Education
SBMC Petitions El-Rufai Over Alleged Plan To Sell Four Public Primary Schools
School-Based Management Committee, Doka Branch, Kaduna, has petitioned Gov. Nasir El-Rufai over alleged plans by the Kaduna North Local Government to sell four public primary schools.
The schools, according to a copy of the petition obtained by The Tide source in Kaduna on Friday, are Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School Gwari Road and LEA primary school Muri Road.
Others are LEA Girls Primary School, Lagos Street, and LEA Primary School, Ahmadu Bello Stadium 1, all in Kaduna North Local Government Area.
The petition was jointly signed by Alhaji Hamza Usman, SBMC Chairman, Primary School Gwari Road, Alhaji Abdulhakeem Adeyemi, SBMC Chairman, Primary School, Muri Road, and Malam Magaji Alkasin, SBMC Chairman, Primary School Lagos Street.
The committees said that the affected primary schools not only served the less privileged but served the communities of Ungwan Shaba, Kabala, Ungwan Liman and Ungwan Maiburuji.
They argued that selling the schools to unspecified buyers, would deprive poor pupils access to primary education, adding that the development would also increase the level of out of school children in the affected communities.
“The development will also lead to an upsurge in the number of street children and child hawkers due to termination of learning.
“We, therefore, implore your Excellency to order the Chairman of the council to refrain from his decision to sell the schools.
“We have tried to engage the Chairman to advise him against the ill decision with no success.
“This has forced us to appeal to you, Your Excellency, as a father and number one Chief Security Officer of our dear state, to prevail on the Chairman to not sell the said schools,” they pleaded.
When contacted, the Education Secretary of the local government, Mr Mamuda Suleiman simply said, “I have nothing to say about that.
“If you want any information, just contact the Local Government. You can’t get anything from me”.
However, the Council Chairman, Mr Muktar Baloni, told NAN that the plans had not been concluded as erroneously perceived by the SBMCs and other members of the public.
Baloni dismissed the allegation, describing it as a mere “political blackmail” to smear the work of the APC- led government in the eyes of the public to score some political points.
He said what the Council was considering but not concluded, was to merge and relocate some schools to where they would be most needed.
He said that Kaduna North Local Government had been the epicenter of Kaduna metropolis which over time, had experienced population explosion and a shift in the concentration of the public.
“We are only trying to see how we can further reposition our schools, to meet the needs of communities with high concentrations of the population.
“It is not the case of selling a school, but there are some primary schools that we will propose to convert to secondary schools based on the needs of the people in the area.
“Some, we will recommend conversion to public utilities, while we may consider moving some schools to bigger spaces.
“It is quite a robust plan that is at the thinking stage, but we have not gotten there yet because there are a lot of processes involved,” he said.
The chairman said there would be stakeholders’ engagement, the governor’s consent, and the consent of the community members before concluding on the issue.
‘So, this is our side of the story, and it is not happening anytime soon, contrary to what people have been saying.
“With the electioneering period, there is bound to be political propaganda – negative or positive – on both sides of the political divide.
“ This happened to be one of them,” Baloni said. (NAN)
Education
Hardwork, Unwavering Focus Key To Success -VC
Vice Chancellor of Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, Prof. Nlerum Okogbule, has tasked newly admitted undergraduates to be hardworking and be more focused to their academic works as this, among others is key to success.
Prof. Okugbule also warned students to desist from joining secret cults, and engaging in examination malpractices, among other vices.
The Vice Chancellor stated this in his address at the 42nd matriculation ceremony of the university for the 2023/2024 academic session, held at the convocation arena in Port Harcourt, last Wednesday.
According to Prof. Okogbule, a total of 9,035 were formally admitted into the university.
“Today, a total of 9,035 candidates, who have satisfied the minimum requirements for admission into various programmes of the university are being formally admitted as students.”
The breakdown of the new students and their faculties is as follows: Faculty of Agriculture – 360 students ; Basic Medical Sciences – 1,085; Communication and Media Studies – 1,061; Education – 606; Engineering – 1,271; and Environmental Sciences – 268.
Others are: Humanities – 755; Law – 250; Management Sciences – 816; Science – 1,814 and Social Sciences – 479 respectively.
The Vice Chancellor added, “You are therefore expected to take your studies seriously and do not waste your valuable time on unproductive ventures or activities.
“Let me inform you that this university has zero tolerance for all forms of anti-social activities, such as membership of secret cult groups, examination malpractices or what is now known as ‘sorting.’
“The penalty for involvement in any of these activities is rustication from the university, and I do not waste time in doing this once a student is found culpable.”
Okogbule, however disclosed that RSU Students’ Affairs Directorate has a list of ‘registered and acceptable clubs’ the students can belong to in the university to assist them in extra-curricular activities on campus.
He advised, “In order to encourage academic excellence, the university has a policy of declaring as University Scholars those who attain a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 5.00 at the end of every academic session.
“The university will be responsible for the school fees of such students provided their CGPA does not fall below 4.50. In addition, such students, upon graduation, will be given preference when employment opportunities are available.
“The expo I will give you in this regard is that it is easier to make the 5.00 CGPA in 100 level of any programme. So the best time to strive to achieve this feat is now.”
He pointed out that RSU, among others, has become top choice higher institutions in the country for many students, following the infrastructural development and the non-disruption of academic activities in the institution for several years, saying, “Freshers should count themselves lucky to have been admitted there.”
While commending parents and guardians whose children are matriculating for their vision and sacrifices, Prof. Okogbule urged them to monitor their wards activities while on campus.
Education
Rector Gifts Best Students N400,000 As Edo Poly Matriculates 9,150
The Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State last Friday matriculated 9,150 new students into various courses of study offered at both National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) levels.
This was as the Rector of the institution, Engr. Dr. Man Yahaya Sani gave the sum of N200,000 cash gift each to two National Diploma students with the highest Cumulative Grade Point Average.
The students are; Waliu Babatunde Bamidele from the department of Library and Information Science and Babatunde Joshua Ifeoluwa, a student of Mechanical Engineering, both with a CGPA of 3.98.
Sanni in his address, said the management is committed to providing an all-round education in a conducive, friendly teaching and learning environment.
The Rector noted that only 59.5% of candidates who signified interest to study in the Polytechnic were eventually admitted.
He added that the polytechnic had secured 18 new programmes at both the National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) levels, taking its total to 64 programmes.
The Rector admonished the new intake to emulate the recipients of the cash gift and avoid bad companies that can lead them to violate the rules and regulations of the institution and jeopardise their admission.
“My dear matriculating students, I want to congratulate and welcome you all for finally making it here despite the tedious and rigorous processes that you passed through. You indeed struggled to scale the hurdles of Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE), the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) and of course our own Post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (POST-UTME) Screening before gaining admission to this prestigious Polytechnic.
“I must not fail to tell you loud and clear that the Polytechnic has zero tolerance for cultism and other sundry anti-social vices i.e. riot, looting, arson, disobedience, examination malpractices, drug abuse, drunkenness, cheating, disrespect for constituted authorities, indecent dressing etc.
Education
Bill To Increase UBEC Funding Passes Second Reading
A bill for the amendment of the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC Act to increase its funding from the consolidated revenue from 2 per cent to 4 per cent has passed the second reading in the House of Representatives.
The Chairman of House Committee on Basic Education and Services, Bako Useni, stated this during the committee oversight function at the Digital Resource Centre, built by UBEC, in Abuja, Nigeria.
The centre was built for the training of teachers on digital education in Nigeria.
Bako said the 10th Assembly saw the need to increase financial resources to the basic education sub-sector for set objectives to be further met, hence, the amendment bill sponsored by Muktar Shagaya to increase revenue accruing to UBEC from 2 per cent to 4 per cent.
“The amended bill, which passed the second reading on Wednesday, when concluded, will make UBEC stronger.
“Since UBEC was established in 2004, to date, a lot has been achieved. However, the House felt that if UBEC is motivated with more funding, it will go a long way in achieving more of what it has achieved.
It was on this basis that one of us, Honourable Mukhtar Shagaya, proposed an amendment to the UBEC Act to increase funding to UBEC from 2 per cent to 4 per cent from the Consolidated Revenue Fund,” he said.
used to reshape those in the senior and management cadres of the basic education sub-sector.
The National Coordinator of the Digital Resource Centre, Professor Bashir Galandanci, said the Digital Resource Centre is part of the effort of the commission to transform the agency into a digital era.
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