The Nation Newspaper

Tag: teachers

  • LASTVEB partners Nigerite to train teachers

    Ten teachers from the Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB) were taught dry construction at the Nigerite Limited, a building component construction company, last Friday.

    The teachers, drawn from the five Government Technical Colleges across the state, were exposed to the theoretical and practical aspects of dry construction technology, which can be used to complement the wet method in constructing buildings.

    Executive Secretary of LASTVEB, Mr Olawumi Gasper, said the training was a product of the board’s partnership with Nigerite, underscoring the importance of college-industry partnership in Technical and Vocational Education Training.

    He said: “This is part of our college-industry partnership.  Nigerite is a very strong partner for LASTVEB.  Apart from putting together for us structures where we have a centre for construction and building technology at the GTC, Ikorodu, Nigerite has gone further to say there is a need to take the teachers out; for them to have industrial feel; need for them to come and appreciate the recent technology in the area of building construction.

    “It’s all about strong college partnership.  Remember I keep telling us that there is no way we can run technical education without the support of the industry.  We would be deceiving ourselves.  There must be a strong bond with the industry and that is what you’ve seen us do all around.”

    Gasper, an engineer, added that the board intentionally chose 10 young construction teachers to put in place an adequate succession plan when the older teachers retire.

    “We selected the young trainers so, we are starting (to train them); it is a complete reform.  We are not saying the old ones are not good, but we want to get the young trainers, get them properly fit so that these old ones when they hand over, the young trainers would be able to continue,” he said.

    Also speaking, Mr Lanre Ashaolu, Brand Ambassador, Nigerite Ltd, said the skills the teachers would gain from the one-day workshop would enable them better prepare their students for the labour market.

    “This collaboration with LASTVEB is to increase the quality of labour and also serve as train the trainers’ programme.  Because we believe that if the teachers are trained, they will be able to train students in their various government technical colleges.  At the end of the day when those students are empowered, they can gainfully apply their skills in the labour market as solution providers or installers in the dry construction market,” he said.

  • ‘Pay Kogi teachers two-month salary arrears’

    the Kogi State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) yesterday demanded the payment of the September and October salary of teachers.

    NUT Chairman Suleiman Abdullahi, who spoke in Lokoja, the state capital, was reacting to claims by the state Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) that all teachers’ entitlements had been paid.

    Hailing Governor Idris Wada’s pledge to commit N5.4 billion to the development of primary education, Abdullahi said his efforts might  not produce results if teachers’ welfare was not taken seriously.

    He said contrary to claims that teachers had been paid, they were being owed two-month salary and other entitlements.

    Abdullahi said though the striking teachers had resumed, the union directed them to attend classrooms without teaching until their salary arrears are paid.

  • Kano recruits 1000 teachers

    In its bid to ensure qualitative education at the secondary school level, the Kano State government has recruited over 1, 000 teachers to boost teaching, tutorials and instructions in secondary schools across the state.

    According to the Director-General of the state Secondary Schools Management Board (KSSSMB),  Alhaji Habib El-Yakub, the exercise formed part of the measures taken by the government to fill the vacuum created by teachers who had retired or left the profession in search of greener pastures.

    He said government has also concluded arrangements for the recruitment of a second batch of 1, 900 teachers soon.

    “All these efforts are geared towards ensuring that our secondary schools are equipped with qualified and adequate personnel. This is necessary because of the government’s free education policy introduced last year,” he added.

    He said further that the introduction of free feeding and uniforms in primary schools has attracted many parents, who hitherto refused, to enrol their wards in school.

    According to El-Yakub, the government has also recruited computer teachers for each of the 973 secondary schools under the board as part of renewed effort to ensure that pupils are computer literate.

    He said the board is currently in partnership with over 20 private firms, which specialise in  Information and Communication Technology (ICT), to ensure the full take off of ICT centres in all secondary schools in the state.

    “This is also aimed at making sure that all secondary school pupils are computer literate in view of the modern trend,’’ he added.

     

  • The Teachers’ Reckoning

    Once, I attended a wedding where the chairman of the reception was the bride’s primary school teacher

    What time has come again this year, dear reader, when we take time off the disturbing business of Nigerian politics, which is even now beating the drums of ethnic wars, religious wars and other incredibly asinine wars, and foray into something more cheering. It is time once again to don our skirts and sneakers, brush our pompoms and shekere, take our stand by the edge of the playing field and get ready to shake it for that special group of people we celebrate come every October: the teacher. Today is teachers’ day. Huh! Come on, shake that shekere for all teachers!

    What? I can’t hear you. What have they done to deserve it? Now wait a minute here, will you?! I’ll give you many reasons why they deserve it. Just last week, I found myself passing through a Nigerian city where I was shown a house under construction belonging to a senator or a House of representative member – don’t know which. I was told that the house had been under construction for the past one year, with workers working in and on it day and night. Along the way, I also saw many other houses whose architectural designs and constructions defied any particular explanation other than the fancy that says ‘so much money; so little sense’. I just thought: how many teachers can afford that kind of self-indulgence?

    I have always considered that you can always know a politician’s house from every other. One: the typical politician’s house is often big and very obscene. They have things called wind breakers, visitor breakers and all kinds of breakers. Two: they are often impractical. Good thing we do have something called second value here. Many of the houses built now cannot be resold so easily should the need arise. Unfortunately, I’m sure we know those who have conked off as soon as they finished their elaborate edifices. Anyway, when I wondered where all the money could be coming from, I was told that the constituency allowances of our elected politicians meant for community development efforts are often used to develop personal monuments. Again I ask, how many teachers in this country have even those wind breakers to shield their heads?

    At a later forum the same week, I heard a very disturbing story. An elected politician had visited a school where he found that the classrooms were windowless, sandy (because the flooring had scraped off), and bare of any furniture. Worse, the school pupils were in tattered uniforms. He then set off to do something about it: he installed windows, renovated the rooms and furnished them to his satisfaction. He then kitted the pupils properly in new uniforms.

    As the story goes, he returned to a resumed house to face the consequences of his action. He was roundly upbraided by his colleagues for showing them up. Oh yes, said his colleagues, they had heard about his Good Samaritan job. Who sent him? What was he trying to do: make them look bad in the eyes of the public? Didn’t he know that the meaning of that constituency allowance? Constituency allowance, they patiently explained to him only because he was a first offender, is for you and your family. Come next time, they let him know, they would not be so easy on him. Now you know why classrooms are dreary here.

    I am told that Nigeria has become so advanced that the rather advanced enjoyments we normally associate with the more technologically advanced western world, have been brought right to our doorstep. Previously, they said, politicians and other government functionaries used to be taken abroad and introduced to behaviours that signified change in levels. Now, there is no need to go that far. When a politician is elected, I am told, there are bars in nearly every Nigerian state capital where he can be taken to be introduced to the good life. There, he is waited on by all kinds of topless bar maids, in terms of clothing that is. You got it: if it’s in my city, it’s likely to be in yours too; and they are mostly patronized by politicians.

    Now, this is the point. Our schools are suffering because our politicians are too busy acquiring and upping their tastes in buildings, acquisitions and good living to pay attention to state matters. I don’t know about you but I think one of the most tedious jobs in existence is looking after a roomful of two or so year-olds. When I had two-year-olds in my charge, I found myself perpetually holding a cane, my brows met permanently in the middle, and my teeth were bared all the time as I snarled ‘leave that alone,’ ‘get away from there’ from sun up till sun down. It was the classical tale of horror.

    Yet, for this great job, many teachers hardly get paid enough. Even the little they are supposed to get hardly come to them. So, many teachers had to find other ways out to the detriment of their jobs. As I speak, there are states and local governments in this country that still owe their teachers many months in salary arrears. Yet, the politicians that man the posts of every school in Nigeria, right from and right through the governor, senator, representative, assembly man, councilor, etc, are taken care of or take care of themselves in extraordinary ways, even to the good stuff.

    As a tribute to all teachers in this country, I want to tell this story of encouragement. Once, I attended a wedding where the chairman of the reception was the bride’s primary school teacher. The choice, I was told, had been the lovely bride’s. It had been that bride’s way of acknowledging all that the teacher had imparted in her life. The teacher probably earned no more than a pittance, and had no way of knowing that he would not even be forgotten by his charges as soon as they left him to go to secondary school. Yet he did his work well. To his surprise that day, he had not only been invited to the wedding (to show he was not forgotten), he was made the chairman of the reception (to show he was appreciated).

    True, there are teachers who do not do their work well, and they are many. To these we say that there will be a day of reckoning. The teacher’s reward may be in heaven or earth, wherever; but the teacher’s reckoning is always here on earth I assure you. A judge once asked his teacher to sit in his courtroom and write five hundred lines for coming late to her hearing. It was in retaliation. There are some who do their work rather indifferently because they are ill-remunerated; if the children want, let them understand. To such we plead a change of heart. Every effort has its own reward. Believe me, days of chairmanship do come; but our day of reward should meet us worthy of the accolade. There are also teachers who, in spite of their circumstances, still strive to ensure that while their pupils are grasping the teachers’ skirts and their neighbours’ catapults, they also grasp some knowledge. To these we say carry on.

    Today, we pay tribute to teachers the world over for the job they do. If we can pay politicians so much for mixing up and frothing the very air we breathe and turning it to noxious fumes, I think we need to do a rethink on how we remunerate our teachers. Many of them have anxieties about their tomorrow because they cannot feed well or even send their children to school. This is the time to assure them that the country cares. For now, let’s just bring out the shekere and shake it to the deserving ones.

  • Kogi teachers shun work

    Kogi teachers shun work

    Primary and secondary school teachers in Kogi State have vowed not to resume for the 2014/2015 academic session as directed by the government.

    In a statement yesterday in Lokoja, the state capital, the Basic Education Staff Association of Nigeria (BESAN) said teachers would not resume until the unpaid N18,000 national minimum wage is resolved.

    The association called for a stop to the irregular payment of salary to its members and the payment of leave allowance arrears from 2011 till date.

    In the statement, signed by BESAN Chairman Suleiman Adomu, the teachers urged the government to look into promotions without monetary rewards.

    They lamented the devastating effects of infrastructural decay and poor welfare to teachers on the education sector, adding that they won’t resume until the issues are resolved.

    The teachers decried the “incessant, inconclusive and fraudulent screening of workers”, urging the government to release the results of previous exercises.

  • Parents, teachers buy Ebola equipment

    Parents, teachers buy Ebola equipment

    Parents and teachers in Cross River State have acquired equipment worth N6.8 million to help check the Ebola Virus Disease.

    The state Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Eyo-Nsa Itam, saidthe union had bought over 1, 200 cartons of hand gloves worth N1.5 million to be distributed to public schools.

    He said the Parent Teacher Association had raised funds to acquire 350 thermometer scanners at N15, 000 each to  be distributed to schools.

    The cost of the equipment is N5. 25million. The money, he said, would be recouped from pupils, who will pay N200 each.

    The NUT chairman said they were waiting for the government’s approval before schools can reopen.

  • ‘Teachers in mission schools need training’

    Teachers in mission schools must be trained and equipped well to raise godly children.

    This was the submission of the Principal of Christ the Redeemers College, Pastor Antoinette Omo-Osagie, at a breakfast meeting with parents.

    Teachers in mission schools, she said, must be retrained in the content of the Curriculum to enhance the performances of students.

    She attributed the recent dismal national performance in the WAEC examinations to lack of adequate training and motivation for teachers.

    According to Omo-Osagie:  “We should stop blaming students for poor performance rather the school authorities should look inward and organise workshop and training for teachers.

    “If teachers were properly trained, they would be able to teach the students with right materials.”

    She said that teachers must also be professionally qualified and competent in their subjects to make the right impacts.

    The school head explained that due to different assimilation levels among the students, the College has introduced e-learning (tablet) for the students.

    She said that book applications, past questions and national curriculum are in the tablet to enhance learning.

    She noted that there is no child that is not familiar with laptop or computer, we

    She advised parents to cooperate with the school management to bring out the best from the students while advising them against mounting pressure on their wards.

    The mandate of the school, she stated, is to raise godly children that will lead by examples.

  • Ondo APC faults plan to recruit teachers

    Ondo APC faults plan to recruit teachers

    The Ondo State Chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday criticised the move by the government to recruit 2,000 teachers, describing it as a mirage and another way of deceiving the people.

    The party said:”If 2,000 qualified teachers are genuinely recruited in the highly-publicised recruitment plan of the government, and not the usual chicanery, trickery and media propaganda of the Mimiko-led administration, then the Dr Olusegun Mimiko-led administration would have scored a point,  truly beneficial to the people, since inception in February 24,2009.

    “But, what Ondo State people has witnessed, since February, 2009, in the scope of employment and empowerment, are nepotism, discrimination and partisanship. Friends and families of the governor are being smuggled through the backdoor into the state’s Civil Service Commission, while bristling population of the unemployed youths are left in the eternal joblessness by the Mimiko-led administration. Sacking and retrenchment of workers on flimsy excuses are common.

    “Therefore, the people of Ondo State were astonished that a government that has abandoned them for almost six uneventful years suddenly announced its intention to recruit 2,000 teachers. Is this August recruitment a bid to shore up the dwindling popularity of the government?

    “For record purposes, the last time Ondo State people witnessed mass and genuine recruitment into the Civil Service precedes the Mimiko era. Also, the need to boost the Teaching Service Commission with over 10,000 teachers has been at the fore of developmental discourse since 2009.

    “The government has incisive recommendations to this effect, but chose to do absolutely nothing. Why did it take the Mimiko-led administration almost six years to announce recruitment plan, despite the huge revenue allocations to the state?

    “If it takes the government six years to embark on recruitment exercise, how many years will it take the same government to finally get the teachers into the classrooms to teach our children? The mixed feelings that welcomed the recruitment plan from the people of Ondo State is understandable in view of the antecedents of the government.

    “Will this government not give the prospective 2,000 teachers the treatment it gave to the workers in the 18 local governments areas, recruited under Mr Governor’s supervision, through the backdoor, few months to the election in the 2012? Those workers were consequently tagged ghost workers and sacked immediately after the re-election of Mr Governor.”

  • Ondo to recruit 2,000 teachers

    THE Ondo State government has directed the recruitment of 2,000 teachers.

    Commissioner for Information Mr. Kayode Akinmade announced the directive yesterday at a briefing with reporters.

    The Teaching Service Commission is to begin the recruitment immediately.

    The exercise, according to the commissioner, is part of government’s efforts to create employment and improve the state’s standard of education.

    Akinmade said 1,300 university graduates with teaching qualification would be employed.

    He added that 200 National Certificate of Education (NCE) graduates and 500 non-teaching workers would benefit from the exercise.

    The commissioner said application forms are to be obtained online for free.

    An applicant must be of Ondo State origin.

    Akinmade added that quality control system would be adopted in the employment process.

    He said this will include computer based test (CBT), with general paper, core subjects and Use of English as parameters.

    The commissioner disclosed that qualified candidates would be interviewed by TESCOM, which has also been saddled with the responsibility of final selection to be followed by one week induction course for successful candidates.

    He noted that the recruitment drive was designed to strengthen the educational sector at the secondary school level.

    Akinmade said though the state government had since 2009 carried out teaching employment on the basis of consequential vacancies, it embarked on this new recruitment to mop up youths from the unemployment market.

    Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on Education has described the state’s strides in education as deserving of emulation by others.

    The Chairman of the committee, Aminu Suleiman, made the assertion yesterday when he led members of the committee on a visit to Mimiko.

    Suleiman, who said members of the committee were in the state for the 2014 oversight functions to all federal institutions, were thrilled with the level of development not only in education, but other sectors.

    He praised the governor for ensuring that a Federal Polytechnic is sited at Ile-Oluji, the headquarters of Ile Oluji/ Oke Igbo Local Government Area , assuring him that the House would facilitate the effective take off of the institution.

    Mimiko, who thanked the committee for the visit, said it was a deliberate effort by his administration to invest so much in education, with a view to meeting global best practices.

  • Ogun teachers rue excess workload, shortages

    Teachers in Ogun State are complaining. They said they are not only putting in more hours weekly, but also that each of them is doing more than one person’s work.

    They urged the state government to recruit more hands to fill long over-due vacancies created by their retired colleagues.

    The President, Ogun State chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools’ of Nigeria(ASUSS), Dr  Tunde Folarin, made this known in Abeokuta, the state capital at the third quadrennial delegate congress of the union.

    “Teachers unions have warned about excessive workload and complained about staff being put under too much pressure especially at the urban centres.  The department of education of the  BBC runs an annual survey, where a sample of teachers in different types of schools across the globe, including Nigeria keep a diary of their working lives.

    “The last result published in February shows that in 2013 secondary schools principals and teachers  spent an average of 63.3 and 55.7 hours per week working,” he said.

    Folarin warned that the non-replacement of retired principal-generals as well as teachers in public secondary schools in the state would “not augur well” for quality service delivery.

    The Nation gathered that the four Principal-Generals representing the four geopolitical zones of the state  retired a long time ago but were yet to be replaced.

    Contrary to the practice, Folarin said teachers should be recruited yearly to fill vacancies.

    He said: “Unlike Asian countries where teachers are among the highest paid workers, Nigerian teachers are truly a segment of the populace sentenced to hard labour and poor remuneration.

    “The outright neglect of teachers in the scheme of things will not augur well and of course the non-replacement of retired principal – generals in the state is a dangerous path to thread further.

    “Recruitment to fill staff vacancies in the schools is long overdue and it should be done yearly to replenish the system as old hands leave the job.”

    Responding, Governor Ibikunle Amosun, said the state is committed to the interest of teachers, and would address their demands.

    Amosun, who was represented by the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Segun Odubela, said it is not true that there are shortage of teachers in the state’s schools.

    He explained that there are areas that have more teachers compared to pupils’ population.  He said what should be done is for the school managements and the government to come together and identify based on data, places needing refilling and adjustment.

    Odubela assured them that the government would soon replace the retired principal-generals and recruits teachers in core areas.