NDIC presents resource centre to GCI

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation on Thursday 12th of February 2015, inaugurated a N30m Education Resource Centre it built
for the Government College Ibadan.

This came as the corporation’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Umaru Ibrahim, promised that the organisation would not relent in supporting the growth of education in the country.

Ibrahim spoke through the firm’s Director, Asset Management Department, Mr. Bashir Umar. Ibrahim said, “The corporation will not relent in its efforts toward its educational support programme in line with its corporate social responsibility policy by granting financial assistance to education institutions for the growth of the sector in Nigeria.

The donation of the education resource centre to GCI is heart-warming and intended to sustain the academic pedigree of the foremost post primary education institution in the country.”

Also, the Chairman, Kakanfo Inn and Conference Centre, Dr. Lekan Are, who spoke on the occasion, commended the NDIC for donating the centre.

He also urged other individuals and corporate organisations to support the state government’s transformation agenda.

Are, a former president of the alumni association of the school, called on the state government to improve on its support for the school in order to restore its academic excellence.

He said, “The Old Boys Association and the Parent-Teacher-Association are trying their best for the institution, but we still require the support and commitment of the government.

Many facilities and property that used to be the pride of the school have vanished because of poor maintenance culture.

“People that should not be here in this school are here and it is no more the school for those that passed and are qualified through examinations and interviews but for those who are posted there by the ministry of education.

When they say the result of school certificate examination is bad, I tell you, it is the fault of the ministry because it just brings anybody here.”

Courtesy: www.punchng.com

COWLSO donates classrooms

First lady of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola, has called on the private sector to endeavour to support the education sector handsomely.

Fashola made the appeal while inaugurating blocks of classrooms at the Hope Primary School, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The project is a joint effort sponsored by the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials and the MTN Foundation.
Fashola, also the COWLSO Chairperson, commended the foundation for its contribution towards education in the country.

She said, “We embarked on this mission two years ago, when we decided to provide good amenities in our primary schools. While the construction was going on, MTN Foundation accepted to furnish two schools by providing the appropriate furnishings.

“We want to thank the management of MTN Nigeria for partnering with us to support the commitment of Lagos State in providing a conducive learning environment for our tomorrow leaders from the basic education level.

We also want more collaboration from the private sector.” The Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, Nonny Ugboma, said the group was honoured to be part of the
initiative.

She added that state had benefitted from a number of MTNF interventions, such as the donation of dialysis and mammography machines to two general hospitals, among other interventions.

“Since inception in 2009 to date, the MTNF Learning Facility Supply Project has spent well over 1bn on quite a number of initiatives in the education sector.

In this fourth phase, the foundation will present 16,000 desks, benches, tables and chairs to 85,000 schools across the
six geo-political zones in Nigeria,’’ she said.

On the MTNF-COWLSO partnership, Chairperson, COWLSO Building Committee, Mrs. Bimpe Bamgbose-
Martins, expressed delight at the quality of work done by the different contractors handling the project.

She added, “I have no doubt that our collective efforts will produce the change needed in our society,” Bamgbose-Martins said.

Courtesy: www.punchng.com

NTICF offers assistance to pupils in Lagos

The Nigerian-Turkish International College Foundation has offered educational materials to the pupils of the
St. Peter Anglican Nursery and Primary School, Ikeja, Lagos.

According to the NTICF, the gesture is to reduce the hardship faced by many parents in educating their children.

The pupils received stationery packages comprising exercise books, Mathematical sets and pencils among other items.

The Director-General, NTICF, Mr. Fettulah Celik, who presented the items to the pupils, noted that the foundation had earlier presented more than 10,000 similar gifts to other schools in 15 states.
Represented by the Principal Nigerian Turkish International Colleges, Mr. Yunus Dogan, Celik added that the gesture was to “relieve the challenges in education, poverty, psychological and physical advantage.

He further noted, “Our mission is to contribute for a more comfortable and peaceful Nigeria while fighting against poverty.”

The Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, lauded the NTICF for the initiative. Oladunjoye, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Omolara Erogbogbo, urged the foundation to do more to collaborate with the state government.

“This is not the first time your foundation will partner with us but this is the icing on the cake. We are after improved performance in the education sector. This is the foundation of the sector and if we lay the foundation well, the structure will stand the test of time.

But like Oliver Twist, we want more of these intervention,’’ she said. The headmistress, Mrs. Comfort Tuoyo, applauded the foundation for the gifts to the pupils of the school. She said, “There are over 1,000 public primary schools
in Lagos and we are blessed to be the beneficiaries of this programme.

We appreciate you for this gesture and
I am sure it will remain unforgettable and indelible in the hearts of these future leaders.

Courtesy: www.punchng.com

Ideas for School Administrators

During my senior year of college, I
taught math to 26 inmates, none of whom had finished high school. What I faced was 26 examples of the failure of American education.

What I did not realize is the profound effect this would have on my career as a school leader. After teaching for five
years, I became a principal because I felt that I could help underserved kids better in that role. Here are ten ideas I have learned in the 30 years since I became a principal.

1) Your School Must Be For All Kids 100 Percent of the Time: If you start making decisions based on avoiding conflict, the students lose. This is what sustained me
through one of my most difficult decisions. I asked the school district to let our school health center offer birth control after four girls became pregnant in one semester.

For this group of kids, the health center at
King was their primary health care provider. Although we offer birth control to our students, we are not the birth control school; we are the school that cares
about all of its kids. This decision was the right one, and it cemented for all time the central values of King.

2) Create a Vision, Write It Down, and Start Implementing It: Don't put your vision in your drawer and hope for the
best. Every decision must be aligned with that vision.

The whole organization is watching when you make a decision, so consistency is crucial.

3) It's the People, Stupid : The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate
you away from those who are still undecided. Hire people who support your vision, who are bright, and who like kids.

4) Paddles in the Water: In Outward Bound, you learn that when you are
navigating dangerous rapids in a raft, the only way to succeed is for everyone in the boat to sit out on the edge and paddle really hard, even though everyone would rather be sitting in the center, where it's safer.

At King, in times of crisis, everyone responds with paddles in the water.

5) Find Time to Think During the Day:
They pay me to worry. It's OK to stare at the wall and think about how to manage change. I have 70 people who work at King. Even the most centered has three bad days each school year. Multiply that by 70 people and that's 210 bad days, which is more than the 180 school days in a year. So, me, I am never going to have a good day -- just get over it.

6) Take Responsibility for the Good and the Bad: If the problems in your school or organization lie below you and the solutions lie above you, then you have rendered yourself irrelevant. The genius of school lies within the school. The solutions to problems are almost always right in front of you.

7) You Have the Ultimate Responsibility:
Have very clear expectations. Make sure people have the knowledge, resources, and time to accomplish what you expect. This shows respect. As much as possible, give people the autonomy to manage their own work, budget, time, and curriculum. Autonomy is the goal, though you still have to inspect.

8) Have a Bias for Yes: When my son was little, I was going through a lot of
turmoil at King, and I did not feel like doing much of anything when I got home.
One day, I just decided that whatever he wanted to do, I would do -- play ball, eat ice cream, and so on. I realized the power of yes. It changed our relationship. The only progress you will ever make involves risk: Ideas that teachers have may seem a little unsafe and crazy. Try to think,
"How can I make this request into a yes?"

9) Consensus is Overrated: Twenty percent of people will be against anything. When you realize this, you avoid compromising what really should be done because you stop watering
things down. If you always try to reach consensus, you are being led by the 20 percent.

10) Large Change Needs to be Done Quickly: If you wait too long to make changes to a school culture, you have already sanctioned mediocre behavior because you're allowing it. That's when
change is hard, and you begin making bad deals.

Do you know achievements are easy to come by check here to know more

Coutesy: http://www.edutopia.org

Multimedia boards are coming into Lagos Classrooms

The Lagos state Government has concluded plans to acquire 2,000 multimedia interactive solutions for all secondary school and Tertiary Institutions in the state to replace the traditional chalkboards.
The state will also host the first Cambridge-Hitachi Virtual Teaching and Learning Center in Nigeria. The state Governor, Babatunde Fashola stated that the government would be partnering with Cambridge-Hitachi to make the dream a reality.

A statement on Tuesday by the Director, Local Organising Committee Cambridge-Hitachi Virtual Teaching and Learning, Ms. Adebukola Oluderu, quoted  Fashola as saying the move was to upgrade the educational sector in the state.

Fashola said, "All tertiary institutions and secondary schools, totaling about 10,000 in Lagos state, will have the multimedia interactive solutions in each of their classrooms to replace the traditional chalkboards which will allow for world-class teaching and learning."

Oluderu said the state's partnership with the company was a result of a roundtable meeting on education in Africa held in October 2014.
According to Oluderu, the decision of the state government was indicated in a bid forwarded to the Hitachi Group for tertiary and the secondary schools in the state. She added that the meeting was yielding result with the Lagos state Government pioneering the hosting of the center.

Oluderu said a team of delegates from the state would meet with the Cambridge-Hitachi team at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the commencement of the center.

The multimedia solution is vital and important to teaching and learning as it is the hub in which the gains of the Cambridge-Hitachi International Virtual Teaching and learning Center will be transferred and transmitted to all schools," she added.

The Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, said the approval given to Lagos State to host the center was based on Outstanding  performance, availability of infrastructure, and the determination of the state government to improve teaching and learning quality in the educational sector.

‘Nigeria should strive for a minimum of 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 (N493b) 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 datashowed 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 goodand 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

Etisalat calls for more funding of education sector

COMMITTED to promoting academic excellence among tertiary institution students in Nigeria, leading telecommunications giant, Etisalat recently rewarded some outstanding students of Nigerian higher institutions for their brave academic performances, through its education empowerment scheme, Etisalat Merit Awards that held at the Oriental Hotel Lagos.

Speaking at the event, the CEO Etisalat
Nigeria, Mr. Mathew Willsher said the award is a scholarship scheme designed to fulfill the company’s goal of empowering the society through knowledge acquisition and promoting education within Nigeria.

In his opening remarks, Willsher reiterated the importance of education and innovation to human development and improvement of the quality of human lives. He lamented the global illiteracy rate, which currently stands at one billion.

He also congratulated the 70 students drawn from seven universities in the country, describing them as the future of the Nigeria and adding that the country’s greatness in the area of innovation and scientific discoveries lay on their shoulders.

Speaking further, he canvassed private sector partnership for funding education in the country and argued that education is critical to development and should not be left exclusively to government to fund.

He added that this was why Etisalat Nigeria is involved with promoting education as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility.

He said: “We are gathered here in recognition of the importance of education. It is sad that about one billion people can’t read globally. We
know that government is doing a lot in the area of funding and promoting education, but corporate organizations also have roles to play and this is why we focus on education as one of our corporate social responsibility initiatives.”

“The importance of education is further
underscored by the fact that studies have
shown that countries where less than 20 per cent go to school are less developed compared to others. Countries with less literacy rate miss out on a lot of things because they have a
community of people who can’t read,” he added.

Highpoints of the ceremony was the
innovation contest among the participating universities and the award ceremony proper.
Selected scholars of the five institutions made five-minute presentations of innovations of their choice.

Tagged The Etisalat Innovation Moment, the presentations were judged based on
adaptability, value, social impact, environmental impact and rate of feasibility. They were scored by a panel of judges.

The entry by Onohaebi Samuel, a 400-level undergraduate of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the University of Benin was adjudged the best, and he emerged winner.

James Fagboun of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, and Eigbe Eghonghon of University of Lagos came second and third respectively.

While Samuel got N100, 000 and a HP
laptop for his efforts, Eghonghon and Fagboun won a Techno Phantom device each for their efforts. Besides, the participating students, 10 each from the seven schools that took part in
the contest, went home with N100, 000 each, while their schools were awarded N1.1 Million each courtesy of the telecommunication company.

Speaking after the ceremony, Samuel exuded happiness and said: “This is a dream come true for me. I have always wanted to be commended for my academic prowess and now that I have been so recognized, it would serve as a
motivation to do more, especially in the area of improving access to power for creative uses across all economic sectors.”

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education is Crucial to Technology development

Daily, groups and individuals continue to
reiterate that unless Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education was given the deserved attention, society’s development will not happen at the pace and depth it should.

As this call for action gathers
steam, contemporary schools are continuously searching for the best solutions to make teaching and learning not only fun, but also impactful on their students, as well as help
prepare them for the rigours of higher learning.

STEM courses, experts say have proven to be very crucial to the nation’s technological advancement and mathematics, which has
historically been seen by students as an
unattractive subject is a key component of STEM education. As the scenario continues to unfold, ENO-ABASI SUNDAY reports that while the call for enhanced STEM education is upswing, proprietress of Heyday School, Lagos,
Mrs. Susan Amuta, is of the view that
knowledge of mathematics remains pivotal in the country’s advancement in science and technology.

The educationist, who said simple
steps like abacus and speed mathematics among others can help banish mathematics phobia among students, added that this explains the reason the school is paying
immense attention to the subject.
SCIENCE, the world over is primarily the bedrock for sustainable development.

In a country like Nigeria, where scientific research is hampered by a litany of factors, principal among which are
infrastructural development, dearth of funding as. well as that of facilities, the situation remains quite pathetic and calls for greater attention by relevant authorities.

In this direction, calls for greater attention to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, remains
germane because in the final analysis, these courses have the capacity to drive the country
forward as has been the case in developed countries, even though some developed countries are yet to achieve their full potential along this line.

For instance, according to statistics, in the United States, many high-paying STEM jobs go unfilled as candidates lack necessary technical skills, training or post-secondary degrees. With
millions unemployed, this skills gap remains alarming.

In Illustrating the skills gap in America, the report titled, “The Importance of STEM
Education” said, “STEM jobs are projected to grow by 17 per cent and to produce 2.8 million new job openings. In contrast, job growth in other professions is projected to be less than 10 per cent.

According to McKinsey & Company, a
multinational management consulting firm, which conducts qualitative and quantitative analysis in order to evaluate management decisions among others, 64 per cent of
companies in America have vacancies for STEM positions due to a lack of qualified applicants.

It added that by 2020, the United States will demand 123 million highly-skilled workers, but there will only be 50 million qualified people to fill these roles.
In attempting an answer to the reason behind the inadequate supply of manpower for the
STEM jobs, the report explained that,  “Over one
fifth of all students (in America) fail to graduate with their class.

In addition to this, the United States is ranked 47th out of 144 countries in the quality of its mathematics and science education, and only eight per cent of American college students
major in engineering, while only five per cent major in computer science and mathematics.”

With revelations that STEM workers typically earn 26 per cent more than those in non-STEM positions, STEM remains a prominent focus and education policy priority of the public and
private sector in both America, Nigeria and the rest of the world.

Conscious of this shortfall, initiatives like the
“Educate to Innovate” campaign in America focuses on improving the participation and performance of America’s students in STEM with the hope of increasing American workers’ competitiveness in the next decade.

The campaign brings together leading
companies, foundations, non-profits, and
science and engineering societies, to promote initiatives such as Change the Equation,
National Lab Day, and the White House Science Fair.

From the foregoing, mathematics remains a key component in the realisation of STEM education
in any given society. That perhaps explain why the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) in 2013 came up
with the lesson planning based on modern teaching approaches for the subject.

According to NERDC, “The teaching and learning of mathematics in Nigeria is associated with
several challenges, such as the high level of deficiency in mathematical knowledge of school students. This calls for resorting to modern
approaches to teaching mathematics at the school level. The teaching of mathematics in Nigeria is characterised by the traditional
formula-based approach with emphasis on computation and little reference to mathematical reasoning and problem solving.

The body added that teaching is done
mechanically by the teacher first, presenting a formula or rule or algorithm, then solving some textbook examples, and finally giving some exercises for students to solve.

This type of teaching, it stressed was
mechanical and teacher-centered. It is obsolete since in that approach as mathematics is learned instrumentally by rote memorisation, without meaningful understanding of the concept taught.

This way, it contended,
students become frustrated in the face of
apparently meaningless symbols that are
manipulated. They regard mathematics as a static subject with a set of algorithms to be applied mechanically to carryout undertake mathematical exercises/drills.
In contrast to the traditional approach, the modern teaching approach, NERCD said is learner-centered or child-centered, and activity–based, helping the learner to develop, and construct a meaningful understanding of the mathematical concept taught.

The outfit, therefore urged participants at its workshop to focus on the constructivist forms of teaching and learning, which leads to revised beliefs about excellence in teaching and learning and about the roles of both teachers and
students in the process saying, “In this way, you get your students to learn mathematics with meaning. By so doing, the students’ educational experiences are activated developing new concepts as new knowledge is constructed.

Active participation of your students is therefore imperative for learning.”
Only recently, the African Institute for
Mathematical Sciences in realisation of the importance of this trend, said it would advocate STEM education for women and youth in Africa to drive socio-economic development.

In her September 2014 address at the 3rd
Annual African First Ladies Discussion on
Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM), Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Nkosazanna Dlamini
Zuma, had in similar vein stated categorically that African development will not happen at the pace and depth it needs to without the empowerment of girls, youth and women, especially in the STEM areas.

She emphasised that the development of skills in these areas is needed “to modernise agriculture and agro-processing; to build,
expand and maintain our infrastructure;to
develop manufacturing and add value to our natural resources and to mitigate and adapt to
climate change.” Proprietress of Heyday School, Lagos, Mrs
Suzan Amuta, is bothered that even at this point where global emphasis is shifting to STEM
courses, Nigeria is still recording less than 50 per cent pass rate in mathematics in the two
major national external examinations for
secondary school students- the West African Examination Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) organised by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the
one organised by the Minna, Niger State-based National Examination Council (NECO).

On what this unhealthy development portends for the future of the nation and how to set the country on the right rail, Mrs Amuta said
teacher training in the sciences as well as introduction and sustenance of vocational training were of great importance.

Her words, “We can fix this by training
teachers in the sciences, introduction and
sustenance of vocational training, guidance and counselling and by lowering entry requirements for science courses.

The last point is
particularly interesting to me as I have always wondered why the entry requirements for the sciences were so stringent.

“Take for example the requirement that a
student who desires to study the sciences must also possess a credit level pass in English
Language.

The student has five credits in the
core sciences and yet the qualifying authorities insist that without a credit pass in English Language, the student cannot study his/her
course of choice in the sciences. You then wonder in which language the student wrote the
examinations and got credit level pass in at least five subjects.

The proprietress continued, “That is just an instance of the dysfunctional nature of Nigeria’s assessment process. Our education system and curriculum need continuous evaluation to bring
it up to speed with the changing times.

Education should be engaging, interesting and fun so students are able to visualise and indeed live the subjects that they are taught; see how the subjects correlate to everyday living, and there will likely be improvement in the attitude and pass rate in mathematics and the sciences.

Without a strong focus on the sciences,
Nigeria’s quest to become a developed nation via industrialisation will not be achievable.”

At a micro level, Amuta said the school was taking some steps to improve students’ performance in mathematics.

For instance, “At the pre-school stage, we
make the children active in mathematics
through the use of real objects and activities that emerge from the children through music, arts and craft, sorting by colour and size, matching pictures to objects and arranging pictures in correct sequence.

This is to help the children progress from concrete experiences to
more abstract ones and to internalise
mathematical concepts naturally in order to eliminate memorisation.

“At the primary school level, we organise
mathematics quizzes and inter-class
competitions. Mental mathematics, such as abacus and speed mathematics, are taught for
mental alertness and intuitive thinking.

We also make mathematics fun for the children through games, mathematical songs and one-to-one teaching.”

Seeing how important mathematics is in laying a solid foundation that would facilitate excelling in the sciences, Amuta said, “Mathematics should be made real to the children through concrete experiences, basic concepts such as
one-to-one correspondence and classification equivalence.

In addition, we introduced a reward
system for mathematics skills and scholarship for students who excel in mathematics.”

She continued, “It is not a single-incentive package; a mix of incentives help to engage the interest of students from different angles and levels. What may appeal to one student, another
student may not find it as engaging.

However, having a potpourri of incentives help to ensure
that all the students are engaged and also boost teachers ability to engender and retain the interest of the students in mathematics.”

Commenting on which method or device
among the mixed bag of incentives was
particularly helpful in improving pupils’
mathematics skills at this level of education, she said, “A remarkable method that we have been using and which has made mathematics easier for the children is the abacus training
programme.

It has removed the fear of mathematics from the students and empowered them to calculate large numbers without the aid of an electronic calculator. Indeed, adopting abacus solutions in our bid to enhance our students’ love and appreciation for mathematics, has been very effective as a tool.

“The introduction of abacus training programme has brought about a remarkable growth in the
interest and ability of our students in
mathematics.

This has rubbed off on other subjects since a strong interest in one subject
naturally helps students maintain interest in other subjects.

“Abacus mathematics has improved the logical and analytical minds of the children. It has also improved and sharpened other skills like vigilance, spatial relation, listening skills,
creativity, memory power, patience and
precision. It has made them resilient, confident and has given them the ‘I can’ attitude.

As I mentioned earlier, it rubs off on other subjects because if you are very good in one subject, there is a tendency to transfer that ability to
other subjects. What we are seeing is that the strong interest in mathematics has naturally enhanced their interest in other subjects.

She revealed that, “One of abacus’ most
important qualities is enhancing the pace at which students can reason logically. Imagineempowering a student with the ability to
calculate numbers and solve equations at a
speed faster than electronic calculators.

Though
that ability will be more noticeable and indeed
useful in mathematics, it is naturally transferred
to other subjects; the students can think faster
and are able to find solutions to problems in
other subjects at a faster rate than they were
used to.”

Questioned abacus should be made part of the
education system by concerned bodies, she
retorted, “I would encourage schools to embrace
the idea of abacus programme and recommend
it to others. At Heyday School, we have
benefited immensely from the method in the
sense that it has helped to remove the chore
and fear our children had for the subject.

The Children now look forward to mathematics
classes with enthusiasm because abacus makes
the learning of mathematics fun, easy and
enjoyable.”

Drawing from her personal experience, Amuta
said growing up, “There was a general phobia
for mathematics, which precluded students who
would have developed a keen interest in the
subject from following through. I must say that I
did not love mathematics because of that
general apathy towards it at the time. We
recognised that there was apathy towards
mathematics at the very early stage, even
before our school was founded. This is why our
vision is to make sure we remove the fear of
mathematics from our students and equip them
with the knowledge, skills and principles that
would make the subject interesting and fun.

Asked to enumerate the challenges of
administering a school in Nigeria from her
prism, she said, “There were several challenges
in schools administration in Nigeria. Chief
among them are inadequate funding, which
impedes the ability of schools to provide the
infrastructure and services that they would
ideally like to provide in order to give students
the best environment to enhance their scholarly
abilities.

“Another is in keeping pace with the ever
changing needs of information and
communication technology, (ICT), which as you
know changes at a rapid pace. ICT has become
an integral part of education, helping to make
teaching-learning not only fun and interesting,
but also ensuring that the vast amount of
knowledge that students and teachers can
possibly tap into is limitless.

“The third challenge is inadequate number of
teachers ,and when they are available, their
skills set is not up to date. When teachers
graduate from their various institutions, they no
longer go straight to the classrooms to start
teaching. You’d have to invest resources in
terms of time and funds to train them, scale up
their skills in order for them to be fit for
purpose. I could go on and on.

But in spite of these challenges, the education system is not a lost cause, particularly with the intervention of
private sector education providers. Some
schools have done particularly well in providing the required facilities and trained instructors, and it shows in the quality of the students that they produce.”

Please, Increase funds for Scientific Research

THE Federal Government has been urged to
increase funding for scientific research in the
country, to keep pace with advancement in other
parts of the world.

A professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the
University of Abuja, Prof. Joseph Nwafor
Nwabueze stated this at the 12th Inaugural
lecture of the institution titled: “Igwe Na Ndu:
The role of metals in life.”
Prof. Nwabueze implored the government to
stop paying lip services to science and
technology but rather make available special
intervention funds to universities to adequately
equip their basic science departments for
teaching and research.

Nwabueze noted that the state of science
research in Nigeria is deplorable because of lack
of modern research facilities, which he described
as twin problems of lack of infrastructures and
poor funding.

“ Everybody agrees that science primarily is the
bedrock of sustainable development. Scientific
research in Nigeria is being hindered by the twin
problem of infrastructure and poor funding.
“The laboratories are without chemical and
research equipment. Municipal services that are
taken for granted in other climes are lacking.

The lecturer said well-equipped advanced
science laboratories should be established, at
least one in each geopolitical zone which should
have sophisticated research equipment.
Nwabueze commended the Academic Staff
Union of Universities (ASUU) for its “sustained
struggle for better funding of the university.

The former deputy vice-chancellor academic,
also cautioned the federal government against
politicising the opening of new federal
universities in the country.
He said if the federal government could not
adequately fund 24 universities, how does it
hope to fund 37.

He maintained that the resources used in
creating the 13 universities should have been
used to expand and adequately fund the existing
ones.

“I do not believe that universities should be
established for political reasons. Why must
there be a university in each state of the
federation, even in those states that hardly fill
their quota in existing federal institutions?” he
said.

According to him the increase in the number of
federal universities has further worsened the
situation of underfunding in the education sector
in the country.

“If this trend is not halted, we may soon be
confronted with demands for the establishment
of a federal university in each of the 774 local
government councils.

Written by Kanayo Umeh

http://m.ngrguardiannews.com

We can do Better

Arise o, Compatriot
Nigeria's call Obey
To Serve our father's land
with love and strength and faith
The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain
To serve with heart and might....

That is a part of our National Anthem, it says "to serve our father's land with love" .... hmmmm, when we love someone or something we are ready to go the extra mile for the person and  that thing.

"The labour of our heroes past Shall never be in vain...." Hmmmm, some of our past leaders lost their blood and lives as they fought for the things we are now enjoying in Nigeria, so what is wrong with us this younger generation in position of authority to do the right thing......

What do you think our education sector will be on the next few years....

Will Nigerian education would have been better that people from overseas will fly in to study in Nigeria rather than what it is right now?

Will it be that only private schools will be up to the standards of the world?

When our very own government owned schools should be a role model.

We need to plan to achieve this with a stipulated day, month, week, year attached to our plans as deadline

I will suggest some solutions to some identified problems of Educational Planning in Nigeria.

The cart before the horse syndrome - This means doing the last thing first. Nigerians we need to always follow due process, and be patient and not boycott the laid down procedures. There ought to be a plan formulation, plan preparation, plan coordination, plan implementation, plan evaluation, etc should be done well efficiently by the appropriate authority dutifully. I would suggest that planning should be done by professional programs and project planners that are independent from external influences.

Unprogressive administrative Traditions: This involves  some subconscious administrative activities that has been in place for a long time in the system but so far it has not helped the system rather it has crippled it. It is high time we do away with irrelevant bureaucracy, nepotism, tribalism, flimsy conflicts, etc within our education system. We need to be re-oreientated on some administrative practices and their impacts on the education system and the economy at large, afterwards  we set up new rules practices and sanctions to inculcate and encourage the new the practices.

Weak Database: Hmmm, it is in our subconscious to always be untruthful with information especially with governmental parastatals, may be because we were once bitten now we are shy (smiles). But for how long do we want to continue like this? We don't have accurate data about all our schools both qualitative and quantitative data. We need to be wise and get information from other means that are connected to schools at different levels through banks, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Birth registrations, external examinations, etc. We need to re-orientate the general public we need to inculcate better values into our society. Wrong data equals wrong planning, wrong planning equals wrong results.

Lack of Public support: We Nigerians we need change right, we need to trust us one more and we will not disappoint you again, we need answers from you, understand your real needs we need your views, what you think, even ideas from you. Educational Planners should partner with reputable organizations, get social support, organize orientations through various available platforms- social Media, conduct online surveys, etc.

Politics: Politics and Education, hmmm we cannot separate politics from the educational system because education is a segment of our political system too. But we need to identify irrelevant and relevant politics in the educational system, in terms that will this politics help or deteriorate the educational system. Yes  we  know that the authorities that decides for our education system is our political systems. We need to evaluate so far has partisan politics help the sector or made it worse.... So far it has made it worse so we need to take a new turn. We can't keep doing the same thing and expect the same results, Nigeria!

Inadequate Resources: Resources like Professional Educational Planners, Professional Curriculum planners and writers, Excellent statisticians, etc. Currently in our Educational system we have so many square pegs in Round holes, people who really are qualified for the Education sector are in other sectors of the economy because this economy has not really made an impact and members of the sector are looked down on. Its high time we only accept round pegs on square holes, square pegs in square holes, Education Professionals in other sectors should please be return to this sector. Also, our personnel should be well motivated not just only those at the very peak of this education sector, all needed and relevant educational resources should be adequately provided at the right time. Our available resources should be judiciously used, not mismanaged.

Proper Implementation  : During implementation process there might be itch, but it is advisable to stick with the plans no matter what. We need People are don't easily change their minds to do this implementation.
It must be regularly inspected, evaluated to know if this is exactly what we took so long to plan.

Our Nigeria Education System can be better, if only we take other directions to aim at a better / same goal.

Ministry of Education

Our Federal Ministry of Education situtiated at Block 5A (3rd Floor), Federal
Secretariat Complex, Shehu Shagari Way, Central Area, P.M.B. 146, Garki, Abuja, Nigeria,

Since 1960 till date our almighty Education Sector
has witnessed as head  of the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) the following:

For  7 years Aja Nwachukwu (1958 to 1965)

For  2 years Richard Akinjide (1965 to 1967)

Wenike Briggs (1967 to 1970) for about 2 years

A. Y. Eke (1970 to 1975) about 5 years

Ahmadu A Alli (1975 to 1978) just 1year

G. B. Leton (1978 to 1979) just 1 year

Sylvester Ugoh (1979 to 1982) for 3 years

Alhaji B. Usman (1979 to 1982)

Elizabeth Iyase (1979 to 1982)

I. C. Madubuike (1982 to 1983)

L. A. Bamigbaiye (1982 to 1983)

Sunday Afolabi (September to December 1983)

Alhaji Y. Abdullahi (1984 to 1985)

Alhaji Ibrahim (1985)

Jubril Aminu (1985 to 1989)

Babs Fafunwa (1990 to 1992)

Ben Nwabueze (January 1993 to August 1993)

A. I. Imogie (January 1993 to November 1993)

Alhaji Dongodaji (January 1993 to January 1994)

Iyorchia Ayu (January 1994 to February 1995)

Alhaji Wada Nas (January 1995 to February 1995)

M. T. Liman (February 1995 to December 1997)

Iyabo Anisulowo (February 1997 to December 1997)

Alhaji D. Birmah (December 1997 to June 1998)

A. N. Achunine (December 1997 to June 1998)

Olaiya Oni (August 1998 to May 1999)

Alhaji S. Saadu (August 1998 to May 1999)

Tunde Adeniran (June 1999 to January 2001)

Alhaji Lawam Batagarawa (June 1999 to 2001)

Babalola Borishade (February 2001 to June 2003)

Alhaji Bello Usman (February 2001 to June 2003)

F. N. C. Osuji (July 2003 to February 2005)

Hajia Bintu Musa (July 2003 to June 2005)

Chinwe Obaji (June 2005 to June 2006)

Halima Tayo Alao (June 2005 to 2006)

Grace Ogwuche (February 2006 to June 2006)

Oby Ezekwesili (June 2006 to April 2007)

Sayadi Abba Ruma (June 2006 to April 2007)

Adewunmi Abitoye (June 2006 to May 2007)

Igwe Aja Nwachukwu (June 2007 to December 2008)

Jerry Agada (June 2007 to December 2008)

Hajia Aishatu Jibril Dukku (June 2007 - ?)

Sam Egwu (December 2008 to March 2010)

Ruqqayat Rufai (April 2010 – September 2013)

Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau (2014 - Present)

For over 56years the education sector has witnessed 46 heads of an averagely 1.28years in office each. With about 11 women in all, some Ministers we can never forget about, some we don't even know anything about them any longer.

The longest serving Minister of Education in the history of this country was Aja Nwachukwu, who in the “brief shining moments” of Nigeria, spent eight years in the Ministry.

He was followed by Chief A.Y Eke, five years and Prof Jubril Aminu, four years. If you look at the years of political crises, such as 1983, when Shagari’s regime was terminated, and the years following June 12 crisis of 1993 to 1999, they coincide with shortest tenures in the Ministry.  Things began to look up again from June 1999, the return of democracy, when some Ministers spent between two to three years.

One man our education sector and the nation at large can never forget is our very own Late Babatunde Fafunwa of the 1990s, we read of books, journals, etc and we see his comments, suggestions, philosophies that are still some what relevant to our present world..... What a man!

Is that the tenures of the ministers are too short?

Are they square pegs in Round holes?

We say we have moved forward evidently since 1960?

Are the Issues of our Education sectors too big to solve?

Are we not ready to go the extra mile?

Is it the Constant Change of Government that is our issue?

Why this sector is not improving unlike every other sector of the economy is a huge  concern to us.....

How long should a minister spend in office, or is there no particularly during of years in Office?

Is it that Politics is interfering in our sector?

Nigeria which way to go?