The Nation Newspaper

Tag: workshop

  • DHL Express plans workshop for SMEs

    Global courier service provider  DHL said it is determined to teach small business in Africa the benefits of international trade.

    To this end, the company is  launching its Growing Beyond Borders entrepreneurial training programme in several Sub Saharan Africa (SSA)  countries this month.

    They include Botswana, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Mauritius.They will be followed by South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Uganda.

    The programme will be expanded to 16 more markets in the region before the end of the first quarter of next year. The programme  is designed to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) understand the economic potential of international trade.

    Managing Director  DHL Express SSA Hennie Heymans  said  the continent is attractive for business expansion. The stable Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecasts for SSA 4.6 percent in 2016 and  five  percent in 2017 coupled with a booming ecommerce sector will create significant opportunities for innovative SMEs to service online-savvy customers.

    “In South Africa alone, the demand for online retail is growing rapidly,” Heymans said, “with significant opportunities existing to create crossborder ecommerce partnerships throughout Africa.”

    A recent report revealed that the majority of South African online shoppers could be cross-border shoppers in the coming years. It also showed that 46 percent already shop outside of South Africa. Similarly, the research shows 30 percent of Nigerian crossborder shoppers have purchased goods from South Africa in the past 12 months.

    While local entrepreneurs are identifying expansion and growth opportunities across Africa, many simply do not have the know-how to capitalise on these, Heymans said.

    “Many SMEs develop a plan to grow their business internationally, but battle to turn this plan into a reality,” he added.

    “Our Growing Beyond Borders program will provide practical guidance on how to make the most out of the opportunities available, and assist SMEs to grow and connect across Sub Saharan Africa.”

    The free workshop will explore new markets, provide guidance on how to find key geographical opportunities for the business’ specific products and services, and how to identify various marketing avenues and ways to build long-term relationships with target customers.

    The event is borne out of the DHL Express Certified International Specialist programme, an internal learning and development platform, which has seen about 4,000 DHL employees in 51 countries in SSA and 100,000 employees globally, receive comprehensive training on the fundamentals of international shipping.

     

  • Council organises workshop for teachers

    The Odi-Olowo/Ojuwoye Local Council Development Area has organised a two-day training workshop for teachers in its domain. The training followed the presentation free General Certificate of Education (GCE) forms to pupils in the area.

    The council’s Executive Secretary, Rasaq Ajala, said the workshop was in fulfilment of the promises made in making education the bedrock of his administration.

    Tagged the 21st century skills for classroom management, Ajala said the programme will ensure that teachers are equipped with 21st Century teaching techniques to enhance their productivity in shunning out pupils who will be good ambassadors and great scholars.

    He said his administration was poised to change the negative perception of youths of the area from every form of hooliganism and cultism.

    The facilitator of the workshop, Mrs Bisola Toriola, said: “Acquiring ‘the skills’ otherwise called ‘manipulatives” or “hands on”, would ensure that the teachers’ job is half way done.”

    Pupils, she said, will comprehend any subject taught faster.

    According to her, “the placement of hands on the table, using cardboards and scissors to cut and create, arrest the students’ attention. Learning to do it yourself will also bring out the ideas and creativity,  thereby making learning interesting and educating”.

  • Photo: International workshop on academic contents

    Photo: International workshop on academic contents

    L-R UNICEF REPRESENTATIVE, MR DIPAK REPRESENTATIVE OF SHARDA UNIVERSITY IN INDIA, DR DALEEP PARIMO AND RECTOR, FEDERAL POLYTHECNIC OKO, PROF. GODWIN ONU, DURING AN INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ACADEMIC CONTENTS OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS AT OKO IN ANAMBRA ON THURSDAY
    L-R UNICEF REPRESENTATIVE, MR DIPAK REPRESENTATIVE OF SHARDA UNIVERSITY IN INDIA, DR DALEEP PARIMO AND RECTOR, FEDERAL POLYTHECNIC OKO, PROF. GODWIN ONU, DURING
    AN INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ACADEMIC CONTENTS OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS AT OKO IN ANAMBRA ON THURSDAY
  • Creative workshop for Asaba

    Creative workshop for Asaba

    A six-day hands-on creative art workshop on turning waste to wealth will open on Thursday, July 23 till 28 at The Marble Hill School, Asaba the Delta State capital.

    It is opened to primary and secondary school pupils in Asaba.The aim of the facilitators is to champion the promotion of the arts at the grass-roots and basic levels of education, bolstering the arts across the grade school curriculum.

    The workshop will be led by the convener Philips Nzekwe an Asaba-based sculptor and arts teacher at the yearlyAgbara Ottor Harmattan Workshop with fellow artist and painter Juliet Ezenwa Maja-Pearce and supported by other artists and teachers. Maja-Pearce is a veteran workshop facilitator on converting waste to wealth and recycling of disposable materials. The workshop will cater for no fewer than 50 pupils for the four days.

    According to Nzekwe a lot has gone wrong with urbanisation without consideration for preservation due to lack of visual literacy. He said promoting healthy living and going–green is the primary aim of this workshop. “Psychological effects of living-green together with creative engagements we hope will result in youth restiveness and peaceful coexistence,” he noted.

    The participants will acquire skills which will enable them become self-employed individuals and entrepreneurs. The workshop activities are designed to engage the community through close interactive participation of parents, children, community leaders and youths.

    According to Nzekwe the recycle themes will focus on using easily found materials to create objects of beauty. “We are careful to align our activities with the present school curriculum so that it is easy for the participants to relate art to other areas of human endeavours. Therefore we are using art as a tool for socio- development,” he added.

    The sole sponsor of the programme Mrs H.I. Odume, a former director of education in Delta State and an art enthusiast said: “effective learning can only occur if all domains of human knowledge which include the cognitive, affective and the psycho-moto are fully harnessed. The objective of this workshop is in line with the vision of the Marble Hill School, Asaba.”

    The venue for the workshop was made available by Mrs Odume because she believes that students should be thoroughly furnished and equipped for nation building. “The main challenge faced by this project is lack of government support…This programme will probably fair better if we get support or collaboration from the state government,” she said, noting that the absence of an art gallery in Asaba has impeded the aesthetic development of the students in the vicinity.

     

  • Same Boundary: From workshop to gallery

    Same Boundary: From workshop to gallery

    What started like an ordinary interaction at a workshop at Green House, Lambe in August last year has evolved into a platform determined to promote art in local communities of Ibafo, Mowe and Ofada in Ogun State. As a first step, the 5-man exhibiting artists: Stella Ubigho, Oguntimehin Ariyo, Luke Iyorah, Okoro Nathan and Chijioke Nwoga last Saturday held a group art exhibition of sculptures and paintings at the Quintessence Gallery, Park View Ikoyi, Lagos.

    The group show tagged Same Boundary is featuring five works by each artists most of which mirror the day to day activities of making a living. They include scenes such as market, milkmaid, party time, overcrowding, celebration and landscape. Apart from borrowing from indigenous imagery, their works lend themselves to contemporary trends. Thematically, the collection on display tells stories of the dignifying way Nigerians eke their living riding on buses and going through roughages with smiles on their faces.

    Ubigho’s Beauty of creation is a landscape painting that highlights the flourishing trees as well as their different characteristics.  Will I see you again? is a painting any viewer will give a second look as it highlights the state of insecurity focusing on the missing Chibok girls. The artist shows a woman staring through a window into the sky asking ‘will I see you again?  It is a reminder of the travails many mothers of the missing girls would have been going through since last year April when the Boko Haram militants kidnapped the girls.

    Instructively, the artist uses cracked brown walls and the barricade between the mother and the invisible girls to symbolise the state of the nation in terms of security and unity.

    Nwoga captures the Lagos women’s social life in Ode ya showing the elegance of head tie most women adorn on during social outings at weekend. Although a metal sculpture, Ode ya is as simple as it is elegant in presentation.

    According to Ubigho there is possibility for the group to evolve into another formidable group of exhibiting artists with a strong interest in creating awareness on art in local communities. This, she said, will be carried out through workshops in studios in the communities in order to bring the art closer to the people. Same Boundary will run till June 26 at Qiuntessence Gallery, Park View Ikoyi, Lagos.

     

  • IAR&T holds mid-term project review workshop

    The Integrated Land and Water Management for Adaptation to Climate Variability and Change (ILWAC) Nigerian team has constructed check dams and water pans for farmers.

    The Director, Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Ibadan, Prof. James Adediran, said this during the ILWAC Mid-Term Review and workshop held at  his institute.

    Adediran said since the inception of the project in 2013, the team had made a lot of progress which includes establishment of sustainable partnership for innovations in soil and water management.

    “Appropriate tools for soil resource mapping were developed and promoted while technologies for soil-water-nutrient management were identified and promoted.

    He noted that his institute alongside other institutions in Burkina-Faso and Cote d’ Ivoire won the grant to conduct research on the project titled ‘Sustainable soil-water nutrient management under increasing climatic change and Variability.

    He however emphasized that the project was funded by CORAF/West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (WECARD).

    The Director said the objective was to improve agricultural resilience to climatic variability through deployment of improved soil and water management technologies that will mitigate the impact of climatic variability.

    The ILWAC Regional Coordinator, Dr Vincent Aduramigba-Modupe said no fewer than 10,000 farmers including women were empowered with inputs, climate smart soil and water conservation measures.

    He said part of the objective is to provide farmers, especially vegetable farmers with water to use during the dry season.

    “The project is on-going in Nigeria, Borkina-faso and Cote d’Ivoire. We plan to upscale the project to more countries in West and Central Africa.

    “We also plan for production of 5000 training manuals, policy briefs and farmers guide; we have more plans but have challenge of restricted use of funds by donor, World Bank and WECARD,” he said.

    The  Head, Department of Fisheries and  Aquaculture University of Ibadan, Prof Bamidele Omitoyin ,  commended the donor and the stakeholders in the project for improving farmers livelihood through the ILWAC project.

  • Workshop enlightens teachers about revised UBE curriculum

    The Learn Africa mega workshop for primary school Mathematics and English teachers held in Maryland, Lagos, last Monday was an eye opener for participants who got opportunity to learn about the revised Universal Basic Education (UBE) curriculum.

    Southwest Zonal Director of the Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC), Dr Moses Salau, clarified misconceptions about the new curriculum to the teachers drawn from public and private primary schools.

    For instance, contrary to the practice by some schools in renaming the primary classes basic 1-6, Salau said the implementation of the nine-year universal basic education (UBE) scheme is a policy that pegs the minimum level of education in Nigeria at JSS3, and not a structure that alters the 6-3-3-4 system of education.

    “The nine-year of basic education is still divided into six years of primary and three years of junior secondary education.  It is a policy, not an education structure.  It is still called Primary 1-6, not Basic 1-6; and JSS1-3, not Basic 7-9,” he said.

    Giving the features of the revised curriculum, Salau said Nigeria has followed best practices to reduce the number of subjects taken at primary and junior secondary school levels from between 12-16 to between six and 10.

    He said: “The feedback on the UBE curriculum called for an urgent need to achieve the following:

    •Reduction in the number of subjects to meet global standard without compromising quality.  In Kenya, primary schools do seven subjects; in U.S., six; in Malaysia; nine, while in Nigeria, we had 16-27 subjects.

    •An elimination of repeated topics within various subjects

    •The inclusion/reflection of national/global issues such as: security education, disaster risk reduction education, climate change, and peace and conflict resolution.

    “The new revised curriculum has reduced subjects at the basic level into 10 teachable subjects. Every learner who successfully completes the nine-year UBE curriculum must have acquired appropriate levels of literacy, numeracy, mathematical manipulative skills, communication, as well as ethical, moral and civic values needed for laying a solid foundation for life-long learning.”

    The reduction was achieved by combining subjects with similar themes together.

    While primary 1-3 do seven compulsory subjects (English, Mathematics, Nigerian Languages, Basic Science and Technology, Pre-Vocational Studies, Religious and Value Education, and Cultural/Creative Arts); primary four-six add French to the seven.

    To effectively implement the curriculum, which was put into use with primary one class from the start of the 2014/2015 academic session last September, Salau said the NERDC recommends progressive as against blanket implementation.  He said that is why only primary one have started with it and would continue until they get to primary six (in 2019).  He said other classes would not have the foundation to use the curriculum if implemented across board.

    In his speech, Managing Director, Learn Africa Plc, Mr Segun Oladipo, said the training was organised to help teachers to be better productive.

    “This is one of our regular initiatives to support teacher education so that they can sharpen their skills and acquire additional knowledge that could empower them to improve the effectiveness of teaching and make learning more interesting for the students,” he said.

    He thanked the Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye for how she carried stakeholders along.

    Mrs Oladunjoye, who was represented by Mrs Joy Ojei, Director, Curriculum Services, also praised the firm for its long-term partnership with the state in teacher training and providing instructional materials.

    Various resource persons who specialised in Mathematics and English, taught the teachers new teaching techniques.

  • W.TEC hosts workshop for women

    W.TEC, a non-governmental organisation advancing the economic and social empowerment of girls and women, using information and communication technologies (ICTs), is  holding  a Technology & Entrepreneurship class for  women this   month.The  forum  is free.

    The organisation  said  the programme will hold on Fridays and Saturdays.

    The  programme  is aimed at equipping them with useful technological and ICT skills that will improve their business, employability and productivity in the work and business place.

    The  organisation  said  the  course, an eye-opener towards exploring career opportunities and options, will  help  women to acquire income generating skills.

  • ANA partners Film Company for screenwriting workshop

    Members of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) now have the opportunity to learn screenwriting.

    According ANA Public Relations Officer (North), Mr. Richard Ali, the initiative was a fall-out of the recently concluded second Playwrights Confab convened by Prof. Femi Osofisan and hosted by Kwara State University, Malete.

    In line with this plan, the Abuja Film Village International Ltd has invited interested ANA members to a Writers’ Workshop that will focus on adapting writing into screenplays. Ali said participants will be taken through the rubrics of writing for the screen and adapting literary works into screenplays for eventual filming.

    He noted that the workshops which are scheduled to hold in Asaba, Lagos, Abuja and Kano will run for a week and will take place after the 2015 general elections, adding that the times and precise venues will be announced later.

    “The workshop which will be residential and non-residential will be conducted by local and foreign participants. The kernel of the workshop will be technical. Participants will receive copies of already produced screenplay[s] of the Facilitator[s], and most likely copies of the film[s] produced from their screenplays.

    “Interested ANA members should send their names, postal addresses, emails, phone nos, list of their published works and the Zone in which they will like to participate in the workshop to the email of the ANA Vice President, DenjaAbddullahi,” said Ali, in a press statement.

     

  • National food safety workshop ends

    National food safety workshop ends

    A four-day national training workshop on food safety supported by the United States Government, through its Agency for  International Development (USAID) has   ended  in Abuja.

    The training was organised in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health, and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. It follows the inauguration of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Food Safety and the National Food Safety Management Committee by the Federal Government in January.

    USAID Mission Director in Nigeria, Michael Harvey said the training was part of the U.S. Government’s long-term effort to support the National  Food Safety Management Committee as it puts in place a strong food safety regime to boost Nigeria’s export market, as well as the agriculture sector. “We are pleased to have USAID and the US Department  of Agriculture work together with Nigerian counterparts to hold this workshop,” he said.

    The workshop involved case studies quality management systems, risk analysis, food safety modernisation act, and monitoring and evaluation procedures.

    The workshop’s participants represented th si geo-political zones.

    Since 2013, the U.S. Government, through USAID and the US Department of Agriculture, has worked with Nigerian food industry stakeholders in the public and private  sectors, and with development partners to revise the national food policy and develop an implementation strategy.

    These efforts have laid the foundation for the work of the recently inaugurated committees that are charged with ensuring that food safety systems  in Nigeria are on par with international best practices.

    Interventions supported by the US Government will improve food safety, thereby helping Nigerians avoid food-borne and food-related illnesses.