Decades ago, getting Islamic education required a huge sacrifice, especially for those who want to memorise the Holy Qur’an. One had to go as far as Borno State in the Northeast. Not any more.

Six-year-old Salim Abdulkareem from Zaria memorised over 77,000 words from the holy book in one year.

Little Abdulkareem, who started Qur’anic school in May, last year at Prof. Ango Abdullahi International School, Zaria, completed and memorised it before last May. He told The Nation that his ambition is to become a medical doctor.

Abdulkareem said: “I want to become a medical doctor and my ultimate goal is to contribute to national growth and development of my dear country. If my dream is actualised, I want to assist people by treating those who come to me with sicknesses.

“I will be happy, if my dream comes true. However, I believe with dedication, commitment and encouragement from my parents and my teachers, I am sure of becoming a doctor,” he said.

On his challenges, Salim said his major one was the routine of waking up in the night for Qur’anic recitation and memorisation.

It will sound so strange to somebody who knows the formalities, intrigues and difficulties in memorising the  holy Qur’an, because it takes some people many years to complete it.

Mallam Hamza Jibril, the Administrative Officer of the boarding section of Prof. Ango Abdullahi International School, explained some of the methodologies adopted by the school.

He said: “Salim was brought to this school by his parent in May 2016. His father, Prof. Abdulkareem S. Ahmed, is a lecturer at Chemical Engineering Department of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.

“When Salim was admitted into this school, he did not know the Qur’anic alphabet not to talk of how to recite the Holy Qur’an. We, therefore, had to coach him from the scratch.

“His father gave the school authority all rights over the child, sometimes, the father doesn’t allow Salim to go home for holidays. He would insist that the pupil be allowed to be engaged in some lessons.

“This is what made him exceptional among his colleagues. Salim had completed his memorisation last April and just as I have told you, he was brought to this school in May, last year. In view of this, he had completed memorisation of the holy Qur’an in less than one year.

“Despite that he had finished the memorisation by last April, we realised that his memorisation required some touches or corrections, and to God be the glory, we have succeeded in making all the necessary corrections,” he said.

Jibril added that Salim’s classmates have also completed the school, but they were still being supervised and corrected where necessary, so that they will be able to complete their memorisation before the stipulate two years.

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Parents have been advice to establish good relationships with their wards to check child abuse in the society.

Mrs Jibola Akinyosoye, a parent, spoke as guest speaker at the send off for Primary Six pupils of Cardinal Nursery and Primary School, Isheri.

She said some parents’ inability to relate effectively with their wards made the children fall victim to child abuse because they did not know what to do.

She condemned parents, especially mothers’, sentiments on sex education to their wards.

She said it was ideal to establish a mother/child relationship from their tender age to build trust, confidence and connect with them in an age-appropriate way.

“Some of us (parents) see our children especially below the age of 18 or 16, too young to discuss certain issues with. Many parents especially mothers make a huge mistake at this stage. Let your child be your friend. Even from a young age, open up conversations with them. Listen to them when they want to talk, do not shut them up; let them tell you want happened in school and at home. In other words let them find companion in you. Don’t wait till they are teenagers, let it start right from the toddler stage.

“Starting at an early age, usually around age four, many children will ask where they came from, that is, ‘where do babies come from’? Many parents may put off these types of question with the hope that their child would forget about it and the parents feel a sense of relief in not having to answer. In actual fact, the parents are making a mistake in not answering, thus unknowingly creating a communication block”.

Akinyosoye, who spoke on the theme, “My child my best friend”, explained that the teens and young adults are the hardest for parents to talk  to about sex education. She advised that it was vital to understand that the child at some stage would experience sexual feelings. Therefore, they need to know.

“Teens find it difficult to talk with their parents about sex because of embarrassment – the fact that their parents may not understand them or the belief that their parents will assume that they are already sexually active. Parents must understand that a lot of information children receive on sex is from friends or the media. For this reason, a parent must know that the lesser the information they give their child, the more the misinformation their child will acquire” she added.

Another speaker, Prof Simeon Dosunmu of the Faculty of Education, Lagos State University (LASU), advised the graduands not to engage in activities that could terminate their dreams of being successful in life.

He urged them to be persistent, disciplined and honest, manage their time, acquire knowledge beyond the classroom and love one another to achieve their goals in life.

The school’s Proprietress, Mrs Nkechi Ohakawa, urged the graduands to put more efforts into their academic pursuits and exhibit the values they acquired from the school.

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Two students of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), are to join the Nigerian contingent to the 29th World University Games (WUG) holding in Taipei, Taiwan, between August 19 and 30, 2017.

Naomi Oyinloye, a postgraduate student of Zoology, will play Badminton, while Folashade Adedotun of Chemistry will play Table Tennis.

The duo will be led by Dr. Sam Olabanji, Acting Director, Directorate of Sports, FUNAAB to the competition which had as theme: “University sports: globalising and universalising participation”.

According to the Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA), FUNAAB was selected because “of the university’s role in the development of sports in Nigeria”.

FUNAAB won one Gold, four Silver and eight Bronze medals at the 25th NUGA hosted by the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State.

The university’s contingent of over 70 athletes took part in eight different sports such as Squash, Badminton, Chess, Table Tennis, Tennis, Taekwondo, Athletic and Hockey. The Squash female team won the Gold by defeating the defending champion, University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) in the finals by two straight sets.

Olabanji, suggested that for optimum performance by the coaching crew and the athletes in subsequent games, the University Management could grant discretionary admission to some identified and talented athletes seeking admission into FUNAAB; and give scholarships to gold medalists as well as financial reward and befitting reception.

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Nigerian Library Association, (NLA) National President, Dr Umunna Opara, has called on the Federal Government to build libraries in public primary schools nationwide to arrest the poor reading culture prevalent among youths.

Opara, who disclosed this in Lagos during the 55th general conference of the association, regretted that youths have been lured from reading which, according to him, is their primary assignment, to other social vices because of poor library system at the beginning of their first contact with education.

“These lapses on the part of the government has created a poor reading culture we are experiencing among our youths. If they started very early, they might have formed the habit of reading unconsciously and they will carry it on when they get to secondary schools.”

Opara continued: “There is a national problem on our hand. We cannot grow the country economically, socially and politically without a good reading culture. Everybody is talking about the decline in the standard of education; it is our negative attitude to reading. The younger generation is no longer reading, they do not see it as something needed to succeed in their future endeavours.”

Opara who blamed government, parent and the society for the development, lamented that the society has become materialistic and that parent are spending a fortune on ostentatious lifestyle that has no  value in the their wards’ development

“They (parents) are careless on intellectual materials that will give their children a future.

“Unlike in days of old, the libraries are not as patronising as they should be. The reason is simple – at primary and secondary levels; library is not accorded its rightful place. The Government is not ready to build library in primary school where pupils will inculcate reading habit from the beginning.” he regretted.

“The consequence of all these inadequacies is the high rate of crime and social decadence in the society. The materialist tendency in the society is a pointer to these younger ones that there is a short cut to success

“Imagine the younger ones want to migrate to Europe without any clear cut vision or career to pursue, but just going for going sake and by the time the lucky ones get there, they cannot cope and therefore engaged in all forms of crime to succeed; the unlucky ones perish in the desert. This is the situation we find ourselves. Youths are no longer thinking outside the box. When you are equipped intellectually it will propel ideas that will make you stand out,” he added.

He explained that the theme of the conference: ‘’Libraries in promotion of national integration for development’ is germane as no nation could develop without a good library system that will shape the thinking and orientation of the youths towards a secured future.

“Sadly enough, internets have replaced their library! Some spend hours to chat on irrelevances. If this precious time is used in the library, the youths will be better equipped intellectually to face the daunting challenges in their environment. The resources in the library are carefully selected for the good use of the children therefore no matter how many hours they spend, it will be educative.

“The government should invest in e-library for the development of the younger ones. We are advocating school library in all the primary schools in the country, this should be backed up by law, by so doing the kids will imbibe the spirit of reading culture. From that age if it is in their system.”

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The bill on Compulsory, Free Education has been passed by the Senate.

This is contained in a statement by Bashir Rabe Mani, Special Assistant to Senator Aliyu Magatakarda, Wamakko on Media and Publicity.

The statement said the bill, which seeks to amend the Compulsory, Free, Universal Education Act 2004, had passed through the first, second and third readings before its eventual passage.

The statement stated further that the bill seeks to increase the block grant contribution of the Federal Government to education, while reducing contributions from state governments.

The statement said the bill aimed at reducing the scenario where most states are unable to access the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) grants owing to their inability to contribute 50 per cent counterpart funds to the cost of projects before execution.

It continued: ”The only two per cent budgetary allocations  to Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), by the Central Government is to be increased to three per cent.

”The bill also seeks to provide free and compulsory education for all Nigerian children from primary up to secondary education.”

The statement recalled that the bill was sponsored by Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko who is also the Chairman, Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education.

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 Dr Wale Omole, Proprietor of T&S Hospitals in Lagos, is the National Coordinator of the Tai Solarin Foundation and also the National Coordinator of Peoples Problems and Solution (PPS), a non-governmental organisation. He spoke with Emmanuel Oladesu, on the legacies of the late social crusader, Dr. Tai Solarin. 

I learnt you named your hospitals after Dr. Tai Solarin and his wife Sheila, Why did you do this?

Yes, it is true I name my hospitals, T&S Hospitals. T is for Tai Solarin while S is for Sheila Solarin. The reason for this has been in the news for so long. I named my companies after them because of the role Dr Tai Solarin played in my life as a young boy.

One day when I was in his school Mayflower School, Ikenne, I went to him to seek permission to travel to Bida in Niger State to collect my school fees and when he saw I was the one, he said we cannot allow you to travel on that bad road. He then asked: Are you not the boy that came first in your class? I said yes. He said instead of allowing you to go on that bad road, I will instead give you the Friends of Mayflower Scholarship. He then gave me the scholarship.

Two weeks after, the wife asked me to see her during break time and when I went to her. When I got to her office, she shook hand with me and said congratulations that out of the 37 students that were recommended by the Principal for Western State Government Scholarship, I was the only one that was given the scholarship.

That was why I got two scholarships within two weeks. In fact, a third scholarship came from a philanthropist in Lagos who said the scholarship should be given to the best student in my class. And because I was the best student it was given to me.

Did Tai Solarin withdraw the first scholarship?

One day, Dr Tai Solarin called me to ask me which of the scholarships I want to use. I said he should choose for me. He said if you have opportunity of taking something from government, you should not waste it. He said I should use the Western State Government Scholarship while the one from Friends of Mayfair will be reserved for my higher education and that of the Lagos philanthropist was given to another indigent student, a girl called Tawa.

He stood by his words and I used that of the Western State Government to finish my secondary education and in the process I had the opportunity of travelling to London.  Though, it was not on the same platform but it was a kind of exchange programme between Nigeria and English government and being the best student in my class I was lucky to be among a set of 12 students and two teachers who went to London. I must say I gained a lot by attending that school, Mayflower School, Ikenne and benefitted greatly knowing Dr Tai Solarin and his wife, Sheila.

When I finished my secondary school, I gained admission to read medicine at the University of Lagos and I used the Friends of Mayflower scholarship throughout my university education. When I finished the school, I went to NYSC and Dr Tai Solarin started paying me graduate salary because occasionally I used to go to the school to teach students and because he was just in love with me as a young boy and he knew I was very hardworking and was always doing all he wanted.

When the opportunity came to establish my own private hospital, in fact he was the one who advised me to start my own hospital but I told him it is capital intensive.

He said I should do the estimate and that if it was too much for him and he cannot fund it by himself,  he would take a loan from the bank and that if he did he would write it in his will for his estate to pay back. I am from Ilesa, he was not my father and he was from Ijebu. I was completely surprised and naming the hospital after him was the smallest thing that I could do to honour such a man.

Even the building I rented, he told me that the landlord can wake up one day and ask me to leave. He said I should be thinking of how I will have a building of my own. He told me that very year, in January, he will be sending me a cheque of N1,000 and to encourage me to always be thinking of having my own building he was always giving me a cheque of N1000 every January not because I needed the N1,000 but he was a reminding me of having my own building. He said to me: “I won’t be telling you every time to start your own building so that you won’t be embarrassed but whenever I send you that cheque of N1,000, it will remind you that you need your own building”.

So, when we were lucky to have our own built hospital, I wasted no time in naming it Tai Solarin House.

 What are the legacies of the great educationist and social crusader?

Solarin trained so many Nigerians. He trained people from South Africa and Liberia when they had crisis. Even in Nigeria, during the civil war, he was going to the war front with loads and trucks of food for children and women. He brought some of those children to the West here to train them. Some of the have become important people in the society. He really did a lot for Nigerians. He left a lot of legacies in education, agriculture, journalism and in all areas you can think of. That man was everything to me and in fact a lot of us who were privileged to know him.

The post Tai Solarin’s education legacies live on, says protégé appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Parents have been charged to create peaceful homes for their children as any environment where parents are in conflict will hinder the learning process of their offsprings.

Lagos State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Lola Akande, gave the advice at the Karis School nineth Graduation in Magodo, Lagos.

Dr Akande said many children’s education were in jeopardy because their homes were a war zone.

She said the government was doing all it could to ensure healthy growth and development of all children in the state.

“To this end, the state government has put in place many measures to protect the rights of every child in the state – the yellow card to warn child’s rights violators of the consequences and to deter offenders from committing such crimes and the red card which is also available and given at every prosecution stage”, she warned.

Dr Akande also spoke on the importance of parental involvement in education, saying it had positive effects on children’s learning ability.

While she said mothers play the largest role in a child’s education, she however said children needed the support of both parents to reach their academic potential.

“As we all know, a father’s involvement in his child’s education leads to more learning, healthier and better performance in school. In addition, students whose fathers play active role in their education typically enjoy schooling better; they have more positive peer relationship and become responsible adults,” she said.

Addressing the pupils, the commissioner advised them to take their education seriously as education is the key to success in life.

Speaking on the school’s goals for the next academic session,  its Executive Director, Mrs Nolly Nwaje, said the school would introduce inquiry-based and project-based style of teaching to enhance the problem solving skills of the children.

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The African University of Science and Technology (AUST) said it has accessed about $2.2 million out of the $8 million approved by the World Bank for research-oriented programmes.

The fund was released to fund research projects under the Pan African Materials Institute (PAMI), as reward for its ongoing research work on cancer drugs using indigenous particles.

The PAMI is a centre under the university led by Dr. Omololu Akin-Ojo.

He told reporters that the World Bank in order to enhance a sustainable programme was committed to giving more monetary rewards for every laid out target that would be achieved.

He said the centre has trained about 330 PhD students and 400 short term participants to improve living standards in West and Central African countries.

“So far the amount of money we have received is about $2.2 million. These are rewards for our performance because the project is result based; once you achieve certain things they give you more money.

“We have spent about $1.6 million on the project so far and we focused on materials for health where we are looking at development of a drug that can aid in cancer detection and treatment,” he said.

Co-chair of the centre, Dr Shola Odusanya, said the workshop was aimed at getting people to do “handsome work that can easily be escalated into industrial experiences”.

He stressed that having run some trials on indigenous drugs, it was discovered that drugs were as effective as the ones deployed from the western part of the world.

“We chose cancer as our objective to understand better the disease which is particular to us in Africa. At the quantity that is similar to the ones used worldwide, it is as effective,” he said.

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The separation of Christian Religious Studies (CRS) and Islamic Religious Studies (IRS) from Religion and National Values in the Basic Education Curriculum has brought relief to stakeholders in the education sector who faulted the merger, reports KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE.

Finally, the government has directed the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) to disarticulate the Christian Religious Studies (CRS) and Islamic Religious Studies (IRS) from the umbrella subject listing of Religion and National Values.

Stakeholders in the education sector have lauded the move as a step in the right direction.

The two subjects were lumped together with Civic Education, Social Studies, and Security Education in the reviewed basic education curriculum done in 2013 – with implementation to start from 2014.

The decision to merge CRS and IRS with other subjects caused controversy among adherents of the two major religions, in the country, Christianity and Islam.  The controversy was worsened by the non-inclusion of CRS from the list of subjects taught as senior secondary level from September.  Many religious and parents groups condemned the merger and school owners were confused about its implementation.

When school owners, under the aegis of the Association for Formidable Educational Development (AFED), met for their annual congress in June, it was one of the questions raised.  They wanted to know if CRS had been removed and whether it would no longer be taught.  With no government representation at the federal level at the event, the question was not satisfactorily answered.

Debunking the rumour that the two subjects had been scrapped, the Executive Secretary, NERDC, Prof Ismail Junaid said in a statement that the component subjects under Religion and National Values were taught separately.  He also said CRS had not being scrapped as was rumoured to be the case.

He said: “The claims peddled on social media platforms and a national daily are speculative, false and unfounded, specifically as regards the Religion and National Values Curriculum.

“The Management of NERDC hereby reiterates categorically that the subject offerings (Civic Education, Social Studies, Christian Religious Knowledge, Islamic Studies and Security Education) under the Religion and National Values Curriculum are distinct and taught separately on the time table.

“In this Curriculum, no child should be coerced or compelled to learn or be taught in school any religious studies not relating to the belief system professed by the child and his/her parents.

“CRK is still taught in schools; as a separate distinct subject with the accompanying Teachers’ Guide. There is no subject in the Nigerian School Curriculum called Islamic Arabic Studies nor anywhere in the world as being speculated.”

However, his explanation did not stop the National Association of Parents Teachers Assocation of Nigeria (NAPTAN), the Christian Association of Nigeria, Penticostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and many other groups from petitioning the Federal Government to return to the status quo.

Their prayers were answered July 11, 2017, with the rejection of the policy by the House of Representatives on the ground that it negated the constitution.

Last Friday, the National Council on Education (NCE), the highest policy making body on education in Nigeria, set in motion the process of separating the two subjects.

It directed the NERDC to effect changes in the curriculum such that the two subjects stand alone again.  In addition, they are to be offered as compulsory subjects to adherents of both faiths.

The decision was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the Ministerial Session of the 62nd NCE meeting held in Kano and presided over by the Education Minister, Malam Adamu Adamu.

The communiqués reads: “At the ministerial technical session, Council reiterated its decision at the 61st NCE meeting of September, 2016 in Abuja, that Christian Religious Studies (CRS) and Islamic Studies (IS) be separated from Religion and National Values and handled as stand-alone subjects. Council further stated that Christian Religious Studies is a core and compulsory subject for Christian students while Islamic Studies is a core and compulsory subject for Muslim students at the basic and secondary education levels. Council regarded the controversy surrounding the matter as misdirected and unwarranted.”

The new curriculum, detailing the stand-alone subjects, the communiqué stated further, would be available from 2018.

National President of NAPTAN, Malam Haruna Danjuma, told The Nation on Tuesday that the body was glad the subjects had been separated, praising the government for been responsive of the yearnings of Nigerians.

“We commend the government for the active action because religion has to be handled with extreme care.  NAPTAN drew the government’s attention to the issue.  If they had removed religion from the curriculum completely, we would not agree.  But now that the subjects have been separated, we are happy,” he said.

Chairman of the Ambassadors School, Ota, Mr Samson Osewa, said the combination of the subjects could not have been implemented in his school.  He faulted claims of the NERDC that stakeholders were consulted before the merger.

“It would not have been good.  I would not have implemented it.  They said it had been done during Jonathan’s time.  Maybe they did consultation among themselves only,” he said.

National President of the Nigerian Publishers Association (NPA), Mr Gbadega Adedapo, lauded the separation but warned that frequent changes in the curriculum affected publishers who produce the reading materials used in schools.

He said the sensitivity of the matter had made many publishers keep the publish subject components under Religious and National Values as separate textbooks. However, he said about 30 per cent of publishers who have such textbooks would have to review their books.

“Most of the publishers have stand-alone IRS and CRS textbooks because of the sensitivity of religion in Nigeria.  There is no way we can combine the subjects.  But I was told today (Tuesday) in Abuja that Religious and National Values will be renamed.  We have appealed to them to give us time to make changes because we are close to resumption and we already have our books in stock in warehouses,” he said.

Adedapo however noted that the subjects may have been combined to save parents from spending so much on textbooks and reduce the number of subjects pupils have to take in schools.

History has also been separated from Social Studies in the basic education curriculum and would be taught as a stand-alone subject from 2018.

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A Non-Governmental Organisation, Private Schools.ng, has lamented the decline in reading culture among students and youths in Nigeria.

The body spoke in Port Harcourt on their planned mobile library for pupils in Rivers State during ongoing long vacation. The body noted that there is need to encourage youths to take reading seriously.

The founder of the group, Xolomon Uche, said students sometimes develop less interest in reading either when they do not have books to read, or have money to buy.

He said when launched, the mobile library would provide avenue for books for youths within secondary school age bracket, primary school children as well as unemployed youths to access books free for their studies.

Uche added that the mobile library would provide a platform where people can freely give books that they no longer need for people who need them.

He, however, urged scholars to buy into the drive by bringing readable books for the scheme in order to tackle the poor reading culture in the society..

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Promasidor Nigeria Ltd is considering giving scholarship to foreign sports universities for talented children currently in training at Cowbell Football Academy (CFA).

This year’s edition of the yearly Cowbell Football Academy Summer Camp, which runs till August 12, 2017 at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, has 125 participants, and is open to children between ages five and 17. They are being taught character building, individual technical development, small-side games, team competition, mental training, goal keeping training, fun game and more.

Speaking on the initiative, the Chief Executive Officer, Multisports Services & Entertainment Limited, Godwin Dudu-Orumen, who is the coordinator of programme and the Rector of CFA, said the academy has opened up channels with coaches in football-playing universities in the United States of America and other major Western countries to grant scholarships to outstanding talents with the requisite educational qualification.

He said opportunities are also available in tertiary institutions locally, and that the academy would send videos to the target schools to enable them appreciate the skills available in the academy.

Dudu-Orumen said the academy would develop the trainees further for scholarship, if the schools showed interest in any of them.

“We explore opportunities both locally and internationally for any of the children that meets the conditions for scholarship as they also need to be educated before they can play for any global team because the rules for acceptance in international teams have changed,” he affirmed.

The academy, which has 500 participants, runs in Surulere, Lufasi Nature Park, Lekki, and Badagry all in Lagos, as well as in Benin City. But the summer camp programme runs only at the Lufasi Nature Park and Surulere.

Dudu-Orumen said that other centres would be incorporated into the programme in 2018.

Meanwhile, parents of participants have praised Cowbell for putting up such an initiative that helps to spur children’s interest in football. Dada Ajai-Ikhile, an advertising practitioner, whose child from Grace High School, Gbagada, Lagos is at the academy, said Promasidor has done well in ensuring that children learn the rudiments of football at an early age and to develop the interest in it. He stated that this would lead to a pool of professional footballers that would make the country proud in future.

Obayemi Praise, who has her children from Ostria Private School and Deeper Life High School at the academy, said she was quite impressed with what Promasidor has done on the yearly initiative, which has helped to fire up children’s interest in football.

“The coaches are putting in their best to enhance the skills of the children and my sons are keen on becoming footballers in future, after attaining tertiary education,” she said.

At the commencement of the camp, Segun Odegbami, ex-Nigerian international footballer, motivated the children to develop interest and skills for the game. He told them how he combined engineering studies and football, and still played for Nigeria.

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Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has taken intensified its campaign against quackery in the teaching profession.

Some top officers of the Nigerian Army School of Medical Sciences, Ojo Cantonment, Lagos took oath of matriculation into the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) Professional Diploma in Education (PDE). This is in furtherance of the ongoing campaign by TRCN to rid the nation of quacks in the teaching profession.

The oath was conducted at Topmost College of Education (TOPCOED), Ayobo Ipaja, where the officers are to run the programme.

Provost of the institution, Dr Mabel Odunayo, urged the matriculating students to take full advantage of the PDE programme which in the end makes them  professional teachers, having acquired teaching training’’ as well as being custodians of TRCN certificate.

“You are a professional teacher who can legally parade yourself as a lecturer depending on the level of institution you find yourself. The TRCN professional certificate in addition to your academic qualifications put you in a vantage position to lecture inside and outside the country,”Odunayo said.

She said one of TOPMOST core values is the passion for education, adding that, that informed it’s marriage with TRCN in the former’s bid  to sanitise the teaching profession.

The immediate past Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Medical Sciences, Ojo Cantonment, Brigadier-General Solomon David, said the matriculants comprised instructors across various disciplines being offered in the school, which according to him, runs technical and technician programmes up to HND level,

He said the school runs courses such as Dental Technology, Environmental Health, Health Information Management, Dental Therapy, and technician-oriented programmes such as Physiotherapy, Radiography, Pharmacy, Medical Lab Science Technician, among others.

“Talking about professionalism, the Chief of Army Staff who is like our father in the Nigerian Army , also spoke about being professional in anything we do;  and I felt teachers of these courses should also be professionals because a time may come where TRCN, as a regulatory body may come to the school and close it down because our instructors are not certified.  In order to avoid that as law abiding officers , we decided  to key into the vision of TRCN to ensure that all our teachers are certified with the correct teaching techniques.

Going down memory lane, Lagos State Director of TRCN, Mr Gbolahan Enilolobo, said PDE followed an earlier call by the National Council of Education (NCE) the highest policy-making body on education during one of its sessions in 2006, when it fixed as same year as deadline for unqualified teachers in Nigeria to get requisite teaching qualificationss or leave the system.

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United Nations International Children’s Education Fund(UNICEF) has  listed Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan as countries unlikely to meet Education for All (EFA) for children of school age by year 2020, unless collective practical involvement of stakeholders with political will is encouraged.

“The number of out-of-school children (OOSC) in Nigeria constitutes 20 per cent of the global total. We have datas of the almajiris, girls of school age not enrolled, same with nomadic herdsmen and fishermen children; as well as those displaced by the insurgency in the Northeast. If Nigeria gets it right, Africa gets it, “UNICEF stated last weekend at a one-day planning meeting with reporters as a prelude to the flag-off for the 2017 National Enrolment and Birth Registration Campaign billed for October.

UNICEF’s official, Mrs Azuka Menkiti, said statistical records have shown that over nine million children are still in Quranic system of education, adding that UNICEF still considers this lot under OOSC.

The three aforementioned countries top the globe’s ranking with alarming proportion of OOSC, necessitating the need to have EFA goals attained by them come 2030.

“Research has identified that more girls than boys are out of school in the North,” Menkiti noted

“What we are concerned about is equity, fairness and justice for every child of school age. Every child has a right to be educated without gender disparity.

“UNICEF is passionate about children in the Northeast whose education foundation has been threatened,” he added.

The meeting, which had as its theme: For a better tomorrow, enrol your child in school today and get free birth registration certificate from the National Population Commission, was organised by the Federal Ministry of Education, and the Universal Basic Education Commission in collaboration with UNICEF, Nigeria

Menkiti, however, identified socio-cultural norms and practice, religious beliefs, lack of qualified teachers, inadequate infrastructure, and poor governance, among other factors responsible for denying the child the right to education.

In her brief presentation titled: ‘Objectives, expected results and rationale for expanded partnerships,” she attributed the poor level of enrolment to poverty, distance and parental ignorance on the benefits of educating their wards.

UNICEF noted that 70 per cent of Nigeria’s children were not registered, stressing the need for data and records on early childhood population to determine the size for adequate and responsive planning for children education through active partnership.

“Nigeria has the highest number of both absolute birth and child population with a projected figure of 136 million babies to be born between now and 2030. Also, from 2031until mid-century, there will be 224 million more.”

Representative of the Federal Ministry of Education Mr Elisha Francis, who spoke on the Federal Government’s  framework on enrolment, said the first tier of government had designed a responsive drive to reaching out to OOSC for integration into the formal school system through effective campaign implementation drive at all levels.

Francis added: “The drive would consider parental demand for education, influence of change of attitude, inherent benefits, promotion of equity in basic education delivery, stakeholders participation as well facilitate Nigeria’s attainment of education related goals.

Nonetheless, Francis said other strategic approaches would include; advocacy, collaboration with traditional and religious leaders, social mobilisation, community engagement and interpersonal communication.

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The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has won this year’s edition of the Maritime Blueprint Competition organised as part of the Taiwo Afolabi Annual Maritime (TAAM) Conference last week.

At the competition held at the Faculty of Law, UNILAG, the duo of Oguntade Damilola and Greg Ikageri saw off stiff competition from teams from the University of Benin (UNIBEN), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), University of Ibadan (UI), Bowen University, Babcock University, and the Lagos State University (LASU).

The schools were paired in the first round and given seven minutes to debate various topics, including: “The Lithuanian Rules is more suitable for the carriage of goods by sea than the Hamburg Rules;” “The most effective means of settling maritime disputes is through arbitration;” “Reduction of Port charges is more favorable to Nigerian Maritime sector;” and “Insurance is the most effective means of settlement of maritime claims”.

In the second round, the finalists, UNILAG, UNN, OAU, and UNIBEN, debated the topic: Port reformation as a viable tool for the diversification of Nigeria’s economy.

The host university beat OAU’s team made up of Adebowale Faith and Ayoshola Oluwaseun to second place; while UNN’s Michelle Eigbobo and Kelechi Ogbu came third.

Top among the recommendations by the debaters were  that the reformation of ports will increase revenue for the country, and that the urgent need for diversification from oil to raise the country’s economy to global pedestal.

They also urged the government to pay more attention to industrialisation and more engagements especially in the agricultural sector. They suggested reforms in three areas: legal, operation, and institutional reforms.

The judges, Mr Aso Kalu, a lawyer in Corporate and Commercial Law, Taxation, Oil and Gas, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Entertainment Law, and Mr. Kelechukwu Okwujiakwo, a senior Counsel in the Shipping and Litigation Practice Group of the ACAS Law firm, praised the students for their performance.

“You guys did excellently well and I applaud your efforts ,” said Etea.

Okwujiakwo also told the students to display the spirit of sportsmanship and be graceful in defeat.

“This is not a competition, this is a friendly chat,” he said.

The students were encouraged to think about going into the Maritime sector.

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A total of 144,275 pupils wrote this year’s Placement Test for admission into the public Junior Secondary Schools run by the Lagos State Government last Saturday.

A breakdown of the figure showed that  91,500 pupils were from the public primary schools and 52,775 pupils from private schools took part in the test.

Monitoring the exercise, the Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr Ganiyu Oluremi Sopeyin, noted that there was a lot of improvement in this year’s exercise – including the customisation of the answer scripts (OMR sheets) to bear the names of each candidate.

Next year, he said, Exams Identication Sheets would be prepared for pupils that will take part in the test to address the challenge of searching for centres.

He decried the situation whereby parents and guardians searched for the centres of their wards on the test day, particularly those attending private schools.

He scored the performance of all stakeholders that took part in the test 99 per cent as challenges were quickly and easily addressed.

He said the government would not relent in its efforts to provide qualitative and quantitative education in the state.

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A Management of the Federal University Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) has said its students do not learn under trees.

Responding to a report in which students complained about dearth of the infrastructure of the Ikole campus of the institution, the Public Relations Officer, Mr Goffery Bakji, said FUOYE recently got the nod to start 19 new programmes, which could not have been possible without adequate facilities.

In a statement, Bakji said: “It is worth mentioning that before the approval of these new academic programmes, a resource verification team comprising officials from National Universities Commission (NUC), JAMB and Federal Ministry of Education, visited the institution in a bid to ensure that it has commensurate facilities to accommodate the new faculties as well as the intending candidates. The resource verification team scored the young FUOYE high, hence its approval.

“Therefore, one wonders why any student would say, they study under trees in FUOYE, most especially the Ikole Campus that accommodates only two out of the seven faculties.”

At present the statement said FUOYE is 14th in NUC universities’ ranking for this year, a feat made possible by management’s determination to make the university a world class and create a conducive environment for learning.

Goffery said a week before the protest the university management had held a meeting with Students Representatives Council and promised to look into their demands.

“Therefore one wonders the spontaneous decision by the students of the (Ikole) campus to stage a demonstration barely a week after all demands by the Students Representatives Council were conceded to by the management.

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The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) chapter has said it no longer has confidence in the Transition Committee converting the polytechnic to the Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology (MAUSTECH).

It is also concerned about the fate of present students of the institution when the new university and the Ogun State Polytechnic begin operation in September.

In a statement signed by its Chairman and General Secretary, Comrades Kola Abiola and Lekan Adebayo following the union’s Congress Thursday last week, ASUP accused the Committee led by Prof Peter Okebukola of putting its members in the dark about its activities thereby creating an atmosphere of suspicion.

The union recalled how its members went on strike July 13, when Okebukola directed all workers of the Polytechnic to reapply for employment into the proposed MAUSTECH.

It sought the intervention of the Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amuson, an alumnus, who promised that the union would be more involved in the activities of the Okebukola-led committee.

However, the statement noted ASUP was shocked that after suspending the strike, members of the committee had been making provocative statements in the media.

Following this development, ASUP wrote two separate letters on July 14 and 19 to the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mrs. Modupe Mujota, to confirm Amosun’s promises but had received no acknowledgment of the letters as at press time.

ASUP is also urging the committee to clarify certain gray areas about the proposed transition.

The statement read: ”The major questions which we intended to ask the Committee but which we were not given opportunity are: Has MAPOLY transmuted to MAUTECH? Or is Ogun State Polytechnic a newly created institution? If Ogun State Polytechnic is a new creation, is it registered with the regulatory agency- the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE)? What are the approved programmes of the study for MAUSTECH and the Ogun State Polytechnic? What are the resources on ground to facilitate the approval to commence operation in the Ogun State Polytechnic?

The union continued: “How is MAUSTECH and Ogun State Polytechnic going to be funded, especially the funding of overhead costs in the short-run? How do they ensure on a sustainable basis, the payment of salaries of over 700 staff of MAPOLY? This is a pertinent question, given the fact that presently salaries are mainly sourced from school fees paid, and especially now that admission is being suspended and even the new University and Ogun State Polytechnic will of necessity admit less number of students (being a new institution of learning).

“What becomes of the present ND 1, ND 2, HND 1, and HND 2 students of MAPOLY? Is it possible to just move them into the new Ogun State Polytechnic even when we are not sure of which programmes the NBTE would approve for commencement? What happens to the applicants into ND 1, and HND 1 programmes of MAPOLY for the 2017/2018 session?

“We want to state for the umpteenth time that we are in no way  averse to be upgrading of MAPOLY into a University but we are concerned with leaving an enduring legacy that will stand the test of time”.

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Secondary school pupils may be in the forefront of Nigeria’s adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) Technology, which is beginning to gain ground with the establishment of an innovation centre in Lagos, reports KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE.

With the inauguration of the Internet of Things (IoT) Innovation Centre at the Federal Science and Technical College (FSTC), Yaba, Lagos Mainland, Nigeria may have begun breeding its own army of Elon Musks, the award-winning scientist-entrepreneur credited for innovations in transportation, space travel and energy.

The centre is the first in sub-Saharan Africa that provides students with a platform to innovate and find solutions to challenges using technology.

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the inter-connection of gadgets such that they communicate to solve problems.  It is gaining influence in various areas of human endeavour and is already in common use in advanced countries – in the management of healthcare, precision agriculture, energy, building management, transportation and the like.  IoT is the reason doors open when a person approaches; alarms ring when certain sensors are activated; a car can operate without a driver, and things can be remotely controlled.

The establishment of an IoT facility by the UNITeS CISCO Networking Academy in a secondary school attracted visits from two ministers within a week – the Minister of State for Education, Prof Anthony Anwukah, who inaugurated the centre Thursday last week, and the Minister of Communication, Mr Adebayo Shittu, who toured the facility on Monday.

To the uninformed, the centre looks like any other Information Communication Technology (ICT) facility, equipped with computers, servers, internet connectivity, a projector, and other gadgets that would make it functional.

However, beyond those, it is equipped with the raspberry pi (single board computers useful for teaching basic computer science and robotics), the Arduino (single-board microcontrollers for creating digital devices and interactive objects that can sense and control objects in the physical world), capacitors and jump cables and some other small multi-coloured wires with plastic and metallic heads placed in containers on each table.

Twenty-two IoT ambassadors and FSTC pupils aged between 11 and 17 have been enlisted to pioneer innovative solutions at the centre. They are expected to surpass the record of five pupils of the school (now alumni), who excelled in an international competition, the Netriders Competition, which tests students’ proficiency in Information Technology Essentials, a CISCO programme, last year.  They competed with university undergraduates and emerged among the top 10 in Nigeria.  They were also among the top 50 in sub-Saharan Africa – the best among them was in the eighth position.  It was their performance as well as the school’s record of training up to 1,000 pupils in the IT certification programmes that fired up the interest in establishing an IoT Innovation centre in the school.

Principal of the school, Rev Chris Ugorji, who has seen how IoT Technology operates in Berlin, Germany, is excited about the potential of the centre in solving local problems in Nigeria.

“My team and I witnessed a lot of innovations in technology that we were entirely moved.  There, we saw technology being used for numerous day-to-day activities, e.g. – controllingerosion, fighting poverty, climatic change, etc.

“This centre is going to take ICT to another level.  It will be a training centre; people will leverage on it to veer into new things; it is going to be a solution arena for businesses,” he said in an interview with The Nation.

He urged the Federal Government to replicate the same facilities in other schools across the country.

Already, the pupils have started testing their skills, which they demonstrated at last Thursday’s launch.  They showcased a remotely controlled fire alarm system as well as the automatic control of gadgets in a home.

Christiana Ekekezie, Head of the UNITeS CISCO Academy in FSTC, said her team of 22 ambassadors is revving to go.  She said they would start by looking into solving local problems when the school resumes for the next academic session.

“We have a lot of projects in mind.  We have plans to search around and identify problems in the school.  We look forward to making FSTC a smart school.  With such centre in the school, it should not be an analogue school.  For instance, we will look into changing how students clock in when they come to school instead of manually signing an attendance register. Also, we want to help the school solve problem of identifying those students who have not paid school fees but attend classes with others who have paid,” she said.

Christiana is confident that her pupils can come up with innovations that will become common place in Nigeria and reverse the country’s status as a consumer of technology.

“These things are already in existence in European countries.  How come we cannot have it in Nigeria?  We need to embrace it; it is possible. If we believe it is, it will come to be.  Nigeria is used to being a consumer of technology but with this, we will begin to create new things,” she said.

She also said the centre would be open to users outside the school but priority would be given to the pupils.

One of the IoT ambassadors, Samuel Gbangbola, is already dreaming of what he will innovate at the IoT centre.

The 14-year-old SS1 pupil who wants to be a programmer, said the centre would draw him closer to fulfilling his dream of making android apps accessible to many operating systems.

“With technology, you have access to a wealth of information. While textbook knowledge restricts you to a certain kind of information which may be limiting, with the internet, you learn so much at once,” he said.

Moses Imayi, Project Director of Skool Media, which partners UNITes CISCO Networking Academy to run ICT programmes in schools, said the IoT Centre is futuristic and would empower the pupils.

“The IoT is the future of technology.  The centre will give the students a platform to express their ideas,” he said.

Commending the innovation, Prof Anwukah said it was in line with international best practices and Nigeria must not remain behind.

“For our country to run a healthy and responsive education system, we must get our direction from the rest of the world.  We are in a virtually-driven era. Technology is key,” he said.

He urged the pupils and teachers to take advantage of the centre to improve their skills.

The Minister of Communication said FSTC was privileged to have such facility which even tertiary institutions in Nigeria did not have.

He underscored the importance of exposing young people to such practical training to address the problem of unemployment.

“Nigeria, with a population of 180 million people, most of who are youths, deserves not just theoretical education because there are simply no job places for theories and people who cannot use their hands to work.

“With a population of 180 million, the job places available for all governments, whether Federal or State or Local government, are not up to five million.

“If we have less than five million job places in governments, it means that the bulk is in the hands of the private sector.

“The private sector want to be productive for every kobo they are spending and so, they would want something much more than that and that means that they would need more of skilled personnel ,” he said.

On his part, the United Nations Secretary General, Mr Antonio Guterres, who spoke through the Director, UN Information Centre Nigeria, Mr Rolland Keyanja, said with young people aged 17-25 making up two of the 7.5 billion people on earth, technology and innovation was a core part of the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda for keeping them engaged.

“Your focus on technology and innovation is one of those key elements of the Agenda 2030 but we must first of all increase access to information and communication technology for all our citizens to enable them effectively engage in the contemporary economy,” he said.

He added that advancement in technology had transformed tele-medicine; aero space engineering and other areas of human endeavour with innovations that have changed the way people live and work.

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Gov. Godwin Obaseki has ordered the immediate investigation into the N283 million padded budget for the conduct of the First School Leaving Certificate Examination in the state.

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The Jigawa State Agency for Nomadic Education says it will soon distribute school uniforms free to 8,000 nomadic pupils in the state.

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