for government to want to revive public primary education in Nigeria. If it would remain free as claimed, it does not have to be with bad structures and ill administrative systems. Students of public schools also deserve some dignity and sense of satisfaction for attending government schools. It is expected that whatever government does should be at its best. However, many Nigerians, home and abroad have lost hope in the governmentet, there are few who believe that government can and would attend to the very needs of the citizenry, giving rise to out of school children in the country.

    See infographics below:

     

    Thus, schools should be often rehabilitated and equipped with up-to-date facilities including white boards, markers and library, as well as qualified manpower to mention but few. In the light of that, fresh graduates could be employed in classrooms to both reduce unemployment and rescue government schools. Most of these graduates after National Youth Service often end up teaching in private schools with a stipend in the name of salary. These, undoubtedly will help reposition primary education again in Nigeria.

    As vital as it is to equip and manage schools, it is even more important for government to build enough schools across every settlement to overcome the risk of overpopulated few available schools and or the risks of pupils travelling more than 3 kilometers to school. More so, one of the supposed reasons why private schools seem to do much better is because teachers do not attend to too many students which may bring about a hostile teachers-students relationship. One teacher to 20-25 students is not bad. Also important is the need for re-orientation of teachers about their relationships with students.

    On the whole, rewards and certificates of recognitions or of honours often boost worker’s will-power to do more at work. Teachers should not be left out of such appropriate motivations and reward for extra efforts to improve the learning of pupils. Education is light as knowledge is power. In the voices of the children of Nigerian masses, government should do the needful to boost the ego and will-power of teachers to improve education.

    No sooner than these and many other reforms are effected, education will be revived in the country again and the future can be promising.

  • Orji assures teachers, artisans, others on welfare

    Abia State Governor  Theodore Orji has  assured teachers, artisans and professionals  of the protection of their welfare, saying it remains one of the priorities of his administration.

    Speaking at a parley with heads of primary schools and National Union of Teachers NUT), integrated trade groups and Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists (NASSI) in the state in Umuahia, Orji said that welfare of every worker was important.

    The governor promised that he will not toy with the interest of the groups, saying that he once taught for six months before venturing into the civil service.

    He said he was on the same pedestal with teachers.

    He also said that whatever concerns teachers and the various other groups in the state are of paramount concern to him and attributed the downturn in the economy as hampering some of his plans for them.

    Orji said that he showed his love for teachers in the state by promoting them to the next grade level on assumption of office and ensuring that they reach grade level 17 something he said is peculiar to Abia State alone.

    The governor urged the teachers to bear with his government as it has their interest at heart and advised them not to listen to the opposition which he said has nothing to offer.

    He said that the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu who is a teacher will continue from where he will stop and correct whatever mistake he (Orji) may have made in office.

    Earlier, the Abia PDP governorship candidate, Dr. Ikpeazu who said that every teacher in the state would retain his job if he wins and promised to provide the enabling environment for teachers and pupils to excel.

    Speaking at the occasion, the state Chairman, Association of Primary School Head Teachers of Nigeria, Comrade Ekweghiam Christian pledged that the teachers will support the PDP but appealed to the governor to address some of their needs.

    In her speech, the Dean of Education Secretaries, in state, Mrs. Elizabeth Uhuegbu noted that teachers welfare have received great boost under Governor Orji, maintaining that it is under him that all teachers were promoted to the next grade level.

    Uhuegbu said that teachers now enjoy level 17 and promised that teachers in the state are happy with the governor and will support the candidature of Dr. Ikpeazu and other PDP candidates from state to national levels.

     

  • Teacher’s joy as LIRS fetes essayists

    Teacher’s joy as LIRS fetes essayists

    Going by the way he danced, Mr Segun Shopekun of St Jude Private School, Festac Town, could have been mistaken as a recipient of the tax compliance award presented by Governor Babatunde Fashola at the 8th Annual Taxation Stakeholders’ Conference organised by the Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS).

    But that was not the case. It was his pupil, Joy Ekpuka, who won the first prize in the senior secondary category of the LIRS Secondary School Essay Competition.

    Though Shopekun would not get anything out of the prize money, which was a N250,000 scholarship for his lucky pupil, the English teacher sang joyfully an old school song that blared from the speakers at The Haven, Ikeja, venue of the event.

    He told The Nation that he was excited about producing the winner for the first time.

    “I am so excited because it is the Lord’s doing.  We put in so much hard work and I thank God for crowning our effort with success,” he said.

    Shopekun said the school presented two pupils, who were shortlisted for the defense stage during which the writers did an oral presentation.  One of them emerged winner.

    “The students wrote the essays by themselves.  All we did was to edit.  The defense was tough, but I thank God.  I never expected we will win because it was competitive,” he said.

    In an interview, the 15-year-old Ekpuka affirmed that she wrote the essay by herself and learnt a lot in the process.

    She said: “When I was called out, I felt very happy.  I felt like crying.  It took me four hours to write the essay.  Nobody guided me.  I was on my own.  I learnt a lot.  I learnt that along the years that the amount of internally-generated revenue has drastically increased by billions. I got to know about the Mega City project; about the Ikoyi Bridge. I didn’t know these things before if not for the fact that I researched for the essay.”

    Although she did not make the first or second place, second runner up in the junior secondary category, Mercy Olatubosun, said she was happy about her performance, which was boosted by the essay defense held in December.

    Olatunbosun, a JSS3 pupil of Eletu Odibo Junior Secondary School, Lagos Island, said: “I was not expecting to win because they arranged us according to how we did in the essay for defense.  So I was the fifth.  Coming third showed that if I did not put effort in my defense I would not have made it.”

    Other winners in the junior category were: Esther Oludotun of Itire Junior Secondary School (first) and Aisha Raji of Al Tanzeel Primary and Secondary School (second). They won N250,000 and N200,000 each and computers for their schools.

    In the senior category, Ololade Afolabi of Isolo Comprehensive Senior Secondary School and Theresa Ibrahim of Surulere Senior Secondary School were first and second runners up.

    Chairman of LIRS, Mr Tunde Fowler, said pupils from 310 secondary schools (70 per cent public and 30 per cent private) were involved in the competition.

    He described all the finalists as winners.

    Topics of the essays were: “Discuss the various sources of revenue available to African countries, highlighting the best that will guarantee sustainable development”; “What role should oil revenue play (in relation to tax revenue) in the development of Nigeria in the next 10 years”; “What is the relationship between tax revenue and employment.”

  • Law teachers to present directory

    Barring last minute hitches, the Nigerian Association of Law Teachers (NALT) will present the maiden edition of its membership directory during its forthcoming conference.

    The directory will serve as a historical document and  help to eliminate the incidence of impostors among members.

    A statement by the President of the Association, Prof E. Smaranda Olarinde, who is the Provost of the College of Law, Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), Ado-Ekiti, said: “Beginning from this year, 2015, the NALT will be producing a directory of institutions where Law is taught or researched in Nigeria. This directory will also profile Law Lecturers and Researchers in Nigeria to serve not only historical purposes but also reference purposes.

    “The non availability of such data has made it easier for persons not connected to law teaching or research, to impersonate and or derive benefits, which otherwise was for law teachers and researchers. For example, in the past some non academic got SAN-ship under academic group, while a few persons have held themselves out as possessing chairs in law which they did not have.

    “To enable this to be done within the shortest possible time, and ensure the availability of the directory at the forthcoming NALT Conference this year, you are requested to:

    “Provide a Comprehensive list of members of Academic Staff on your Staff list in Alphabetical Order (Surname, other names); Academic status, nature of employment(Full time or Contract); This list should include those on sabbatical, Study leave/leave of absence (if it is certain they will return to their posts).

    “This list should be sent in Microsoft Word to  nalt2015@abuad.edu.ng, not later than the 15th of April 2015. Your Institutional Listing will only be completed when your payment for institutional membership is received. Therefore, please ensure that your institutional membership fee of N25,000  is received before the cutoff date.

    “Also send one page information on your institution/programme where applicable. This page should include a photo of your faculty or institution, its brief history and the current administration.

    “Only institutions in good financial standing as at April 15,  2015 will be included in the directory which will be distributed at the NALT Conference in May/June.”