The Nation Newspaper

Tag: University

  • University for the Deaf?

    The report that the Federal Government has reached an agreement with Gallaudet University in the United States for the establishment of a University for the Deaf in either Abuja or Ogun State is a pointer to the fact that slowly but surely, the government is thinking about the education of the hitherto neglected segment of the Nigerian population, the deaf. They constitute a sizeable number of the Nigerian population that have individually tried to paddle their own canoe amongst the able bodied.

    The Gallaudet University is a federally chartered private university for the deaf and hard of hearing that was founded in 1864 initially as a grammar school for both blind and deaf children, and named after the founder, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. It is officially bilingual with American Sign Language and written English as means of instruction.

    What it means then is that over the past 155 years, the school has developed and produced worthy alumni. The school is the only one of its type globally. However, while we appreciate the effort of the government and the National Association of the Deaf to cater for the deaf by the establishment of the university, we belief that it might be a tad too premature and might prove very challenging equipping such a university that would be optimally valuable to both the deaf in particular, and the country in general.

    Nigeria has large populations of both the physically and mentally challenged that have been neglected over the years unlike their counterparts in the developed world. There is a huge number of the blind and those with physical disabilities and different grades of mental disabilities like autistic children and those with either cerebral palsy and down syndrome. We expect that the priority of the Federal Government should be an all-inclusive care and concern for all those with disabilities through policies and social re-orientation of a population that is largely fatalistic about disabilities in ways that the stigma and exclusions these groups suffer would be addressed comprehensively, to make them maximally productive and happy to be alive.

    At the moment, there are very few disabled people that are able to fully access education as most people, especially parents, believe such disabilities are spiritual punishments and as such they are left to fend for themselves through either begging or doing other menial jobs. The government can make their lives matter through deliberate policies and their implementation, as they are just as hungry for life and ready to contribute to national development.

    A dedicated university for the deaf in the country at the moment is a bit premature as the needed infrastructure and human capital are not in place. The deaf need professionals in sign language and the number in the country cannot be enough to pull through at a tertiary level at this time. Recruiting these professionals from other countries that have invested in their training might not be economically rewarding at this point of the country’s economic crisis.

    In the alternative, we recommend that while the country puts the establishment of the university in a future to-do-list, the immediate focus should be first to re-orientate the population to accept the physically and mentally challenged, make more policies and laws that would protect them, or if the existing ones are enough, see to a better implementation to impact fully on the targets. There ought to be laws compelling all town and building planners to create special stairways, walkways and dedicated car parks for the physically challenged.

    The government can equally subsidise the education of the physically challenged, including the deaf, and award scholarships to the talented ones, either academically or for other vocational studies that can equip them to earn a living for themselves rather than being dependent on parents or the larger society that treat them with some sense of caution because of a misbegotten cultural belief system .

    We commend the conception of the idea for a specialised university for the deaf but we feel that there is a reason the Gallaudet University is the sole such university in the world, given the enormous resources such an institution requires. Such an institution in Nigeria might turn out a white elephant project given the infrastructure and other logistical requirements to run it. We see how well we are running our regular universities. Such mindset does not show we are ready for specialised university like that for the deaf.

  • The First ever soccer festival held for Inner City Kids At the Winnipeg University

    The Grassroot Soccer Festival is one of FIFA’s programs that is designed to introduce as many boys and girls in the world of soccer. The one-day event focuses on both boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 13. As a way of integrating people, the festival involves as many children without discrimination of colour, ethnicity or religion.

    If you are into online sports betting in Nigeria, you would know that it is little developments like these that can make a big difference to the nation’s prospects later on. Targeting kids ensures that the next generation is better, and can compete successfully on the world stage.

    About the Soccer Festival

    It was a sigh of relief when the Grassroots Soccer Festival was held this past Saturday at the Winnipeg University. The festival saw over 80 kids who participated in the event. The children got a chance to showcase their relevant soccer skills in the event. There were trained coaches who helped out the kids develop their skills.

    The festival was organized jointly by the Manitoba Soccer Association(MSA) and the Spence Neighborhood Association. The MSA is a member of the governing body of the Canadian Soccer Association and has been holding Grassroots Soccer Festival around for the past years. However, this was the first time the festival was being held in Winnipeg. The aim was to bring soccer to young kids who live in the inner parts of the city. The kids were given a chance to experience the beauty of soccer, in an aim to kindle interest in the sport.

    What Did the Kids Love?

    The Saturday event had a wide range of different activities. The kids had the opportunity to use this event as a platform to showcase their abilities. Everyone had a chance to participate, and that is why the event split kids into different age and skills. MSA picked the most talented players for its higher level programs.

    The MSA has been preparing for the 2020 Manitoba games since 2017. They are using these festivals as a chance to identify players with the potential to play in the games. For the residents of Winnipeg, this was their first time to get involved in such a festival and be part of the Manitoba games.

    The Challenges and What Lies Ahead

    Although the festival was a success, there were challenges that were experienced by the organizers. The availability of finances was one of the major problems. For any event to run successfully, finances have to be readily available. But inadequate finances limited the number of kids that could get involved in the festival. Transportation was also another problem. But at the end of the day, the event was a success.

    MSA is positive that in the future more kids can get involved in the festival. Thus they will be involved in the MSA program. If soccer is to be a factor that integrates people together, then the Grassroots Soccer Festival is a driving force towards this goal.

     

     

  • Technical University as a game changer – (II)

    I now come to one of the seemingly knotty areas about Tech-U. Since the publication of our fee structure on our website, a few members of the public have expressed deep reservation. For these people, our tuition and charges are outrageous. In fact, some want to simply send their wards here without any financial responsibility on their part. Sincerely, we appreciate the varied sentiments expressed in response to our fees.

    However, some essential facts must be made known here.

    First, let it be clear that the disclosure of our fees upfront must be seen as a sign of our commitment to running an open system. We think it is sensible to carry the general public along in our operations. It helps us more to stay true to our course. We do not intend to provoke any ill-feeling in the general public with the publication of our fees.

    Second, Tech-U tuition at N400, 000 per session is not outrageous or prohibitive. Yes, the university is established by the Oyo State government. The truth is that it is not managed by the state government. The undergirding principle behind our operation is that we are a public university with a private sector orientation. We are set up to be self-sustaining in the long run. Government support and funding for us have an exit plan.

    To be sure, the great universities of our world that many desire are not run singularly by or with big government funds. They charge fees and depend on funding from their alumni bodies, wealthy individuals, and corporations. If we want Tech-U to survive, operate efficiently, deliver on the kind of training we promise, avoid strikes (one of the banes of higher institutions in our clime), and maintain a high degree of academic standard, it is inevitable that we charge differently from what obtains in public universities. I guarantee the Nigerian public that Tech-U is a university where parents and investors will get value for the money spent there.

    Conversely, those who bid us to charge like public universities do not pay attention to the ironic contradiction that subsists in those institutions. A high number of the materials used by students in those institutions of learning are provided by parents. Those institutions are not as free as people think. Charges for all kinds of things that should be available free exist. The irony is that it is where you think your charges have been subsidised or you are absolved of them that you even pay more. That is the ironic reality of public institutions in our country today!

    At Tech-U, we did our research across public and private universities before we arrived at the tuition and other charges we have prepared. There are many private universities whose tuitions and charges are much higher than ours. Besides, STEM programmes are cost-intensive. It is either you commit the right funds into them and get good results or you commit below what is required and manage the less than commendable outcomes.

    We wish to assure all parents and organisations which have elected to send their wards and children here that they will be glad at the end that they made this choice. And for those who are still thinking of sending their children abroad, we wish to ask them to reconsider that plan. At Tech-U, we guarantee the very quality they seek abroad.

    Third, we should like to clearly emphasise the point that Tech-U is not an institution for a select segment of the Nigerian society. In other words, an apartheid system has no place here. Everybody and anybody who has the requirements to be admitted is free to come. More importantly, among those already offered admission to study at Tech-U are children of those who have long been bothered about whether they would even have the money to send their children to the supposedly free public universities.

    Special note must be made of how we have, ab initio, put a lie to the claim of Tech-U being a learning space for the few stupendously wealthy citizens of our country. We have in place a scholarship arrangement known as Tech-U Scholarship Scheme. Three students from each of the 33 Local Government Areas in Oyo State were admitted to this university through this scheme.

    We just did not ask the LGAs to provide these students. We asked each of them to nominate 10 qualified students who meet our requirements. We specifically requested as a condition that all of the 10 students must have graduated from public secondary schools; are indigenes of the LGAs; wrote the last UTME and scored at least 160; and have at least credit in English Language, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, and either Biology or Agricultural Science. This is how we can really reach the underprivileged segment in the state. We subjected all of them to a competitive process (Computer-Based Test) which aligns with the culture of excellence and quality that Tech-U uncompromisingly favours. From this competitive process, we picked the best three candidates from each LGA and recommended them to the state government for scholarship. Those successful ones constitute a consequential number of the students we are taking off with in January 2018. As such, we have a university that provides a level-playing field for the privileged and the less privileged in and outside Nigeria, as well as a state government which privileges education for development.  Tech-U does not subsidize the rich and continues to make effort to empower the underprivileged.

    The fourth concluding point under this segment is that some of the items on our fee outlay will only be paid for once. Items like student handbook, tie and scarf, cufflinks, school pin, etc., will be provided for our students till they graduate. When you consider that some of the charges are one-off, it will be clear that bills for subsequent academic sessions will be lighter.

    In conclusion, it is pertinent to aver that Tech-U is set to be a game changer in the education sector of Nigeria. We are set to train youths whose trainings will aid significantly to contribute richly to the socio-economic advancement of Nigeria and other climes. The graduates we will produce will have the confidence of their trainings; will be innovators, creators of jobs, employers, and ultimately builders of society.

    As a society, the economic advancement we are in dire need of cannot be guaranteed by weak, theory-suffused higher education. To industrialise and to compete with the rest of the world, a sound, skill-oriented higher education is inescapably critical.

    To this end, as we welcome our first set of students in January, 2018, we call on companies, industries, wealthy individuals, and committed stakeholders in the higher education emporium for support in every possible way. We have no iota of doubt that the existence of Tech-U is for the wellbeing of humankind. Come on board and let us make this a reality every single passing day!

     

    • Professor Salami is the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of The Technical University, Ibadan.

  • Technical university as a game changer – 1

    The responses of the general public to the affairs of The Technical University (Tech-U), Ibadan, as published and broadcast by different media establishments, have been tremendously encouraging and revealing. Key stakeholders in the education sectors in and out of Nigeria are keenly paying attention to the unique blueprint of transformation we aim to bring about in the education industry of this country. This makes us confident that with willing and supportive partners, all the difficulties on our path will constitute the strength we need to achieve enduring success.

    This piece, an excerpt of the address I gave at the University’s Press Conference held recently, is put together against the backdrop of the arrival of Tech-U’s pioneer students on Sunday January 7, 2018, and the take-off of academic activities. Both developments – students’ arrival and beginning of academic undertakings – signpost for us, a historic watershed in our organised efforts towards making Tech-U fully operational.

    As a matter of fact, between December 2012 when the university was formally recognised by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and August 2017 when the same body accredited its (University’s) courses, a considerable number of issues have been raised by the (non)critical segments of the public.

    Questions and issues of funding and partnerships, tuition, infrastructure, staffing, ownership, and more importantly, the sustainability of the vision of the university have been (and are still being) raised. Some of these questions have been addressed in our courtesy visits to select media houses in Oyo and Lagos states.

    Accordingly, it becomes imperative that a momentous occasion that our commencement of academic affairs represents, with the assumption of the university by students, should be heralded by a piece which provides another good opportunity for the reinforcement of the narrative of uniqueness in training of students and the overall values the university seeks to birth in the higher education sector of Nigeria.

    As it has been noted time and again, Tech-U is an initiative of the current administration in Oyo State under the purposeful leadership of Governor Abiola Ajimobi. The university is neither meant to merely balloon the number of universities as the 38th state university, nor is it one that satisfies the yearning for our very own university that indigenes of Oyo State can don as a badge of pride. Tech-U is established to expand access to university education. Its strategic emergence on the higher education port of our country is meant to, through the painstaking cultivation of a cadre of technical professionals with fitting entrepreneurial skills, frontally combat the mounting plague of youth unemployment in Nigeria. We see a problem whose resolution will improve the human condition in Nigeria and beyond. This aptly summarises our relevance.

    At Tech-U, we privilege an admixture of theory and practical. We are different from a university of technology because of our rich emphasis on employment-preparation skills. Our focus on the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines is informed by the need to provide our young people with the knowledge and skills that are applicable to actual world problems.

    Available statistics lend credence to the fact that ‘the job growth rate for STEM careers is more than 38 per cent and it is growing rapidly’. STEM careers are also known to yield juicy pays. If Nigeria is to have a fighting chance in the world of socioeconomic development, it cannot afford to disregard the kind of human capacity that the STEM disciplines make possible. I dare say that Tech-U is on a mission to use STEM education to secure a better future for our youths and to midwife Nigeria’s economic development.

    Similarly, the lamentation subsists that many of Nigerian graduates are unemployable owing to inadequacies of their trainings. At the point of graduation, a majority of these graduates are considered as not being market-ready. This gap is attributable in part to the apparent lack of entrepreneurial orientation of several academic programmes in the Nigerian University System. Tech-U has a vision to address the employability gaps through entrepreneurial orientation of the average Nigerian youth.

    We are set to provide such quality training that will enable our graduates to be job creators, innovators, and employers of labour. It is for this reason that all students admitted to study here will compulsorily undergo trainings in two vocations selected by them at our Centre for Entrepreneurial and Vocational Studies. In conflating theory with practical, we expect to produce graduates that are demonstrably rounded in knowledge and sound in skills.

    This explains why our motto – developing brains, training hands – is not a seductive catchphrase.  Our vision is that no graduate of Tech-U will go about roaming the street in search of jobs. It is either they are so good that the industries hire them straightaway, or they simply establish their own start-ups.

    Tech-U is taking off with 15 fully NUC-accredited academic programmes. The accreditation of these programmes means that the regulatory body (NUC) is satisfied that we have both the human capacities and the facilities necessary for the admission and training of students.

    Certainly, we are expected to improve more significantly on these amenities and capacitize the institution as it grows. We assure the general public that we are not going to renege on this. And I call on the public and all stakeholder to check on us periodically to monitor our pace.

    I wish to underscore the point that among the 15 courses are some that are relatively new in Nigerian universities. Take cybersecurity for example. We want to be foremost in providing solution to the aches of cybercrimes in all its variegated colourations. You may already be familiar with the extant report that reveals Nigeria as the third country in the world, after the US and the UK, where cybercrime is prevalent. And sometime this year, President Muhammadu Buhari was reported as plaintively noting that Nigeria loses hefty billions of Naira to this notable crime annually.

    Similarly, our Biomedical Engineering seeks to fill the yawning gap evident in the lack of technical-know-how for the repair of high-tech hospital equipment. In our hospitals, it so often happens that when a machine breaks down, it becomes abandoned and a new one is bought. We intend to train the requisite manpower to help stem the tide of abandoned broken hospital apparatuses.

    There are other programmes like Software Engineering and Mechatronics Engineering. With these and other courses, we want to make the idea of university as the bedrock of societal continual development much more realistic.

    • To be Continued

     

    • Professor Salami is the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of The Technical University, Ibadan.
  • Violent protests break out at university after student suicide

    Violent protests break out at university after student suicide

    Violent protests broke out at a university in southern India after a student allegedly committed suicide after she was caught cheating in an exam, officials said Thursday.

    Students from Sathyabama University near the city of Chennai torched furniture of their hostels and held noisy protests overnight, footage on news channels showed.

    Protestors said the student was forced to take the extreme step after university staff humiliated her and sent out of the exam hall.

    On Thursday morning, university officials told local media they had shut the campus down and had asked the students to vacate the hostel.

    “The situation is peaceful and under control now,” Chennai police commissioner AK Viswanathan said.

    “The management has declared a holiday for more than a week up to Dec. 3.

    Most of the students have left the campus for their homes,” he said.

    The 18-year-old student hanged herself in her room and her body was body was discovered earlier Wednesday. Demonstrations broke out as the news of her death spread across the campus.

    Viswanathan said armed police had been deployed at the campus to prevent further violence.

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  • SSANU wants agreement with FG implemented, says don’t blame us for renewed strike

    SSANU wants agreement with FG implemented, says don’t blame us for renewed strike

     The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities ( SSANU ), has given indication of a possible threat to Industrial peace and harmony in the nation’s universities following government refusal to implement agreement it entered into with University based unions leading to the suspension of their strike action recently.

    The union asked the government to take immediate steps to implement the agreement saying the unions should not blamed for a breakdown of Industrial harmony in the universities.

    The union also decried what it called mindless and senseless killings of citizens in the Plateau, Benue and other states across the country by rampaging nomadic herdsmen, and the fact that nobody has been arrested by the security agents thus fueling the touted assumption that these marauders are untouchable and above the law.

    Rising from its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, the union frowns at the recent proclamation of “No work, No pay” by the Minister of Labour and Employment and strongly advises the Minister to play his part in removing those impediments that force unions to embark on strike, observing that Unions do not go on strike without reason. 

    It told the Minister that, rather than threatening workers and taking a belligerent posture, he should ensure that the Nigerian labour environment is more worker-friendly and agreements entered with trade unions, which could precipitate strikes, are respected and honored.

    In a communique the end of the meeting, the union regretted the failure of the Federal Government to implement all the components of the agreements it voluntarily entered into with the University based Unions and ask the government to expedite action on the payment of Earned Allowances as the ultimatum period of October 2017 signed in the Memorandum of Understanding has elapsed. 

    The communique signed by the National President of the union, Comrade Samson Ugokwe and the National Public Relations Officer, Salaam Abdussobura said the implementation of the agreement was necessary to forestall the possibility of resumption of another nationwide strike on the same matter. 

    It said the union should not be held liable if at the end of the day, the Memorandum of Understanding is breached by the Government and the Union is forced to resume its suspended strike to press home its demands.

     It expressed concern over the continued defiance of Government to the judgment of the National Industrial Court which unequivocally pronounced that University Staff Schools are integral part of the University System and condemns in strong terms the prolonged delay in producing the necessary circular specifically directing University administrations to include the staff in the University Staff Schools in the personnel payroll systems of Universities. 

    While commending the President Buhari led Government for its effort in ensuring the early passage of the 2018 Budget, the union lamented with great disappointment, the meager allocation of 7.04 % allotted to the Education Sector, adding that the Buhari administration has not departed from the misplaced culture of giving priority to capital projects at the expense of developing its manpower. 

    It said “If the Nigeria of today is to bequeath a legacy of development for tomorrow, Government needs to get its priorities right by ensuring education receives larger allocations. SSANU NEC expresses its disenchantment with the Budget allocation to education and advises that it is not too late for reviews to be made.”

    It also condemned the continued mindless and senseless killings of citizens in the Plateau, Benue and other states across the country by rampaging nomadic herdsmen, saying “more distressing is the fact that no arrest has been made by the security agents thus fueling the touted assumption that these marauders are untouchable and above the law. NEC therefore urges Government at all levels, to immediately check this ugly development by providing adequate security in affected places, arrest and prosecute the perpetrators in order to avoid reprisals and ceaseless killings.”

    The union also expressed the increased proliferation of universities in Nigeria. NEC, while not oblivious of the problem of access, which has continued to be a serious challenge to the sector, noted that the focus on the establishment of universities should not be on quantity at the expense of quality. 

    It accused the Government of giving licenses to establish private universities to the same individuals who had run public universities aground by the obnoxious policies and strangulation of the universities when they were in government, pointing out that many States that can barely manage and properly fund one university, had been given licenses to establish two, or in the cases of Ondo and Ogun states, even three. The union asked the National Universities Commission and the relevant Committees in the National Assembly, to review the policies of establishment of universities which are being bastardized by the day.

  • Upu to set up university, microfinance bank

    Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), apex body of the Urhobo, has begun moves to set up a university and a microfinance bank for women.

    Speaking to reporters during a visit to the proposed site for the university at Deghele-Elume in Okpe council, Delta State, UPU President General Chief Moses Taiga urged Urhobo sons and daughters to unite.

    The team had stopped briefly at Professor Sam Oyovbaire’s home at Opuraja, where it met Okpe Leaders of Thought, led by Chief Onomigbo Okpoko and President General of Okpe Chief Robert Onome.

    Establishing the oneness of UPU, he said “there’s never been a division. There’s always been one indivisible UPU since 1931, and it shall remain so. Urhobo shall speak with one voice always.”

    Listing achievements of UPU since he assumed office, he said “achievements are a continuous thing. Trying to set up a university is one of them. We are trying to set up a microfinance bank for our women. We are talking to government about upgrading Urhobo College.

    “We want to upgrade Sapele Trade Centre and the trade centre in Ogor. We have also got the government to approve the study of Urhobo in our primary and secondary schools and the government is going to launch it soon.

    “In a short time, we are achieving a lot of things. Uwiamughe, our cultural centre, is being fenced at the moment, and is going to be improved on as time goes on.”

    Speaking on the tour, Prof. Iboje explained the need to investigate before launching the project.

    “We are here to explore possibilities of taking over the place and then we move forward to start the process of establishing the university.

    “The benefit is if we acquire it, we will establish a university here and those who have not been able to go to university because of distance, this one will be close. If you go to the Southwest, you see so many graduates because there are many universities.

    “That is the benefit we are going to derive from having a university close by, where we don’t need to stress on what it will cost to feed somewhere, get accommodation. If you are close to your home, you can become a graduate,” Iboje said.

    The site, with a structure bearing 42 lecture halls, was formerly established for a polytechnic by the state and is donated by the Okpe to UPU.

  • University non-academic staff suspend strike

    University non-academic staff suspend strike

    The two-week strike by the Non teaching staff of Nigerian Universities under the auspices of the Joint Action Committee has been  suspended.

    They embarked on the strike to compel government to implement agreements reached with the union with a threat to resume the action if the government fail to implement the agreement.

    The three non teaching staff of Nigerian universities began an indefinite strike action on Monday, September 11 as a result of government failure to meet their 12 point demands.

    The demands include the non-payment of earned Academic allowances, shortfall in salaries of members, poor funding of universities, non registration of Nigerian Universities Pensions Management Company among others.

    Speaking at a news conference, Chairman of the Joint Action Committee and President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Comrade Samson Ugokwe directed all members to go back to work with effect from Monday, September 25, 2017.

    The union are Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), National Association of Academic Technologists and the Non Academic Staff Union.

    Ugokwe said “The strike by the university based non-teaching unions was indeed avoidable and would have been averted if government had done the needful. Arising from the series of deliberations and engagements, we have once again gone to the drawing board. 

    “The negotiations we have had since the beginning of the strike have developed a template which we hope will be a panacea to the continued conflicts between the university based non-teaching staff unions and the Federal Government. 

    “We have developed an actionable template with specific timeframes to implement salient aspects of the agreement. Based on the foregoing and following exhaustive and extensive consultations with our various union organs, we hereby announce the suspension of the strike action embarked upon by the Joint Action Committee of NAAT, NASU and SSANU, on the understanding that the time lines agreed with the Federal Government on the various issues are met. 

    “We have consequently directed our members to resume work on Monday, September 25, 2017. In one months time, we shall be reviewing the level of compliance with the agreement and shall not hesitate to resume the strike action if government reneges on the agreements reached or delays in any aspects.”

    He said further that: “As responsible Trade Unions, we are not oblivious of the implications and effects of a strike action on Nigerians including the hardships even on us. But when left with no choice and having no options, the strike had to  be embarked upon, having exhausted every other means of conveying our agitations to the powers that be.

    “Our demands were spread over a gamut and diversity of issues bordering on the sustenance and survival of the university system, welfare of our members among others. Our agitations were not selfish but predicated on an overall love for the system and the interests of our members.”

    The unions demands include Non-payment of Earned Allowances to our members, the problem of bad governance affecting the university system, poor funding as against UNESCO recommendations, inadequate infrastructure in universities and abandoned projects, shortfall in payments of salaries and non-implementation of the National Industrial Court (NUC) judgement in respect of university staff schools.

    They are also protesting the non-registration of National Universities Pension Commission (NUPEMCO), non-implementation of CONTISS 14 and 15 for Technologists, problem of lack of adequate teaching and learning facilities in the universities’ corruption in the university system, lack of seriousness in the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/University Unions Agreement and usurpation of Headship of Non-Teaching Units by academic staff.

    Ugokwe said the union’s demand were aggregates of the Unions agreements of 2009 with the Federal Government which they had waited eight years to consummate, adding that the unions had shown understanding, maturity and patience while waiting for government to implement the,.

    According to him. “In January 2017, we embarked on a one week warning strike which was suspended on the strength of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Federal Government. We waited nine months for the consummation of the MOU but observing that our nine month pregnancy was going beyond term, we were forced to induce the pregnancy to ensure that our 12 point agenda baby is born.

    “Following heated engagements and exchanges on the issues in contention, certain understandings were reached on the issues which we hope, given the calibre of people on the Government side, who we assume until otherwise proven, to be honourable gentlemen true to their words, would be realised within the timeframes promised.”

    He said further that the major problem in the nation’s Labour sector was not the lack of agreements, but the actualisation of the agreements, adding that this has been responsible for the prevalence of industrial actions in recent times. 

    He said: “to this end, beginning with the understanding reached early this morning, today, Thursday, 21st September 2017, with the JAC of NAAT, NASU and SSANU, we enjoin Government to respect agreements reached and ensure their compliance. We maintain our principled stand on the dictum “Pacta Sum Servanda” – Agreements entered into must be honoured. This dictum is not restricted to this agreement alone, but any other agreement signed with workers across all sectors.

    “The level of confidence in government by Nigerian workers is indeed poor and highly eroded as workers no longer have trust in policies of government despite the fact that MOU’s and agreements are reached. Government must therefore embark on a deliberate policy of confidence-building, to shore up trust and belief in its activities. This is the key solution to end the spate of industrial actions in the country.”

  • JAMB defends low minimum cut-off marks

    JAMB defends low minimum cut-off marks

    •’Varsities free to admit candidates with higher scores’

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has defended the pegging of 120 as minimum cut-off marks for university admission.

    The decision, which was reached at a stakeholders’ policy meeting in Abuja, has generated controversy with many universities rejecting the marks.

    JAMB’s Head of Information Dr. Fabian Benjamin, in a statement on Monday  in Abuja, said the board would not be deterred and would continue to support policies that would bring Nigeria’s education out of the woods.

    He explained that previous cut off marks were never strictly followed by most institutions.

    Dr. Benjamin said most universities failed to fill their admission quota in the last 10 years.

    The statement reads: “The much trending controversy over the just released cut off marks for 2017 admission exercise by stakeholders at the policy meeting is quite unnecessary.

    “All Heads of tertiary institutions were requested to submit their cut off benchmark to the board which will then be used for the admission. And these benchmarks once determined cannot be changed in the middle of admission exercise.

    “Again, it is necessary to explain that the 120 mark does not in any way suggest that once you have 120 then admission is sure for you. Institutions will admit from the top to the least mark.

    “We are now starting the actual monitoring of adherence to admissions guide lines, cut off marks inclusive. The cut off marks being branded by the public as previous cut off marks were never strictly followed by most institutions.

    “The board will equally ensure that it correct all anomalies existing, especially as regards the powers of institutions to make pronouncements on admissions and other related matters affecting the institutions.”

    According to him, institutions in the past went behind to admit candidates with less cut-off marks, while also accusing some institutions of admitting candidates without JAMB results.

    “Institutions were going behind to admit candidates with far less with others admitting candidates who never sat for JAMB. This act to say the least is very distasteful and damaging to our national data and identity.

    “Unfortunately, the public has been kept away from this fact for such a long time and now that we are saying it the way it is and working to address it, the public is criticising us using non existing parameters that were only announced and not followed.

    “In years past, admissions were done with worst cut off marks. We are determined and ready to correct all these with the 2017 exercise. The Board has designed a Central Admissions Processing System (CAPS) to check back door admission and other unwholesome practices associated with admission.

    “We are sure that the system will bring out the good in us as it will also make provision for candidates to track their admission. This empowers them to raise queries if a candidate they have better scores and other prerequisites are admitted which CAPS will not allow anyway.  This is the inclusiveness and transparency that education needs,” he added.

     

  • Ezekwesili faults 120 cut-off mark for University admission

    Ezekwesili faults 120 cut-off mark for University admission

    Former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili has said that decision of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to reduce the cut off mark for admission into Nigerian universities to 120 was like running a race from top to bottom. 

    According to her, the exam body has outlived the purpose for which it was established.

    Ezekwesili told newsmen in Abuja on Saturday that rather than conduct entrance examination for university admission, JAMB should only be made to play a regulatory role while universities are granted autonomy to conduct their own entrance examinations and determine the quality of students they want to admit and set their own standards.

    While noting that the 120 cut off mark set by JAMB is not ceiling, she stressed that the question to be asked should be whether the floor of 120 is sufficient to give a university the right raw materials to train in other to make them world class human capital. 

    “I will say no and there has to be much more intensity in determining hat the qualification attribute should be and once we do that, it will set us way back to early child education,” she said,  adding that “When I see society screening about this cut off mark they have done, I say you are wasting tears on a symptom. “

    “You need to go to the root of the problem and that means we need to go back to the first phase in education which is early child care, basic education and secondary education which ultimately determine the readiness of our children to university education.”

    She explained that the idea of establishing JAMB was that in a federal system, the government wanted to find a means of equalizing standard and to ensure that you set the bar in a way that brings in everybody. 

    According to her, “What you then have to look at is, does it continue to be relevant as a standard setting mechanism to actually determine who gets to what university and how? I would say not anymore.”