Nigeria made it to 2014 Hult Prize of $1,000,000

NIGERIA’S flag bearer in the sixth Annual Hult Prize, the American University of Nigeria has advanced to the regional finals of the competition, which winners will receive $1,000,000 in startup funding.

This year there were more than 4, 000
applications from among which the AUN team, which comprises of Hafsat Adamu, Blessing Douglas, and Lucy Okonkwo was offered a place to compete. AUN’s team is the only one from Nigeria to advance to the Dubai stage of the
competition.

“Part of what qualified us is our university’s development mission and commitment to fostering development in our region and the continent, together with the students’ strong, longstanding record of academic excellence and
community engagement,” said AUN’s President Margee Ensign, An instructor in Business & Entrepreneurship, Fardeen Dodo, who coached last year’s team, said the competition will enrich the students’
college experience.

“Besides the competition, students will benefit from several workshops, networking, and entrepreneurial learning events run by a number of professionals and trail-blazing global experts, including Stuart Fleming of Enviroserve, Garett
Awad of the Scholl Centre of Entrepreneurship, Ali Edrissi of JP Morgan (UK), and Khaled Gazawi, the CEO of Grameen-Jameel.”

Dodo who added that the step attained so far by the students was “…demonstration of how far our students are ready to go, to action up our vision of development and commitment to addressing the longstanding social challenges that confront Nigeria and Africa at large.”

In partnership with President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative, the innovative programme aims to solve the planet’s most pressing challenges.

Student teams compete in six cities around the world for a chance to secure the $1m prize money meant to launch a sustainable social venture.

The 2015 Hult Prize will focus on building
start-ups that provide sustainable, high quality, and early education solutions to 10 million children under the age of six in urban slums and beyond by 2020.

This year’s challenge was selected and set by former American president, Bill Clinton, who said, “The Hult Prize is about
more than the solution to the problem; it’s about how the world has to work in the 21st century.”

In his remarks, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and founder of the Hult Prize Foundation, Ahmad Ashkar said, “Servicing the world’s poorest through profitable and sustainable enterprise is not just good for the world; it’s great business.

Our pioneering platform builds
ecosystems by leveraging crowd and we
couldn’t be happier that the American University of Nigeria will be joining our mission with their participation in the 6th annual Hult Prize.”

The Hult Prize gives entrepreneurs from around the world a platform to innovate and revolutionize the way society thinks about servicing the poor.

Each team selected was
chosen from more than 20, 000 applications received from over 500 colleges and universities in over 150 countries. The Hult Prize regional final competitions will take place on March 13
and 14, 2015, in Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai, and Shanghai. The AUN Hult team will compete in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

Following the regional finals, one winning team from each host city will move into a summer business incubator, where participants will receive mentorship, advisory, and strategic planning training as they create prototypes and set-up to launch their new social business. 

A final round of competition will be hosted by the Clinton Global Initiative at its annual meeting in September this year, where CGI delegates will select a winning team, and the prize to be personally awarded by Clinton, who described, the Hult Prize as “a wonderful example of the creative cooperation needed to build a world with shared opportunity, shared responsibility, and shared prosperity, and each year I look forward to seeing the many outstanding ideas the competition produces.”

To learn more, visit www.hultprize.org

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UNILAG wins debating championship tourney

The University of Lagos has emerged winners of the second All Nigerian Universities Debating Championship.

Messrs Nathan Odiase and Temitope Ojelade led the university to victory in the tournament.

The competition, which the university hosted, started on January 24, and ended on January 29, 2015.

The University of Calabar emerged second while the Imo State University came third in the competition, which featured 17 universities.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, the UNILAG Vice- Chancellor, Prof. Rahamon Bello, thanked all the participants for their commitment to excellence..He said, “There are over 200 institutions and for us to have 17 universities shows that you people are the best and I want you to count yourselves lucky.”

Also, the Dean, Students’ Affairs Division, Prof. Tunde Babawale, who expressed joy that UNILAG hosted and won the championship, noted that it provided a platform for UNILAG students to sharpen their skills within the limited available resources.

Similarly, Mr. Victor Onuoha, who represented the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie, underscored the importance of the championship.

He also applauded the adjudicators, participating universities and UNILAG for being a wonderful host.

Diamond Bank & Child Development

The management of the Diamond Bank Plc has said that it is committed to supporting the intellectual development of children.

The bank’s Executive Director, Lagos and West Businesses, Mr. Victor Ezenwoko stated this during the presentation of the finalists of the 2015 edition of the “Vision of the child” competition.

The initiative, sponsored by the bank is a live painting and literary arts competition for children to support the commemoration of the Lagos Black Festival of Arts and Culture.

According to Ezenwoko, the bank’s support for the competitive programme is in recognition of the importance of children to the future of the country.

He said, “Nigeria’s future depends not only on our children but also on the investment we make on them. It is in recognition of this that the bank supports the competition. As a responsible corporate institution, we will continue to support this initiative because it is our
own little contribution towards the wellbeing of the Nigerian Child.”

Ezenwoko also stressed the need to nurture and develop the intellect of children to enable them to become intellectually sound adults later in life.

Commending the organisers of the
competition, Ezenwoko said it would afford children the opportunity to reveal their minds.

He said, “This has made it easy for them to write and paint on the challenging theme posed at them annually by Prof. Wole Soyinka. This generation will overtake the generation of unemployable graduates produced in the last few years.

These children will win laurels from
international competitions with adequate preparation that is being given to them through the Vision of a Child project.”

The Head, Corporate Communications of the bank, Ayona Trimnell, said the bank had been supporting the project because of its belief in the Nigerian child.

According to her, every Nigerian child is a bundle of potential waiting exposure. She added, “Children in this competition have two areas of arts to show competence in painting and literary arts. Though, the
theme could be challenging for adults but children get inspired from all societal happenings and come up with expressions that are ingenious.’’

Courtesy: www.punchng.com

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NSE 2015 Graduate Trainee Program

Our Graduate Trainee Program

The Nigerian Stock Exchange Graduate Trainee Program (GTP) is an intensive 11 month program designed to groom young global talents locally and raise a new generation of leaders for the Capital Market and the Nigerian economy.

Combining theoretical insights and a hands-on approach, the NSE Graduate Trainee Program (GTP)  will give participants the extraordinary opportunity to learn all aspects of the capital markets and also firmly position them on the right path to career success.

CRITERIA:
1. Graduate from Nigerian and foreign Universities

2. Bachelor's Degree in any discipline

3. Minimum of Second Class Upper Division (2:1)

4. Completion of NYSC between 01 January 2014 and 31 December 2014

5. Maximum age limit of 26 years by 31st December 2014

How to apply: Interested candidates who meet the eligibility criteria should apply at:

http://e-recruiter.ng/portal/NSE

Application closes 13th of February, 2015.

The NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE -

www.nse.com.ng

@nsecontact

facebook.com/TheNigerianStockExchange

Cowbell Mathematics Competition 2015

The Cowbell National Secondary Schools Mathematics Competition is an event sponsored by Cowbell Milk (a quality food product from Promasidor Nigeria Limited) and approved by the Federal Ministry of Education.

We have been running this competition nationally for over a decade and it is widely acclaimed as one of the most credible educational competitions in Nigeria that truly seeks to reward excellence.

We wish to express our sincere gratitude for the total support and encouragement given to the competition during the previous editions and to seek your continued support in our efforts to help our students develop an interest in mathematics, science and vocational subjects, in line with the National Curriculum, so that we can together move education forward in Nigeria.

The 2015 edition marks the 15th year sponsorship of NASSMAC by Cowbell. To commemorate this feat, the Second Stage has been modified to include an interactive QUIZ format (Quarter-Final, Semi-final & Final).

Also, the prize money has been improved for both students and teachers. This is part of Cowbell’s effort in rewarding excellence.

There are prizes for Candidates and Teachers both at the State and National levels. Apart from cash prizes, the National Champions and their Teachers will be sponsored to an all expense paid vacation.

The best three schools in each category will receive Mathematics Textbooks and High Class Metal Sign Posts bearing the name of the school. In addition, the Schools producing the first Prize Winner in each category at the National level will receive 5 Desktop Computers and a Printer each.

How to enter

1. The Mathematics Competition is open to students from 10 - 18 years of age attending full time Secondary Education in both Public and Private Schools in Nigeria.

2. Entry into this competition is FREE.

3. Each School is required to present their BEST six (6) students in Mathematics (three from JSS3 and three from SSS2), irrespective of sex, religion, tribe or state of origin, to enhance their chances of qualifying for the next stage of the competition.

4. Each School head should collect six (6) registration forms which must be correctly filled, stamped and signed by the School Principal and presented by the Students to the offcials at the examination centre on the examination day.

School Principals may also download registration forms online at www.promasidor-ng.com.

Forms can also be obtained at the various State Ministries of Education Pan Nigeria and Promasidor Nig. Ltd, depots and offices nationwide. Please note that photocopied forms are allowed, as long as the School Principal endorses it.
5. The organizers would like this competition announced daily at the assembly and the posters conspicuously displayed at all Notice Boards, Assembly Halls and School entrances.

Rules and Regulations

1. The First stage examination will hold in all states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Saturday, March 14th, 2015 at 10:00am. However, accreditation of all candidates begins at 8:00am.

2. Candidates must come to their designated examination centres with their Registration Forms.

3. Late comers will not be allowed to write the examination.

4. Candidates are to come along with only a pencil, biro, eraser, ruler and statistical table, NO CALCULATORS WILL BE ALLOWED.

5. Any act of misconduct will lead to disqualifcation of the candidate.

6. All candidates MUST be in their School Uniform.

7. Please refer to examination centre list to check for the centre nearest you.

8. The competition is ONLY open to Students in JSS 3 and SSS 2. Candidates in any other Grade/Class will be disqualifed.

9. The decision of the board of examiners is fnal! We shall not enter into any correspondence with anyone regarding the conduct of this examination.

Second stage Reloaded

The mechanics of Second Stage has been refreshed to include an exciting quiz segment. 54 Students from junior and senior category will qualify for the Second Stage reloaded.

The top 20 students from around the country and representatives from 33 states of the federation and the FCT.

Category a: junior category
This category is made up of students in JSS 3.

Category b: Senior Category
This category is made up of students in SSS 2.

please note

· Candidates are advised to check their results online at www.promasidor-ng.com as from Wednesday, May 20th, 2015.

·We strongly recommend that students sit for the examination at centres nearest to them

· Results can also be obtained from respective State Ministries of Education and Promasidor Nigeria Ltd Offces nationwide.

· Only qualified candidates will be contacted for the second stage of the examination

· The decision of the Board of Examiners is final. We shall not enter into any correspondence with anyone regarding the conduct of this examination

· The Second Stage of the examination would be in an exciting Quiz format – Quarter-finals, Semi- finals and finals.

2015 Kandaval schools table tennis

ORGANISERS of the 2015 edition of the Kandaval Inter-School Table Tennis Championship, tagged Kandaval Cup, have named Isheri Grammar School, Ojodu Berger, Lagos, as the venue of the competition.

The competition brings together five schools that have qualified from the several zones across the state to battle for the top prizes in the boys and girls categories.

These schools
include hosts Isheri Grammar School, Ojodu, Wesley Girls Secondary School, Yaba, St. Finbarr’s College, Yaba, Sanya Grammar School, Ijeshatedo and Jubril Martins Grammar School, Iponri.

According to Kandaval, the aim of the
competition is to help unearth new talents for the country and as part of the initiative, top national coaches will help to identify talents at the event.

Speaking on the competition, the Managing Director of Kandaval, Tony Obot, pledged the company’s commitment to the game, adding
that the organisers have donated table tennis boards, bats, balls and other accessories to help the participating schools and participants to tune up for the competition.

Guests expected at the event are former
Nigerian ping-pong king, Babatunde Obisanya and Tony Ubani of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, among other top dignitaries from the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com

February 6th Public Holiday

The Kano State Government has declared Friday, Feb. 6 public holiday to allow civil servants who have not collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to do so.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer in the office of the state Head of Service, Alhaji Mustapha Fagge, and issued to newsmen in Kano on Thursday.

According to the statement, the public holiday is necessary to enable civil servants use the opportunity to obtain their PVCs at INEC designation centres.

The statement urged civil servants to ensure that they visited the distribution centres to collect their PVCs.

Says NAN

http://ngrguardiannews.com

Fake WASSCE Syllabus in Circulation

THE WEST AFRICAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL
Private Mail Bag No. 1022, Yaba, Lagos


FAKE VERSION OF WASSCE REGULATIONS AND SYLLABUSES IN CIRCULATION

The attention of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has been drawn to the existence of a fake version of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) Regulations and Syllabuses, copies of which are being sold to the Public by unscrupulous persons.


Features of the fake Version (which a blue cover and contains 568 pages) are as follows:

1. Listing of expired texts (2006-2010) for Lit-In-English, Arabic and Nigerian Languages;

2. Omission of Syllabuses for all the newly-introduced trade subjects;

3. Wrong examination Scheme and contents for revised syllabuses in several subjects;

4. Out-dated information on the Current Chairman of Council, the Registrar and the locations of the offices of the Council;

5. Wrong validity period spanning 2013 - 2016.


Members of the public who wish to purchase hard copies of the approved WASSCE Regulations and Syllabuses (2014 - 2016) are advised to contact the Council's offices nationwide. Schools can also download the Regulations and Syllabuses from the WAEC e-registration site: www​.waeconline.org.ng


SIGNED : Management
Wednesday January 28th 2015.

Biggest Education Show in Africa - TOSSE 2015

The TOSSE "T’esperience" is the Total Experience we create for our visitors and exhibitors. For six years, it’s been one filled with satisfaction, cheers and plenty more.

 “You ran a great show. I even overheard a man raving about what an incredible experience this was for him; very proud it was all put together here in Nigeria! You made him proud…and made me proud too. Thank you.
Congratulations to you and your (well-oiled) team.”
2013 Exhibitor

A very big thank you to Edumark, the organizers of TOSSE 2014. Well done. The exhibition was wonderfully organized. More grease to your elbow for giving the education sector such a powerful lift.
2014 Exhibitor

With over 7000 educators expected at this year’s event, TOSSE is the right platform to navigate your way in the education world.


We are quite excited about the numerous benefits we have for our Exhibitors at the 7th Edition of the Total School Support Seminar/Exhibition scheduled to hold as follows:
 
Date: 11th / 12th of June, 2015
Venue: Ten Degrees Event Centre, Billings Way, Oregun, Lagos, Nigeria.
Time: 10:00 am daily 

The theme for this edition is "Inspiring the Future" and we expect a 50% rise in our attendance. We recorded over 4,000 visitors from about 19 states at the last Edition.

For the Education community, TOSSE is the place to learn, to see, and to get the most innovative products/services.

We invite you to join us at TOSSE 2015 and reach out to the Education market. Vast Networking opportunities, viable business leads, presentations... all in a fully airconditioned and safe environment.

We would certainly be delighted to welcome your organisation to TOSSE 2015.

Simply e-mail or phone us our executives would provide all the information you need.

For Exhibition Space, Product Presentation, Brochure Advert, Venue Branding, Handbill Distribution, Ushers Branding
 
Yinka Ogunde
CEO, EDUMARK CONSULT

For Exhibition space, advert in Event brochure and presentation.

Contact:
0709 317 5270  |  0812 758 6122  |  0802 839 9138 
 
Email:
info@tosse.com.ng
info@edumarkng.com 

Call: 0709 317 5270 | 0812 758 6122.
EDUMARK CONSULT
18, Oyetola Idowu Street, Off Sura Mogaji
Coker Road, Ilupeju
Lagos 100211
Nigeria

Email: info@tosse.com.ng

GTB Lagos State Principals Cup Commence

OVER 20 secondary schools and their officials on 28 of January at the corporate headquarters of GTB Bank Victoria Island Lagos, where draws for the final phase of the sixth edition of the Lagos State Principals Cup washeld.

The championship, which is billed to kick off 2nd of February 2015, saw the competing 24 secondary schools boys’ teams drawn into three groups, with t

he opening game in Group A featuring Ogunmodede College Epe against Dr. Lucas Memorial College, Kirikiri.

Other matches will see Ikorodu Senior
Grammar School battling King Ado High School Lagos in Group B, just as Sango Senior High School would contend with Agidingbi Senior Grammar School.

Three teams would qualify in each of the
groups after the first stage, which is on round robin basis.

In the girls category, which features 18 teams, CMS Senior School, Bariga, will battle Epe Girls High School in Group A, Methodist Girls High School, Yaba, will face Alakoto Senior High School Agege in Group B.

'30 per cent budget on education’

Since the Coordinating Minister of the Economy,
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, presented the 2015
budget estimates of about N4.358trillion to the
National Assembly out of which N492, 034billion
was proposed for education, some observers
have contended that the vote still fell short of
UNESCO’s 26 per cent recommendation and
was not likely to effect change in the troubled
sector. However, former Executive Secretary,
National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof
Peter Okebukola in this interview with UJUNWA
ATUEYI clarified the true stance of the budget.
Okebukola who is also the President of UNESCO
Global University Network for Innovation (GUNI)
Africa and Chairman of Council of University of
West Africa, advised that the budget proposal
be raised to 30 per cent, among other issues.
Excerpts:
THE 2015 budget as revealed by the Federal
Government showed a proposal of N492,
034billion for education out of N4.3trillion
national budget. In the 2011 budget,
N306.3bn was allocated to education; in
2012(N400.15bn); in 2013(N426.53bn); and (N
493b) in 2014 representing 10.7 per cent of the
N4.6tn national budget in that year. Looking at
this analysis, what is your perception about this
trend?
The trend of course is far from encouraging
considering the deplorable state of our
education system. We need to at least triple the
current allocation to shake off the ignoble state
of the system by applying the funds largely to
significantly improve facilities for teaching and
learning, teacher quality and welfare and
curriculum delivery. We need the funds to break
down obstacles to access of over 10 million
out-of-school children. We need the funds to
improve school safety. We need the funds to
improve reading culture among our youths and
for overall improvement in the quality of delivery
of education.
I should stress that the 10.7 per cent you
quoted only gives a narrow view of the
anticipated picture of funding education in
Nigeria in 2015. My research group estimates
the proportion, nationally, to be above 20 per
cent, when we factor in budgets from state
governments and from budgets of intervention
agencies notably the Universal Basic Education
Commission (UBEC) and Tertiary Education
Trust Fund (TETFund).
In 2015, UBEC and TETFund alone will inject
not less than N100 billion into basic and higher
education respectively which are not captured in
the regular national budget which you are
referring to. This is aside from funds which
SURE-P will provide to support education.
We also need to realise that the budget
proposal of N492,034 bn for education going to
the national assembly for appropriation is only
for funding education at the federal level. This
will service only federal tertiary institutions
(about a third of the total number in Nigeria),
104 Unity Colleges (less than 0.002 per cent of
the national total), 25 parastatals of the Federal
Ministry of Education and the Federal Ministry of
Education itself. Each of the 36 states and the
FCT will also present their education budgets to
their respective State Assemblies. When
aggregated together alongside the contribution
of the intervention agencies, we will have a
proportion in the neighbourhood of 23 per cent.
Does it mean that the 26 per cent United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) recommendation is not
realisable?
The 26 per cent figure often ascribed to
UNESCO is mythical. It only exists in the
Nigerian literature on education. I suspect that
it is a figure that arose out of a
recommendation of a localised UNESCO
meeting, which probably held in Nigeria
sometime in the past and does not bind the
entire organisation. I have had to ask two
Directors-General of UNESCO about this figure
and they claim not to be aware of it. For
Nigeria, I believe we should strive for a minimum
of 30 per cent for the next 20 years to clear the
mess in the sector.
Clearly, 30 per cent is realisable for if there is
a will, there is a way. Lip service in funding is
what education generously gets in Nigeria. I am
aware that other sectors such as health,
agriculture and security are important and will
also desire generous funding. What our leaders
fail to realise and appreciate is that education is
the antidote to challenges in all other sectors. It
is often said that education cannot solve all of
society’s problems but without education no
solution is possible.
What we should do in my view is to elevate
funding to education at the federal, state and
local government levels for the next 20 years
with the collateral effect of lowering funding in
other sectors. After 20 years when quality
education is on solid ground for all citizens, the
allocation to education can then slide
downwards for other sectors to enjoy a hike in
their budgetary allocation. It is a matter of
careful planning and continuity in the
implementation of government policies on
education at all levels.
One important point to note as I conclude my
answer to this question is the judicious use of
the funds, albeit meagre, which is allocated and
released for education. There is a lot of leakage
and corruption in the system that the more we
throw money into the sector, the more money
becomes available to be “chopped”. There is the
need, therefore, to install a robust accountability
and probity mechanism into the financial
operations in the sector (and of course, other
sectors) so that as much as possible, all
financial leakages are plugged.
With these allocations, what is the place of
Nigeria (being the Giant of Africa) when
compared to other African countries?
Let me answer this question with some
empirical data. As leader of an African Union-
European Union project, which studied the
quality of university education in 2014, my team
found a generally poor quality of higher
education systems in all 54 African countries
that we studied in comparison with Europe and
North America. Within this gloomy picture, it is
bittersweet to note that the Nigerian university
system rated among the best in Africa. It is
proverbially said that if you have not visited the
farm of others, you will believe that your
father’s farm is either the best or the worst.
Aside from South Africa and Egypt, our data
showed that no other national university system
in Africa matched the quality of curriculum, staff
and students of the Nigerian university system.
At international conferences, Nigerian scholars
are rated among the best in terms of quality of
participation. Students trained in Nigerian
universities are highly sought after for
postgraduate studies in European and North
American universities and during postgraduate
training, they perform among the best.
On the not-so-pleasing side, our data revealed
that relative to many other countries in Africa,
Europe and North America, Nigerian universities
are poor in infrastructure, reading culture is poor
among students and research culture among
staff is weak. If we elevate the performance of
our universities on the variables of quality of
infrastructure, quality of research and improve
reading culture among our students, no nation
in Africa will come anywhere near the tall
standing of the Nigerian university system in
terms of the quality of process and quality of
products.
This is the task for those who will be steering
governance in Nigeria after the February 2015
elections. We need to balance quality with
quantity in delivering university education. The
rate of expansion in enrolment should match the
rate of provision of facilities and human
resources. We need to reduce financial leakages
and profligate spending by political and other
office holders so as to free funds for better
funding of our universities.
If the Nigerian university system is rated among
the best in Africa as you said, despite the
shortfall in funding, what kind of system do you
think we will have if education in general is
adequately funded?
If education in general in Nigeria were better
funded, we will have a country that will parade
the best statistics in the world in health,
education, security, economy, environment,
agriculture, science and technology and in other
sectors. We will have a country, which the
Chairman of the NUC Board while I was
Executive Secretary, Alhaji Maitama Sule,
envisions to be paradise on earth. We will have
a country that will lead Africa to claim the 21st
century. As Executive Secretary of NUC between
2001 and 2006, I confirm that the Obasanjo
administration ensured a huge jump in funding
of our universities which translated to
significant improvement in the global ranking of
our universities in 2007. Since we did this
before, we can do it again across the education
sector.
I should stress that the condition of adequate
funding is only just necessary to make us get to
that dreamland. It is not sufficient. It will
become sufficient when we have truly
nationalistic, corruption-intolerant and God-
fearing leaders at all levels of governance and in
both the public and private sectors. I am not
talking about the president or state governors or
managing directors of private companies. I am
talking about these and all those who are in
leadership including vice-chancellors, principals
of secondary schools, head teachers of primary
schools, heads of academic departments in
universities, polytechnics and colleges of
education. May God give us such worthy
leaders.
Would you say that the present administration
has shown serious attention to educational
development?
No doubt, the present administration has done
well in many areas on education development.
Several areas notably access and quality are
still struggling to be served. You know I am not
a politician but an academic, so I will provide an
unbiased assessment.
Let us take 2014 as example. There were at
least 12 defining events in the education sector
in Nigeria in 2014. It is possible to cluster these
as the good, the bad and the ugly. On the good
and positive entries in the report card are the
improved performance of candidates in the May/
June Senior School Certificate examination
conducted by WAEC; increase in access as
additional 982,000 were enrolled nationwide in
the basic education system and the carrying
capacity of the 129 universities leapt to about
1,000,000. Recall that the present
administration established 12 new federal
universities and the Presidential Special
Scholarship Scheme for Innovation and
Development.
We also had the establishment of more Almajiri
schools to depress the number of out-of-school
children, which was put at about 10 million. The
curriculum at all levels enjoyed some positive
tweaking by NERDC, NCCE, NBTE, and NUC.
NUC’s action was particularly striking in
entrenching an improved entrepreneurship
studies programme in Nigerian universities
whose positive impact showed during the
national entrepreneurship fair in December 2014.
Funding for physical development and research
by TETFund was above the N80 billion mark
during the year. These six events were blue
marks on the report card.
On the “bad” and negative (red) entries in the
education report card in 2014 are four notable
events. The woeful performance of candidates in
the November/December senior school
certificate examination with more than 50 per
cent failing to earn five credits in English,
Mathematics and three other subjects is one.
Also, teacher quality across all levels of the
education system remained generally shameful
and unacceptably low. Quality of buildings and
other teaching-learning infrastructure did not
significantly improve and so is the poor reading
culture among students.
The “ugly” entry on the report card on school
safety has put Nigeria on the dark side of the
world map. This entry includes the alleged
slaughter by Boko Haram of 43 secondary
school students in Federal Government College,
Buni Yadi in February and the abduction in April
of about 200 girls from Government Secondary
School in Chibok. Taken together, the overall
score shown in the education report card at the
state and federal levels is far from the pass
grade. If I were the class teacher of this student
known as Nigeria, I will make the following
closing comments on the 2014 performance in
education: “You need to buckle up next session.
You were rather too laid back with severe
consequences for your future. Work harder in
the area of access, teacher quality and
facilities.”
The 2015 general elections will commence in
less than one month, what advice do you have
for Nigerians as regards electing credible
leaders.
I will advise Nigerians including myself to “shine
our eyes” and not be fooled or hoodwinked by
sweet talks of the politicians who are interested
only in their pockets. We should vote according
to our conscience and in line with what we
believe the politician can deliver by way of
dividends of democracy. This is why education
is important. With a current illiterate population
of about 30 per cent, more will be hoodwinked.
With more money to education, illiteracy rate
will depress and the electorate will be wiser
when casting votes and selecting their leaders.

Written by UJUNWA ATUEYI

http://m.ngrguardiannews.com

N10,000 entrance exam fee into Lagos model schools condemned

*Govt begins sales of forms
THE Education Rights Campaign (ERC) has
called on Lagos State Government to reverse the
N10,000 placement test fee for pupils seeking
admission into the state’s Model Colleges/
Upgraded Junior Secondary Schools (JSSI) for
the 2015/2016 academic session.
Al statement made available to The Guardian
and signed by the National Coordinator, Hassan
Taiwo Soweto
and National Secretary, Michael Ogundele,
informed that the
b decision of Governor Fashola led administration
to charge parents and guardians N10, 000 fee
for screening test into the state’s Model schools
is unlawful.
social responsibility and given the glaring deficit
in Nigeria’s school population especially to the
disadvantage of the girl child, it is expected that
government would make effort to ensure that
less of the cost of education is put on parents
and guardians in order to promote enrolment.
We demand that the decision to charge the said
amount be immediately reversed in the interest
of the good people of the State.”
“It is unfortunate that soon after the Lagos
State University (LASU) was rescued from a
debilitating astronomical hike in fees, the Lagos
State government is looking towards the Junior
Secondary subsector to implement its anti-poor
motives and agenda for public education.”
“We urge the State government to live up to its
much-advertised free education policy. It is
nothing but a show of shame when a
government claims to be implementing free
education while it at the same time imposes on
parents and guardians all kinds of charges
running into thousands.”
Meanwhile a statement previously released by
the State’s Ministry of Education, informed that
the State has commenced the sales of forms for
the screening test for admission of primary six
pupils into JSS1 of its Model Colleges/Upgraded
Junior Secondary Schools for the 2015/2016
academic session.
The State Commissioner for Education, Mrs.
Olayinka Oladunjoye, in the statement, explained
that two versions of the screening tests will be
adopted this year adding that there will be the
Computer Based Test (CBT), open to only about
b 20 to 30 interested candidates that will like to
participate in the pilot scheme and the regular
Pencil Based Test (PBT) with computer answer
sheet.
She informed that the registration of
candidates could be done through a customised
CD that will be issued to candidates by the
State Examination Board upon the payment of
the sum of N10,000 per candidate payable into
any branch of Fidelity bank with account number
5030000739, agency code 4280011 and revenue
code 40200045; Skye bank with account number
1770602459, agency code 280011 and revenue
code 40200045; and FCMB with account number
L 0135582205, agency code 4280011 and revenue
code 40200045.
She further stated that the screening test is
the only yardstick for admission of pupils into
JSS1 in any of the state’s 15 Model Colleges
across the six education districts.
The screening test is scheduled to hold on
Saturday, May 9, 2015 at the various designated
centers, while the pilot scheme of the CBT will
hold at the ICT/Computer Centre of the State
Examinations Board, Agege.
She urged members of the public, parents,
guardians, head teachers, proprietors and
proprietress of primary schools in the state to
beware of the information and be guided
accordingly.
The 15 Model Colleges/Upgraded Schools
include Lagos State Model Junior College,
Meiran; Vetland Junior Grammar School, Ifako
Iyaiye; Lagos State Model Junior College,
Igbokuta; Lagos State Civil Service Model Junior
College, Igbogbo; Oriwu Model Junior College,
Ikorodu; Government Junior College, Ikorodu;
Eva Adelaja Memorial Junior Secondary School,
Bariga; Lagos State Model Junior College,
Badore; Lagos State Model Junior College,
Igbonla; and Lagos State Model Junior College,
Agbowa.
Others are Government Junior College, Ketu-Epe;
Epe Junior Grammar School, Epe; Lagos State
Model Junior College, Kankon; Lagos State
Model Junior College, Ojo; and Badagry Junior
Grammar School, Badagry.
The sales of forms will close on Friday, April 3,
2015.

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JAMB 2015, CBT only!

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, (JAMB), yesterday, commenced the sales of 2015 application form that will usher in the full implementation of computer based test, CBT, in the 2015 universal tertiary matriculation examinations. This is according to a press release by the registrar of JAMB, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde that was made available to the media on Tuesday (September candidates are expected to start purchasing their forms from Monday, September 15th, 2014 to Thursday January 15th, 2015. Professor Ojerinde, who assured candidates that the Board has fine-tuned arrangements with computer based test (CBT) centres to register prospective UTME candidates, prayed for a stress free registration exercise for candidates.

The JAMB boss warned potential candidates about the impersonation and other malpractices usually initiated during the registration process by cyber-cafes. He also assured that the agency has decided to regulate JAMB registration centers to ensure the system is malpractice free. According to the press release, candidates are to obtain their application forms at designated banks after which they are to proceed to any approved CBT centres and register for the examination at a regulated fee. The forms cost N4, 500. It was gathered that there are about 300 centres all over the country and that members of staff of the centres have been trained for purpose of registering candidates. Professor Ojerinde also informed candidates that as part of ensuring standard and quality of public examination in line with President Goodluck Jonathan’s reading campaign, the board has reviewed textbooks hitherto read or recommended in previous matriculation examinations to give candidates broader spectrum of literary appreciation. He stated that the board has introduced a book; “The Last Days at Forcados High School”, at a recommended price of N500. “Some of the designated banks from which the JAMB forms could be purchased include; Zenith Bank, Skye Bank, Union Bank, First Bank and NIPOST,” the statement read in part. Download the JAMB Mobile Service application from the Google and Microsoft stores. Source : naijaparrot.com www​.jamb.org.ng/unifiedtme http://www.osundefender.org