The Bellina College, Akoka, Lagos, has constructed a prototype car with locally sourced materials.

The proprietress of the college, Mrs Nadia Bashir-Bello spoke in Lagos on Tuesday that the car was constructed by senior students of the college in less than one year.

Bashir-Bello, who is also the principal of the college, said that the prototype car would be launched on July 12 in Lagos.

She said, “We have done the first prototype car and got some engineers to look at it.

“They passed their comments; we dismantled it and built this one which cost us quite some amount, but we cannot quantify the experience.”

She said that the college’s next project would be to manufacture an amphibian vehicle which could move on both land and water.

“Our next project is amphibian vehicle that can go on land and sea because of the Lagos peculiar terrain,’’ the principal told NAN.

She said that education was no longer limited to the classroom in this technology era.

The principal said, “Education today is no longer about passing mathematics and English Language or just what one is able to acquire while sitting in the confines of a classroom.

“There is more to education now than that because research has shown that a lot of graduates who studied professional courses do not have what it takes.”

Bashir-Bello urged practical teaching and learning in schools, to enable students to bring out their hidden talents and develop their skills.

She said that such teaching and learning were necessary in view of Nigeria’s desire to rank among the top 20 economies by 2020.

She also said, “We must encourage students in the area of technical and vocational studies by ensuring that the necessary facilities are on ground.

“We must begin to remove the veils from the masquerades by telling the students that these things are not impossible and that people who do these things started somewhere and, today, they are professionals.”

Bashir-Bello said that students must be made to understand that they all had special talents, which should be discovered and developed.

The principal condemned the attitude of parents who forced their children and wards to study courses against the children’s wishes.

She said, “There is nothing wrong in allowing our children to go into technical and vocational studies because we all cannot be doctors and lawyers.

“Parents must adopt the right attitude to education and government, too, must strive to ensure that its educational policies are fully implemented in line with its developmental agenda.”

She said that effective implementation of government policies had remained a major challenge in accomplishing its goals for the education sector.

She also urged development of curricula that would discourage studying of too many subjects daily.

Bashir-Bello appealed to the government to look into alleged discrimination of higher national diploma holders by employers.

She said that the alleged discrimination was discouraging many students from showing interest in technical education.

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