Nigerian govt to declare emergency in education in April

Alh. Adamu Adamu

Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Alh. Adamu Adamu, , has said that the Federal Government would declare a state of emergency in the education sector in April, 2018.

He made this disclosure when he received Gov. Abubakar Sani-Bello of Niger State, North-Central Nigeria and, some members of his cabinet at the Federal Ministry of Education Headquarters in Abuja.

Mr. Adamu requested the support of all states governors to do the same in their respective states.

“By the end of April, we are proposing there will be a declaration of state of emergency in the education sector all over the country.

“We request all the state governors to do same in their states and we hope that once this is done our educational sector will improve.”

“I will also meet with the governors to appeal to them to give special emphasis to address the problem of low standard of education especially at primary level,” he said.

The minister said the ministry was planning to present a proposal to the National Council of State for graduates of education to henceforth be employed on Grade Level 10 of eight.

He said the proposal would also include offering employment to students studying education in tertiary institutions.

Earlier, Mr. Bello said the state government was revamping the educational sector through provision of good infrastructure in schools and training of teachers.

Culled from The Guardian Online

 

 

An Addition to the Nigerian Curriculum

By

Anthony Bosco Ororho

“Individuals and societies incorporates disciplines traditionally studied in the humanities, as well as disciplines in the social sciences. In this subject group, students collect, describe and analyse data used in studies of societies, test hypotheses, and learn how to interpret complex information, including original source material. This focus on real-world examples, research and analysis is an essential aspect of the subject group.

What is the significance of individuals and societies in the MYP?

The subject encourages learners to respect and understand the world around them and equips them with the necessary skills to inquire into historical, contemporary, geographical, political, social, economic, religious, technological and cultural factors that have an impact on individuals, societies and environments. It encourages learners, both students and teachers, to consider local and global contexts.”-ibo.org

(Left to Right: Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe; Alh. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa

Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Anthony Enahoro and Chief Jereton Mariere)

I have sat down many a time to reminisce over the trouble in my country Nigeria and, have more than half the time, come up with the realisation that there appears to be a deliberate attempt to drag the image of the country in the mud.

Flash the 1970’s. I was a kid then but learnt so much about my beautiful country. We were taught about Nigeria’s founding father’s and the role that our Nationalists played in order for Nigeria to gain Independence.

In addition, I read about “Abdul and the Angel,” “The man and the Dove,” and other wonderful stories that captured my imagination.

I would look at the photographs of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Alh. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Anthony Enahoro, Chief Nana of Ebrohimi, Chief Mariere and others too numerous to mention. These images with faces attached to them, made me believe strongly in a country called Nigeria.

Did my class mates believe in Nigeria?

Yes they did. Some of us tried to mimic some of these men, the way they dressed, the way they spoke and, we thought we would be like them as we grew up to take our places in the roll call of patriots.

But Alas! these heroes were dumped in the refuse dump like used tissue paper. In our quest to be like the developed nations, we forgot our founding fathers behind, we threw their contributions to the dogs.

When Nigeria was Nigeria, children knew their history, they knew about the histories of surrounding towns and kingdoms and, so it was easy to draw a line connecting the various ethnic nationalities in the country. We were told that we are one. And we believed. It was so easy to believe because, we saw the White man as an intruder but ourselves as Kith and Kin.

Today, the Nigerian kid from the East, does not think ha has any link with the West. If he ever heard of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, he did not hear it from his teacher. He may only hear the name in passing, perhaps from a commentator on Channels Television. Same goes for all the other regions.

I have equally been trying to find out why we as a people have become so dis-United. Something keeps telling me that we do not know our past. Our children are lost between Europe and America. And they are neither from Europe nor America. Therefore, they put up a triple personality-the African, the European and the American. They are neither here nor there.

No wonder, we are still a consumer nation. A man without a National Identity will never think of what he will contribute to the development of the country.

While going through the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme Curriculum, I noticed a subject referred to as “Individuals and Societies.”  And I said to myself: Yes, we need this in Nigeria. It is time we brought back our founding fathers pictures, their contributions, their struggle for Independence and the eventual attainment of Independence to the pages of our school books.

We need to study their lifetimes and see their strengths. We definitely will draw some inspiration from them. The African-American child knows about Martin Luther King, Malcom X, Booker T. Washington, Mohammed Ali and, in recent times, Barrack Obama.

He is able to maintain his identity.

Our children need to maintain their Identity too.

#BringBackOurHistory

Before Cane Kills Abel

By Anthony Bosco Ororho

As a little child, I read from the Bible, the story of the first two siblings ever recorded in human history. the one was Caine and the other Abel. Cain was the older sibling but he did not value spiritual matters but his younger brother Abel, was a good man before God. This caused God to accept Abel’s sacrifice but Caine’s sacrifice, he rejected. and so, Caine filled with rage, killed his own brother Abel and, he became a man slayer.

Teachers today may not go by the name of Caine because very few parents would want to name their children after a murderer. However, some teachers in some schools where corporal punishment is still allowed, have unwittingly named themselves Caine because their pupils/students would not see them dead without a cane (whip).

I believe King Solomon who said that foolishness is tied to the heart of a boy/girl, and, only the rod of discipline can remove it. However, the cane has its rightful place and recommended methods of use.

If a teacher must use the cane, he should first find out what the school’s policy on Discipline is. This is because some schools have outlawed the use of the cane. It will not be a good idea for an unsuspecting teacher to flog the sh-t out of a pupil, only to get the pupils father come to the school to beat the teacher up. And in the end, the teacher may lose his job.

Second, in schools where the use of the cane is allowed, the teacher who uses the can, should administer discipline with a sense of justice. Flogging the living daylight out of a child because s/he was noisy in class, is not appropriate discipline for such a minor offence.

Again, there has been instances of teachers who were waylayed by their students and beaten black and blue, after the teacher has flogged the student in class. We also know of a recent happening where a teacher flogged a student, and, the student went home, reported the matter to her mother who, attacked the teacher. The teacher eventually died.

In the above scenario, Did Caine kill Abel or did Abel kill Cain?

Whoever may have killed who, we at Afro-Global Education Deliveries would like to caution all teachers that it is with WISDOM that a child is corrected, not by coercion.

Therefore, before Caine kills Abel, let each school come up with its Policy On Discipline and Re-orientate its teachers on acceptable standards of discipline.

The Common Entrance Cut-off Mark and the Rest of Us

By Anthony Bosco Ororho

Recent happenings in Nigeria’s Education sector has contradicted the very Goals and Objectives of the system itself, and, it now appears like a festering sore on the foot of a chronic diabetic. I am actually talking about the Nomadic Education Programme vis-à-vis the standard of Education in Northern Nigeria.

   

When we compare the standard of education up-north and that of the rest of the country, one gets the impression that there is a deliberate attempt by the north to slow down the development of the rest of the country.

This is not a politically motivated write-up, rather, it is a clarion call to leaders of thought in that part of the country. As a kid in Primary school, we were told by some teachers that the North slowed down the attainment of political independence of Nigeria, because the region claimed that it has not gotten enough qualified persons to represent them. Therefore while Ghana got her independence in 1957, Nigeria had to wait for the North for another three years.

In line with the above, the Nomadic Education was introduced to up the game of political balance. Read the quote below and see the sense in it.

“The Nomadic Education Program (NEP) was designed to give nomads access to high-quality basic education. The study describes efforts to provide basic education to 3.1 million school-age children of the nomadic people of Nigeria. It elaborates on the innovative approaches and the accomplishments achieved. The study gives the goals targeted, strategies employed and results obtained in initiatives to improve teacher training, adapt the curriculum and create new materials using local languages.”-HALAOUI et al

But the question is:

1. Why should the North be given lower cut-off mark in the Common Entrance Examination while the rest of the country gets a higher cut-off.
2. If that be the case, can the North produce the type of industry captains that Nigeria needs to catch up with the G8?
3. Can one region continue to hold the rest of the country to ransom for ever?

My take on this matter of global importance is that the leaders of the North should allow the region compete favourable with the rest of the country by raising the qualification bar. This of course, must begin from the Primary School stage.

Keeping such large population of people ignorant about life generally is a ticking bomb that is wittingly or unwittingly set to go off at a particular time.

 

Selling your School to Parents

School owners should try to understand what has spurred the most conversations about a prospective client over the past year, and see how they compare to their direct competitors.

Beyond that, School Heads and Teachers can work with consultants, and others to better understand the category and market where the competition operates.

For a school that is striving to keep abreast of trends, it would be helpful to see the kind of body language parents use when trying to choose a school for their children. It also pays to know what parents in a particular choice group feel about the type of Education  you offer before approaching them for marketing purposes.

Ask yourself. “How do Parents feel when I truly understand and care about their Children?”