Don’t lose focus on education, LASG advises pupils

The Lagos State Governement has called on pupils to fully dedicate their time to learning, saying education remains the only means for them to attain greatness in life.

The Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Adebule, said the government would continue to improve on the quality of education and ensure that all children had free access to basic education irrespective of their socio-economic background.

Adebule, who doubles as the state’s Commsioner for Education, spoke on Tuesday, in Ikeja while commending the winners of the 2016 Spelling Bee Competition, in which pupils from primary and secondary schools across the state particpated.

She said, “I have a sense of fulfillment as the superintendent of the Ministry of Education that Lagos State is delivering on its electoral promises to the people through quality education. I congratulate the winners and participants at all levels.

“I implore our pupils to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the government to work hard and distinguish themselves in their academic pursuits. I want to remind our pupils that education remains the veritable means of attaining greatness. Education helps to prepare and equip individuals for life’s challenges.

“The government will continue to invest heavily in education and also introduce more educational and co-curricular programmes which can further expose pupils’ innate capabilities as we are convinced that education plays an important role in human capital development.”

The wife of the governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, who was represented at the event by Mrs. Kemi Durosinmi-Etti, said the competition was conceived under the New Era Foundation to generate healthy rivalry among pupils of public schools in Lagos State, noting that the vision of its initiator, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, had been achieved.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr. Adesina Odeyemi, said the competition demonstrated government’s resolve to develop education, adding that it was designed to boost pupils’ confidence.

“The ministry and the New Era Foundation have continued to monitor the progress of past winners by guiding and counselling them on the need to stay focused. They have maintained a steady rise in their endeavours,” he added.

In the secondary school category, Olufemi Olaseinde of Shasha Community Senior High School, Alimosho, emerged the overall winner, beating Komolafe Kehinde of Immaculate Heart Senior Secondary School, Kosofe, and Okinbaloye Rashidat, of Ilupeju Senior Grammar School, Ilupeju, to the second and third positions respectively.

In the primary school category, 11-year-old Philip Daniel of Darocha Primary School, Agege, emerged the overall winner while Titus Friday of Anglican Primary School, Ajegunle, and Nafisat Raji of Ahmadiyah Primary School, Yaba, were first and second runners-up respectively. Daniel received N150,000 cash prize and a trophy, while Friday and Raji collected N100,000 and N75, 000 cash prizes with a trophy each.

Following his feat, Olaseinde will be made the state governor for 24 hours and be entitled to the Lagos State Government scholarship to pursue any course of his interest in any university in the country.

Arm Trustees develops products for education

In keeping with ARM Trustees Limited’s commitment of helping clients build legacies via transfer of wealth from one generation to the next, the company in a statement on Thursday said it had unveiled products tagged ‘Education Trust and Education Trust Plus’.

The two products, launched recently in Lagos, were aimed at assisting parents and guardians to secure uninterrupted education for their children or wards.

The statement read, “While the Education Trust is used to set aside money specifically for a loved one’s education, the Education Trust Plus combines the Education Trust with a life insurance policy. It allows one to take out a life insurance policy naming the trustee as the beneficiary of the policy.” It added, “Thus, upon demise or incapacity, the trustee can access the benefits of the life insurance and apply same for the education of loved ones. Payment of an annual premium for the life insurance policy will be made from the trust.”

According to the company, either of the two types of trust can comprise a lifestyle component to provide for other needs of beneficiaries such as vacations, excursions and boarding, among others.

The Managing Director, ARM Trustees, Mrs. Folashade Adeloye, was quoted as saying, “The Education Trust and Education Trust Plus are ways to guarantee that education of the intended beneficiaries is uninterrupted.

“We understand how hard you work to provide for the people who are important to you and how much you want to leave a legacy that ensures they are always taken care of. We help you protect and secure the future of your children or wards.”

Government, World Bank earmark $100m to boost basic education in five states

Adamu Adamu, Minister of Education

The Federal Government and the World Bank have earmarked over $100m for improving access and quality of basic education with active girl-child participation in five northern states.

Speaking at the national launch of Nigerian Partnership for Education Project (NIPEP) Tuesday in Abuja, the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, said the official flag-off of the project in the country marks a milestone in government’s efforts aimed at reducing the number of out-of-school children.

Adamu listed the benefiting states as Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa and Kaduna.He noted that the four-year project was aimed at improving access and quality of basic education, especially for the girl-children in the country.

Represented by the Minister of State, Prof. Anthony Anwukah, Adamu who noted that the North East has the highest number of out-of-school children in the country, urged the benefiting states to ensure that the funds marked out for the projects were well utilised.

Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, in his remarks said his administration had declared a state of emergency in the education sector due to its poor state.

He said that the issues of teacher training and retraining, teacher-welfare and the schools’ feeding programme were among the top provisions under the state of emergency.

Tambuwal assured that funds earmarked for the project would be judiciously utilised. Also speaking, a World Bank representative in the country, Tunde Adekola, said the initiative would be implemented under the Nigeria Partnership For Education Project.

Post-UTME: Requiem for controversial examination, money spinner

Candidates at a typical computer-based test centre

One year after Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, predicted that the Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (Post-UTME) would be done away with, the prediction came to pass last week. Expectedly, the development has come with an avalanche of reactions from stakeholders, whose positions have been as divergent as their personalities. While this rages, universities that are also mourning the loss of millions of naira they make from the exercise, just as they claim that academically deficient candidates would once again find their way into universities. On the hand, some stakeholders are applauding government’s decision to put an end to what they consider an aberration, writes ENO-ABASI SUNDAY.

What would make a candidate that is in possession of a breathtaking Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result, issued by organisers of the test, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), goofed so badly in a routine session with admission officials in the course of seeking admission into a university remains a puzzle.

In one such situation, in a university in the South West, a pretty lady brandishing a “good-looking” Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) certificate, from an otherwise reputable institution, and an equally good UTME result from JAMB, left admission officers mouth agape, when she displayed immense ignorance as she was asked basic questions about her intended course of study in the university.

Dazed, the admission team changed gear and buffeted her with possible JAMB questions. Of course she still looked completely lost. Convinced that the equally good UTME result she wielded could never have been as a result of her genuine efforts, the school effectively turned down her admission request.

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Dogara decries Nigerians’ N1.5tn spending on overseas education

Yakubu Dogara

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, said on Monday that an urgent solution must be found to the “over N1.5tn” spent by Nigerians in search of education overseas yearly.

 The speaker admitted that this was an indication that the country’s education sector required immediate overhaul by the Federal Government, the National Assembly and other stakeholders. Dogara spoke in Abuja at the opening of a public hearing on three bills and three motions by the House Committee on Tertiary Education.

One of the bills, which generated interest at the session, was a ‘Bill for an Act to Amend the TETFund ACT 2011’.

The Speaker was represented by the Chief Whip of the House, Mr. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, while the committee was chaired by Mr. Aminu Suleiman.

 Dogara said, “The alarming report that Nigerians spend over N500m annually on their children studying in the United States of America and the United Kingdom calls for concern from every Nigerian.

“The House of Represen-tatives is equally worried that over N1.5tn, which is nearly half of the total Federal Government Appropriations in 2015, is spent on Nigerians studying abroad.

 “There is no better time for all hands to work together to overhaul our education sector than now so that this sector can be turned into a source of foreign exchange as is the case with other countries.

 “The House is determined to pursue this goal to fruition in fulfilment of its prescriptions in the Legislative Agenda to make concerted efforts in bringing about the desired change in the sector.”

At the hearing, the management of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund kicked against any plans to include federal colleges of education as beneficiaries of the fund.

The Acting Executive Secretary of TETFund, Mr. Aliyu Na’Iya, told lawmakers that including agricultural colleges as beneficiaries would defeat the aim of the fund.

He explained that TETFund was for universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, excluding agricultural colleges.

 Na’Iya stated, “The existing Act should be allowed to exist as it is.

 “If amended, it will result in eroding the intervention function and impact of the fund.”

 But, many stakeholders, who thronged the venue of the hearing at the National Assembly, Abuja, disagreed with the TETFund boss.

The majority of them, who were provosts of colleges of agriculture from across the country, argued that non-funding of the colleges by TETFund had denied them of development.

According to the stakeholders, the name “monotechnic”, was coined for the colleges just to allow them to suffer neglect over the years.

 They told the committee that the name was strange as it could not be found in any English Dictionary.

 Meanwhile, academic researchers in Nigeria, under the aegis of Academic Staff Union of Research Institutes, on Monday, stormed the National Assembly protesting against their exclusion from the TETFund.

While demanding a review of the TETFund Act, they said the scope of distribution of funds should be extended to all research institutes in the country.

At about 9am, the protesters, numbering over 200 and led by the Secretary-General of ASURI, Dr. Theophilus Ndubuaku, besieged the National Assembly, chanting solidarity songs.

Some of the protesters displayed placards with various inscriptions.

According to the group, despite campaigns for diversification of the economy, government has not deemed it necessary to adequately fund the research institutes sector.

UN ambassador wants early exposure of girl-child to reading, writing

To ensure that girls are properly equipped to contribute meaningfully to societal development, parents and teachers should encourage the girl child to imbibe reading and writing habits at an early age.

United Nations Peace Ambassador, Unyime-Ivy King, while speaking at the Girls Revolution Annual Conference, which took place at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), with the theme, “Girls Education: A Viable Tool for Nation Building,” stressed the all-important role girls play in societal advancement if they are exposed to education early in life.

King, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Heritage Treasure Trove Communication, who spoke on the topic: “Reading Girls are Leading Girls,” said reading is an important building block for learning and a situation where one cannot read because they lack the skills to do so or interest, leads to serious problems in the future. This is because reading plays a very vital role in one’s development as well as the development of the society.

“If you want to participate in modern society in ways that are meaningful, you must be able to read as well as write well. When you develop good reading skills, it enhances the chances of you becoming successful at school and beyond school. Reading is not just for school, but it is also a lifelong process,” King stated

She told the girls that, “Reading empowers you with knowledge that can equip you to rise above poverty. It expands your mind beyond what you know and it enlarges your horizon to see possibilities. Through books, we get to know stories of unknown places, descriptions of places we have not been to, and vivid imagination about other countries that we have not visited

“In order for you to be become a leading girl, you must seek knowledge that will help you to develop yourself. Harry Truman (33rd United States President) said that, ‘not every reader is a leader, but every leader is a reader.’ If you want to lead, you simply must read. It will help you stand out and also equip you with the qualities you need for leadership,” the peace ambassador stated.

King urged the students to develop the habit of reading good books, including biographies of great people that they admire in life to see what they did to attain the heights they have in life.

On her part, the Youth Ambassador and Project Assistant at Red Cross, Aziza Dangote, who spoke on self-development, encouraged the students to always work their passion and not read books alone.