Education
Association Moves To Check Students’ Inter-School Transfers
The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), FCT Chapter, says it has developed an application that will enable members to report cases of children leaving them for other schools while still owing school fees.
President of the association, Mrs Olusola Bankole, made this known in an interview with the newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.
Bankole added that the app would also enable its members to report the movement of “teachers who commit offences in one school and decide to run away to other schools’’.
“We have emphasised training and retraining. There is something I have always told our members; what goes around will surely come around.
“If you train (teachers) and I also train them, before we know it, we will have trained teachers being recycled to our schools.
“But we are making huge effort to ensure professionalism.
“For instance, we (have) just developed an app that will enable schools to report cases of children leaving them for other schools even when they are owing school fees.
“We also intend to report teacher movement. If a teacher commits an offence in one school and decides to run away to another school, we should be able to report it and make it known.
“We are working on that; the app is ready and we only need to deploy it nationwide.
“We are not resting on our oars; personally, as a lead person in the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools in FCT, I am not too satisfied with how far we have gone; but we have gone far.
“We have training and retraining for our teachers and even as proprietors, we keep telling ourselves the bitter truth that we need retraining and to be candid, many of us are buying into it.’’
The president of the association said that NAPPS would not accept a situation where private schools would operate below standard.
“Which profession is there that does not have quacks; we have quacks also in the private school sector.
“Since I came on board, I have actually had to suggest to some private schools to close down.
“Reason is, if you can’t run above par, that is, above what the public schools around you are doing, then you are not good enough to be a private school.
“Allow these children to go to public schools that are close by, reason is, if a school is charging N20 per day as school fees , how will they pay teachers?
“If a school is charging N5000 per term per child, how will they pay salaries to teachers? What quality of teachers will they have?
“That is not to say that there are not so many schools that are very cheap as private schools that are not doing a lot of outstanding things, which is one of the things that makes NAPPS different.
“There are many of those schools that have some of these challenges that are not our members. That’s another challenge we have.
“I can attest to it that 95 per cent of them are not our members.”
Cross River State Governor, Bassey Otu has inaugurated the newly constituted Governing Councils of the University of Cross River State (UNICROSS) and the University of Education and Entrepreneurship (UEE), Akamkpa.
At the ceremony on Thursday in Calabar, the Governor urged the members to drive institutional excellence, ensure accountability, and align with global best practices.
Governor Otu acknowledged that UNICROSS had long suffered from what many perceived as gross neglect, particularly in terms of physical development.
“After a deep thought and consultation, and having considered all available facts and evidence, I am today opening a new chapter in the relationship between government and its institutions of higher education,” the Governor declared.
He emphasised that while his administration is committed to a renewed focus on higher education, this attention must be matched with transparency and responsibility by the universities’ management.
The same expectation, he said, applies to the University of Education and Entrepreneurship in Akamkpa.
Governor Otu stated that the appointments into both councils and management were carefully considered and reflect the state’s finest minds and seasoned professionals.
“I have taken pains in appointing some of the best that the State has in both the Governing Councils and Management of the institutions. I implore you to apply your wealth of experience in making the institutions world-class,” he charged.
He also stressed the importance of respecting the distinct roles of Councils and management, pointing out that most university problems emanate from role conflict or interference. He tasked each of the councils to stick strictly to its clearly defined functions.
The Governor encouraged council members to leverage their networks to attract new sources of funding and value to their institutions.
“Do not limit yourselves to already known threads of resource sources.”, he said.
Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has announced a 50 percent reduction in tuition fees for all Kaduna State-owned tertiary institutions, describing it as a major step toward removing barriers to higher education.
Speaking through his Principal Private Secretary, Professor Bello Ayuba, at the inauguration of the Kaduna State University Chapter of the Kaduna State Students Union, the Governor said the policy has made it easier for students from low-income backgrounds to pursue university education in the state.
He expressed gratitude to the students for presenting him with the Sword of Honour Award and for recognising the achievements of his administration, which were highlighted during the event’s public lecture.
He promised, “Government will continue to support students and the youth generally to realize their ambitions. On your part, make sure that an atmosphere of peace prevails to allow for government’s development programmes to run their full course.’’
The Governor advised students not to allow agents of disunity and chaos to use them to destabilize their communities and steer them away from their career goals.
Governor Sani reminded the students and lecturers at the event that ‘’no meaningful development can be achieved in a state of chaos, disunity and mutual mistrust.’’
However, he said that ‘’going by your conduct over the period that I have been at the helm of affairs of our state so far, you are reliable partners of progress and I can count on you every step of the way.’’
The governor recalled that Kaduna State was under siege owing to the insecurity in some of the local government areas, which had dire consequences on agricultural and business activities.
He noted that the security challenges have now been drastically reduced owing to the combined commitment of security agencies, resulting in safer high ways, people returning to farms and the opening of local markets.
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The governor further said that the Birnin Gwari cattle market which had been closed for over 10 years, has been reopened, so have the other markets in security challenged areas in Giwa local government.
The management of Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic,Rumuola, Port Harcourt, Rivers State has admitted 1,882 fresh students to study various courses and programmes for the 2024)2024 academic session.
This announcement was made by the Rector of the polytechnic, Dr Moses Neebee during the 34th matriculation ceremony of the institution held in Port Harcourt over the weekend.
Dr Neebee described convocation as an annual rituals of every institution used to mark the end of admission process, adding that the polytechnic has recorded some academic milestones and achievements.
According to him, the institution recorded 100 percent in the just concluded NABTE accreditation and resources visitation exercise, adding that all the 24 courses presented by the institution during the accreditation were approved including the almighty Diploma in Law.
According to the admission statistics provided by the Rector,1,510 students were admitted for the National Diploma programmes ,while 372 students were offered admission into the Higher National Diploma and part programmes of the polytechnic.
The Rector while congratulating the matriculants urged them to take their studies seriously and ensure that they pass through the institution and as well allow the institution pass through them and not only in learning but also in character.
“ Let me congratulate you all for your successes to scale through the rigorous hurdles of our admission processes. Take advantage of the various technical and entrepreneur skills in the school to equip your self which will make yourselves employed and be better equipped in the society”, he said.
The Rector warned them to desist from any activities that will jeopardise their academic success, stressing that the school has zero tolerance for cultism, examination malpractices, sorting and sexual abuse.
He used the opportunity to thank the state government for the support given to the school especially in the areas of infrastructure development.