President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the release of N20 billion to revitalize public universities in line with the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.
The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, made this disclosure in Abuja on Monday, NAN reports.
She explained that the money for the universities would be released through normal channels.
“The N20 billion for the universities would be released immediately in line with the established criteria used by the National Universities Commission.
“The federal government would monitor the progress of the implementation of the universities’ revitalization with a view to resolving emerging issues and keeping its promises to relevant stakeholders,” the minister said.
Meanwhile the President also approved the immediate release of N22.68 billion as retirement benefits for ex-workers of the rested Nigeria Airways.

SOURCE: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/09/25/breaking-news-ASUU-buhari-approves-n20bn-for-public-universities/

Citizens in Zambia on Tuesday received a call by authorities to introduce aptitude testing of teachers to be recruited later in the year.
Stanley Mhango, Chairperson of the Teaching Service Commission, a government entity regulating the teaching profession, said recently that applicants for the 2018 teacher recruitment will be required to sit for aptitude tests.
He said the aptitude tests will be conducted in various districts of the southern African nation to ensure that only competent teachers were recruited. The Commission, however, said the move was not meant to demean teachers but to improve standards and the quality of education in the country.
The move, he said, follows complaints from some school authorities over the calibre of some teachers deployed to various schools. But the move, the first of its kind in teacher recruitment in the country, has received mixed reactions.
The Zambia Council for Social Development (ZCSD) said the move was a confirmation that the government has not been paying particular attention to provision of quality education throughout the system.
Lewis Mwape, Executive Director of the organization, said reports of failure by some recruited teachers to perform was a systemic failure by education authorities in the country to deliver quality education and introducing aptitude tests was a pedestrian manner of dealing with the problem.
“The revelation of the Teaching Service Commission must be taken seriously as it raises not just the question of quality of teacher training but also underpins the systemic failure of the entire education system,” he said.
The government, he said, should increase funding to the education sector and ensure that the Ministry of General Education allocates more resources to the Directorate of Standards within the ministry in order to deal with education quality outcomes throughout the system.
“We are also of the view that the resources for aptitude testing would better be invested into providing textbooks and other education materials to schools who are currently struggling with teaching and learning materials due to poor funding at the school level,” he said.
The Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT) also believes that there is need to review the education structure in order to identify the real problem.
Newman Bubala, the union’s secretary-general said there were many loopholes in the recruitment process which have resulted in competently qualified teachers being left out in the recruitment exercise. According to him, there was need to examine the recruitment system to ensure that the process was transparent and also increase the budgetary allocation to the education sector to enhance the quality of education being provided.
Others welcomed the aptitude tests, following reports of teachers with fake qualifications being recruited. “We need these aptitude tests because of what has been happening in the teaching profession where we had teachers with fake qualifications exposed.
“This will go a long way in ensuring that only qualified teachers are recruited,” said Stephen Zulu, an economic and social commentator based in Lusaka, the country’s capital.
In 2017, over 500 teachers were found with fake qualifications during a scrutiny of their educational qualifications and some of them have since been fired. Moses Mwali, a 54-year-old teacher, believes that aptitudes tests should be done when people were being enrolled in teacher colleges instead of waiting for them to finish their education.
“In our time, we were subjected to aptitude tests upon applying to go to college. Why should they wait until someone has finished their course?” he said.

source: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/08/14/zambia-to-introduce-aptitude-tests-for-teachers/

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) rose from its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Calabar yesterday and said it could no longer guarantee that its members would continue to work if Wole Babalakin, negotiating on the part of the Federal Government, was not sacked.
Addressing journalists at the University of Calabar, ASUU President Biodun Ogunyemi said that Babalakin had become a stumbling block to peaceful negotiations and implementation of the union’s demands.
Ogunyemi warned that the union might soon embark on strike if Babalakin was not replaced.
“Our Union has had series of negotiation meetings but it has been a fruitless exercise. The Chairman of the Government Renegotiating Team, in the person of Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), has constituted a stumbling block in the process of the renegotiation.
“He has arrogantly exhibited “I-know-it-all” attitude and also conducted himself as a judge, instead of a negotiator. With unwarranted arrogance, he has disregarded the cardinal principles of collective bargaining, deliberately slowed the process and made mockery of the core tenets of industrial democracy.
“He has arrogated to himself the power to decide matters that should be collectively debated, analysed, and agreed upon by the two parties. He has also consistently attempted to substitute core constitutional provisions of Nigeria on education, including university education, by market principles of trading in and purchasing higher education, putting Nigerian children in debt peonage in order to acquire higher education.
“This situation is not acceptable to the Union. ASUU has tried through several entreaties to make him see reason and return to the path of collective bargaining and respect for the Constitutional provisions on Education to no avail. The Chairman of the Government team has amply demonstrated that his major interest is to force ASUU to accept the dependence of the education of our youth on debts whereas the Constitution promises free education,” he said.
The national trustee of ASUU, Dr. Dipo Fashina and a former president of NLC, Hassan Sunmonu, said the union had been patient with the committee, but that had been overstretched, saying “anything can happen anytime from now if our letter to the Minister of Education was not addressed properly.

Source: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/08/14/ASUU-threatens-to-embark-on-fresh-strike/

The National Teachers Institute, Kaduna, is organizing training program for teachers on digital literacy and academic leadership.
218 participants will be trained by the institute.
Director General, NTI, Dr. Garba Azare, disclosed this during the flag-off ceremony of the maiden edition of academic leadership workshop organised for head teachers and school principals on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said the workshop will hold in states of the six geo-political zones from the 17th – 19th of this month.
The centers are in Abuja, Akure, Bauchi, Benin City, Enugu, and Kano.
He said: “In my address during the flag-Off ceremony of the 2017 edition of the SDGs workshops, I informed those in attendance that the Institute proposed to expand the scope of the retraining programs to cover other critical areas of teaching profession.
“The new areas we are exploring include digital literacy and academic leadership.
“The training is aimed at equipping head teachers and school administrators with effective classroom process techniques (classroom observation and feedback, benchmarking, note keeping, etc).
“It will also help in developing head teachers and school administrators’ management skills on how to promote school and community relationship (stakeholders) to achieve improved students’ performance; equipping head teachers and school administrators With management process (Planning, Organizing, Directing, Controlling and Delegating); and acquainting head teachers and school administrators with the roles and responsibilities of school managers and administrator with emphasis on team building, effective communication, mentoring, coaching and counseling.”
He explained that the academic leadership training programme is a special component under the NTI Kaduna and funded by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Primary and Junior secondary school teacher across the six (6) geo-political zones of the federation.
“The need to strengthen Educators and equip them with the requisite knowledge to deliver in their roles as academic leaders cannot be over emphasized and it is against this backdrop that the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs and NTI decided to include the special component in the SDGs capacity building for teachers,” he added.

Source: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/07/18/nti-trains-teachers-on-digital-literacy-academic-leadership/

Scientists from across the globe have gathered in Nsukka, Enugu State, to discuss the future of nanotechnology in Africa. Organised by the nanotechnology research group at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the 3rd African Nanotechnology Conference has the theme Nanotechnology: Key to National and Industrial Development. Declaring the conference open, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, lamented that many research results were wasting on university shelves because industrialists shied away from them. Ozumba, who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic）, Prof. James Ogbonna, said industrialists should work with researchers for innovations.
Earlier in her address of welcome, the Leader of the UNN Nanotechnology Research Group, Prof. Rose Osuji, said the university was partnering with Oilserv, an indegenous oil service company, to set up an African Centre for Nanosciemces and Nanotechnology Research and Application. ”Although we are making little progress with the little or no facilities at our disposal, we strongly believe that given the right tools we will certainly perform better.
”It is the desire of this research group to fast track development through human and infrastructural capacity building, consequently reducing the gap between the developed and the emerging economies,” she said. Also speaking, the Chairman of the occasion, Engr. John Chukwu, described nanotechnology as one of the areas of science and technology that was crucial to development due to its multiplier impact on the economy and industrial development.

Source: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/07/18/scientists-gather-at-unn-for-nanotechnology/

JAMB advises the candidates to to report any university or polytechnic that charges more than N2000 for post UTME saying it’s illegal.
The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board has asked 2018 United Tertiary Matriculation Examination candidates to report institutions that charge more than N2000 for the upcoming post UTME screening.
The Board urges the candidates to either report such institution to them or to the Ministry of Education.
JAMB on its Twitter page says any Institution charging more than the stipulated amount is engaging in illegality.
Recall that the Federal Government warned all tertiary educational institutions across the country against charging more than N2000 for post UTME screening.
The Minister of Education, Alhaji Adamu Adamu gave the warning at the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions held in Gbongan, Osun state on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.
The Minister said: ”At the 2017 policy meeting, I endorsed that any institution which was interested in conducting any form of Post-UTME screening could do so, but that the gross charge for the screening should not be more than N2,000.
“Once again, let me caution heads of tertiary institutions that it would not be tolerated for any institution to charge any fee beyond the approved two thousand naira (N2000).
“Firmer sanctions than those of last session shall be applied to cases of violation,”
JAMB at the policy meeting also announced the date for the 2018 post Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination exercise.
According to JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede the post JAMB exercise will start from July and end in December 2018.

Source: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/07/16/board-asks-candidates-to-report-schools-that-charge-over-n2000-for-post-utme/

The Frenchman enjoyed plenty of highs during his time in north London, but admits that he probably should have looked to take on another challenge
Arsene Wenger concedes that spending 22 years in charge of Arsenal was a mistake, with the Frenchman feeling as though he became “a prisoner of my own challenges”.
Having worked so hard to rebuild the Gunners in his image, the long-serving coach found it difficult to sever ties with the club.
There were plenty of opportunities for him to walk away, with Real Madrid and England having made several attempts to secure the services of a proven performer.
Wenger also faced fan protests towards the end of his reign, but he eventually departed on his own terms at the end of the 2017-18 season.
The 68-year-old admits that he should have probably made a fresh start some time ago, rather than clinging on in north London, but his passion for a high-profile job kept him coming back for more.
Wenger told RTL when asked to pick out the biggest mistake of his career: “Perhaps staying at the same club for 22 years.
“I’m someone who likes to move around a lot, but I also like a challenge. I’ve been a prisoner of my own challenge at times.”
Wenger guided Arsenal to three Premier League titles, with his iconic ‘Invincibles’ side of 2003-04 negotiating an entire English top-flight campaign unbeaten.
He also reached the 2006 Champions League final, but saw European dreams crumble as a succession of last-16 exits were followed by two finishes outside of the top four in England.
FA Cup success helped to paper over the cracks at times, with Wenger leaving north London with seven winners’ medals from that competition.
He is yet to take on a new role ahead of the 2018-19 campaign, with the latest reports suggesting that a man who left Nagoya Grampus Eight to take the reins at Arsenal in 1996 could soon be heading back to Japan.

Source: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/07/17/ive-been-a-prisoner-of-my-own-challenge-wenger/

The Public Relations Officer of the West African Examination Council in Ghana, Agnes Teye Cudjoe, said the 2018 WASSCE Chief Examiner’s Report attributed the massive failure in English to the use of Pidgin language and short-hand by students.
According to WAEC, 193,882 candidates, representing 61.67% out of the total number who sat for the exams failed to obtain a pass mark to enable them to secure admissions into the university, reports Adomonline.
Provisional results released by WAEC indicated that 99,402 which represents (31%) obtained D7-E8 in the English Language, 94,607 which represents (30.09%) obtained D7-E8 in Mathematics, and 109,069 which represents (34.72%) also obtained D7-E8 in Integrated Science.
68,002, representing 21.61%, obtained F9 in English Language; 99,275 (31.58%), obtained F9 in Mathematics; and 46,367, representing 14.76%, had F9 in Integrated Science.
Speaking to Ekourba Gyasi on Atinka AM Drive Monday, Agnes Teye Cudjoe explained that although 2018 WASSCE saw an increase in the passes in Science compared to 2018, there was a total drop in passes in English and Maths.
She added that the 2018 Chief Examiners Report informed WAEC of a lack of vocabulary in the scripts of most of the candidates.
The 2018 Chief Examiners Report has recommended extensive reading for the students to help students build their vocabulary.
“You would agree with me that these days, our candidates hardly read, everybody is busy doing WhatsApp and all that. If students spend more time reading very good books, textbooks, Literature and English books they will improve and have command of the English Language.
According to MadamTeye Cudjoe, the report also urged teachers to give students more exercises on spelling drills, comprehension and summary to help students improve their Vocabulary.
“With respect to Mathematics, the 2018 Chief Examiners report revealed that the major challenge for the candidates was as a result of their inability to translate story problems into mathematical statements. The report also discovered that the candidates failed to answer questions on trigonometry and geometry”, she added.

Source: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/07/17/pidgin-shorthand-causes-of-mass-failure-in-english-waec/

Despite rumours linking him with a move away, the 19-year-old says he will stay with Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain
Kylian Mbappe has committed his future to Paris Saint-Germain amid links with European champions Real Madrid.
Mbappe won the FIFA Young Player award for his performances at Russia 2018 after helping France claim the World Cup on Sunday.
The 19-year-old forward scored in France’s 4-2 victory over Croatia in Moscow as he took his tournament tally to four goals.
Mbappe – who completed a permanent transfer to Ligue 1 champions PSG from French rivals Monaco during the off-season having spent last term on loan in Paris – has no plans to leave the capital as Madrid attempt to replace Juventus-bound Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I will stay with PSG, continuing on my path with them,” Mbappe told reporters.
“I am at the beginning of my career.”
Mbappe enjoyed a stellar 2017-18 campaign with PSG, scoring 21 goals in all competitions.

source: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/07/16/mbappe-im-staying-at-psg/

Kogi State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teacher, NUT, has lamented the death of hundreds of their members due to hunger and starvation over non-payment of their salaries. The state Chairman of NUT, Comrade Ayodele Thomas, told journalists in Lokoja on Monday that, “teachers are being owed up to 15 to 25 months salaries.”
According to him, “the situation has created some critical health challenges for some members.”
He added also that the state Governor, Yahaya Bello’s directive that teachers’ salaries must be treated on First Line Charge, with not less than 45 percent payment, “was surprising as local government administrators have flagrantly refused to adhere to the directive.” Instead, he said they are paying teachers between 20- 30 percent of their monthly salaries.
Thomas said that the Special Adviser on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs swiftly set up a committee to implement the governor’s directive but regretted that the local government chairmen, along with local government treasurers and some top government officials, were frustrating the effort.
He showed an October 5, 2017 letter from Kogi State Head of Service, entitled: “Computerizing and centralizing of the payroll of the state, local governments workforce and pensioners” where local government administrators and other stakeholders were specifically directed to pay teachers salaries as first line charge from the Joint Account Allocation Committee. Thomas reiterated that the local government bosses still refused to comply with the directive.
He said, “Efforts to meet with the governor, to let him know about the latest development, has not been successful,” alleging that the Secretary to the State Government, Folashade Arike, of not responding to three different memos sent by the NUT to her on the issue. The NUT Chairman pleaded with the state governor “to look into the plights of teachers by directing the local government administrators to comply with his directive.”
He said government officials should stop playing politics with teachers’ salaries. The NUT boss further revealed that some children and wards of teachers in the state can no longer go to school due to lack of payment of salaries. He also claimed that “while other categories of workers in the state collect their minimum wage, primary school teachers have been denied theirs.”


source: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/07/11/nut-laments-as-teachers-die-of-hunger-in-kogi-due-to-non-payment-of-salaries/

The Niger State government has said it is no longer possible to give free education to its students in tertiary institutions within and outside the country. The government said its decision was based on the economic situation of the state coupled with dwindling finances and other contending demands.
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello disclosed this while reacting to the demand for free education and scholarship awards by students at the second combined convocation ceremony of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai.
Bello, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Ketso said: “In view of the huge funds needed to run education, especially at the tertiary level, parents must also take some responsibilities, hence the payment of school fees by our students.”
The governor did not respond to the request for the payment of scholarship by the students, but said the government would set up a special fund for education in the state through which various shortcomings in the sector would be addressed.
Bello advised the students “to shun cultism, indiscipline and other activities bedevilling the nation’s education, especially acts of indiscipline,” adding that whoever is found wanting would be dealt with according to the law.
“Don’t say because you are the son of the governor or the deputy governor, you will misbehave, we will not spare anybody that is found wanting”
He also admonished them to complement the efforts of the government and the school authorities by safeguarding the infrastructure provided, promising that government would continue to look into the welfare of students and staff of the institution.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nasir Maiturari had earlier said the institution elevated 37 out of the 104 academic staff to professors in the last three years, while 558 staff made up of 197 senior and 361 junior staff were also promoted to various ranks adding that promotion of all categories of staff “has been very regular.”

source: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/07/09/niger-free-education-for-tertiary-institution-students-no-longer-possible/

Winners have emerged in the 2018 National Science Quiz organised by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the South West Geo-political zone. Lagos, Ogun and Osun states emerged the best in the South West at the zonal final of the competition held at the Wesley College of Science, Elekuro, Ibadan, Oyo State, at the weekend, when the trio states scored 55 points each out of 90 points.
Ekiti and Oyo states were in the fourth position, scoring 50 points each, while Ondo State was in the sixth position with 40 points.
The trio of Lagos, Ogun and Osun states would represent the South West zone in the national final of the competition that would be held in Abuja in September, this year, which would be the 16th in the history of the competition. The participants were quizzed in Biology, Chemistry, English Language, Mathematics and Physics. The total points obtainable in each subject were 15 points.
Lagos State was represented by Ezeunala Ekene Franklin from Meiran Community Senior High School and Ogun State was represented by Igban Emmanuel from The Ambassadors’ College, Ota; while Osun State was represented by Owoseeni Oreoluwa Olanlesi from Destiny International College, Osogbo.
The South West Zonal Final was graced by Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology in Oyo State, Prof. Adeniyi Olowofela; Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility of NNPC, Mrs. Iyabode Ayobami-Ojo, who represented Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu and other dignitaries. Olowofela, in his address, commended NNPC for organising the competition and for building the capacity and developing cognitive of secondary school pupils in science and technology, saying: “What is called success is an amalgam of little efforts that have accumulated over the years. Success itself is not an absence of failure, but accumulation of little efforts to guide against failure.”
Ughamadu, in his own address, delivered by Ayobami-Ojo, said the NNPC National Science Quiz Competition encourages science, technology, engineering and mathematics education (STEM education) towards sustaining the country’s “economy by providing us with tools to understand the world around us and innovations to solve everyday problems. “Science is everywhere in the world around us. Technology is continuously expanding into every aspect of our lives, both the mundane and then complex.
“Without engineering there would be no houses to shelter us, no roads or bridges and certainly no cars. And mathematics is the very foundation of them all. “The NNPC National Science Quiz Competition was introduced in the year 2000 when it was held only for students in the Niger Delta.
“It was transformed into a nationwide exercise in 2001 and from the last edition in 2017, its reach has spread to the 774 Local Government Areas of this great nation. “The result of NNPC’s investment in the Quiz Competition is very visible for all to see. Many NNPC scholars have gone on to achieve outstanding academic excellence in tertiary institutions, locally and internationally.”
Ughamadu, however, cited the success stories of the pioneer winner of the competition, Sunday Aliu, from Edo State, “who presently works with Total Upstream Nigeria Limited as an Integrated Control and Safety Systems Engineer. “He bagged a First Class Degree in Electrical/Electronics Engineering from the University of Benin and a Distinction in Computer Science and Engineering for his Masters degree at the African University of Science & Technology, Abuja.
“Aliu also has a Ph.D in Control Systems Engineering from the prestigious Imperial College, London, United Kingdom.”

source: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/07/09/winners-emerge-in-2018-nnpc-national-science-quiz-for-south-west/

Six national winners of the 2018 Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) in Nigeria have been selected to compete at the world championship billed to hold in Disneyworld, Orlando, United States this month. Winners of the annual competition conducted by an educational agency, include three students from Aduvie International School; Iyke-Osuji Victor, Faith Academy, Ota, Ogun State; Holdings Ogon, Federal University of Technology (FUTA), Akure, Ondo and Udounwa Theodor of Thomas Adewumi International College, Kwara state with two Information and Communication Technology (ICT) teachers.
Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Edna Agusto who disclosed this to reporters said more than 133 out of the 147 students shortlisted for the final examinations were challenged to demonstrate their proficiency in the use of Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint and Word version 2013 and 2016.
In the 2018 Computing Fundamentals (GS4 National category), Chidiebere Jeffery of Aduvie International School emerged winner while Ogundimu Omolara of Childville School won in Key Application (GS4).
Mrs Agusto explained that the MOS National Championship was held over a period of seven months between October 2017 and April 2018 with about 479 entries from 22 secondary schools and two universities in Lagos, Oyo, Ondo, Ogun, Rivers, Kwara and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

source: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/07/09/six-students-qualify-for-microsoft-world-championship-competition-in-florida/

Students of Sa’adu Zungur Model Primary and Secondary School in Bauchi reportedly conducted illegal marriages among themselves – The government of the state has shut down the school after news of the illegal marriages broke The deputy governor of Bauchi state, Nuhu Gidado, who doubles as the commissioner for education, has ordered the immediate shutdown of Sa’adu Zungur Model Primary and Secondary School in the state capital.
The school was shut down after news of senior students conducting illegal marriages between themselves broke out. According to a press statement issued by his special assistant on communications, Yakubu Adamu, the deputy governor blamed moral decadence in the society for the illegal marriages among the students. Tribune reports that the illegal act among the students was rampant despite the fact that both male and female students had separate classrooms for learning. It was further learnt that teachers in the school got to know about the act when a senior secondary (SS) 2 student organised one of such wedding ceremonies in the school premises to his alleged lover, also a senior student of the school.
The noise and cheers from jubilant co-students amidst the fun were said to have drawn the attention of the teachers, who rushed to find out what was happening only to discover that a ‘wedding’ ceremony was taking place between the two students. The male students reportedly pay N500 as bride price to their would-be ‘wife’ who are also students of the school as a condition for solemnisation of their marriages. It further revealed that the ‘couples’ classmates also contributed money to buy snacks to eat during such ‘wedding’ ceremonies.

Source: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/07/09/secondary-school-in-bauchi-shut-down-over-illegal-marriage-between-students/

A Kenyan referee who had been due to officiate at the ongoing World Cup in Russia has been handed a life ban after being caught in a bribery sting.
Aden Marwa was filmed receiving a 600-dollar bribe during Confederation of African Football assignment in Ghana.
He is one of 22 referees sanctioned by the CAF in an unprecedented clean up, announced at the weekend.
Marwa, who was a reserve at the 2014 finals in Brazil, had earlier been removed from the list of match officials due to officiate in Russia 2018.
The life ban was handed out by CAF’s disciplinary board, which also banned 10 other referees for between two years and 10 years for similar offences.
A further 11 persons have been suspended pending an appearance at the board in August.
African football has long been plagued by allegations of bribery but never before has CAF banned such a large number of officials.

The federal government has said that curriculum for History is ready –

The curriculum would be delivered to all Ministries of Education and State Universal Basic Education Boards – Some of the concepts captured in the new curriculum include origins of history and peopling, heroes and heroines in Nigeria The Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) says the new history curriculum is ready for delivery to all the Ministries of Education in the 36 states of the Federation.
Moses Salau, the director of Research, NERDC told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday that the curriculum had been completed and printed. Salau recalled that the introduction of history into primary and junior secondary schools was approved by the National Education Council (NEC). He said the curriculum would be delivered to all Ministries of Education and State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEB) across the 36 states any moment from now. According to the director, NERDC has instructed the publishers of the curriculum to deliver them to all state ministries and SUBEB any moment from now. “We are set for the introduction of History in the 2018/2019 academic session. We have printed the curriculum and any moment from now, they will be delivered to various states. “By God’s grace, the teaching of history will start by September, 2018,” he said. Salau said that NERDC would start the training of teachers on the new curriculum simultaneously in the 36 states as soon as the curriculum was distributed. He said it was the responsibility of state governments to employ teachers to teach the subject. NAN reports that the minister of education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, had said teaching of history in schools would be used as an instrument of national integration and nation building.

Adamu also said teaching of history would also enable pupils to appreciate the basis of the unity of Nigeria. He explained that the initiative to reintroduce the teaching of history in primary and junior secondary schools was approved by the National Council on Education during its 61st Ministerial session in September 2016. The NCE directed NERDC to carry out the disarticulation of history from the Social Studies curriculum. The NERDC executive secretary, Prof Ismail Junaidu, had said some of the concepts captured in the new curriculum include origins of history and peopling, heroes and heroines in Nigeria, political developments in Nigeria. Other concepts listed include geography and environment, economics and trade, cultures and custom of Nigeria. The curriculum is divided into three levels; Primary 1 to 3 (lower basic), Primary 4 to 6 (middle basic) and Junior Secondary School 1 to 3 (Upper basic). The federal government in this move reintroduced History to be taught in schools across the country. The reintroduction of History in schools by the FG followed clamour for the subject to be returned especially because of the current state of the country having to do with various agitations and the fact that most Nigerians lack knowledge of past happenings in the country.

Source: https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/07/08/history-curriculum-ready-for-distribution-to-states-nerdc/

Five students of Regina Pacis College, Onitsha, Anambra State, have emerged finalists for the Technovation World Challenge coming up in August 2018 in San Fransisco, United States.
The girls, code=named Team Save A Soul, comprising five brilliant girls: Promise Nnalue, Jessica Osita, Nwabuaku Ossai, Adaeze Onuigbo and Vivian Okoye, developed a mobile application called ‘FD-Detector’ to tackle the problem of fake pharmaceutical products in Nigeria with Mrs. Uchenna Onwuamaegbu-Ugwu, as their mentor. They will be pitching their app to great investors in Silicon Valley, California.
After emerging finalists during the Africa regional competition in Abuja, TEAM Save A Soul, is set to compete with USA, Span, Turkey, Uzbekistan and China in the 2018 Technovation World Pitch Junior Division on August 8, in San Francisco.
According to their mentor, Mrs. Onwuamaegbu-Ugwu, Director, Edufun Technik STEM Center, Onitsha, and a Mandela Washington Fellow, “This is the first time a Junior Nigerian team emerged among the finalists to visit Silicon Valley.
Technovation is a programme of Iridescent, a 501c3 non-profit based in USA that offers girls around the world the opportunity to learn the programming skills they need to emerge as tech entrepreneurs and leaders. Every year girls are invited to identify a problem in their communities, and then challenge them to solve them by developing android apps.
115 countries participated in the competition with over 2,000 mobile apps submitted.
Only 12 teams from all over the world were selected as finalists who will be given the opportunity to explain their projects in form of a pitch and tell their app story in a creative way on 8th August in USA.
The girls will also be attending Field trips, life-changing workshops including a networking session during their one week stay in USA.
Mrs. Onwuamaegbu- Uche noted that it was in January, this year, that she set out to teach some girls in Onitsha the skills they need to change the world with technology, and this according to her birthed the idea to solve a very challenging problem in Nigeria which is fake drugs.
She noted that the FD-Detector (Fake Drug Detector) helps identify fake pharmaceutical drugs in Nigeria while the app leverages a drug’s barcode to verify its authenticity and expiry date.
Team Save A Soul, she said, would also partner with the National Agency for Food & Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) an agency responsible for regulating drugs in Nigeria.
Over 19,000 girls around the world registered to participate in Technovation 2018, building apps and starting businesses that solve problems in their communities
Since 2010, more than 10,000 girls from 78 countries have participated in Technovation. With the help of volunteer mentors, they’ve produced mobile “startups” that have helped address problems in local and global communities the world over.
And while each year more and more girls take up the challenge, we know that there are always more problems to solve and that there are girls from every part of the world ready to solve them.
Two of the girls, Jessica Osita and Nnalue Promise who spoke to Daily Sun said they could not wait to go and conquer the world for Nigeria in the competition.
They noted that the regional competition was a great eye opener for them while the sky would only be their starting point even as they showered praises on the mentor and other facilitators who helped them during the training period.

https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/07/08/anambra-college-girls-emerge-finalists-for-technovation-world-challenge/

Former Abia governor and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, has said an elected APC government in the state, in 2019, will ensure free and compulsory education for all children.

Speaking at his country home at Igbere, in Bende Local Government Area of the state, yesterday, while addressing party faithful, Kalu said dividends of modern democracy start from primary, secondary and tertiary education, which he says is the fulcrum on which other development indices are based.

He said as governor, he never joked with the Education sector which informed why his administration was able to pay teachers and other workers salaries promptly.

“I was governor for eight years; we paid teachers, we paid local government workers, we paid civil servants and students had almost free education.

“So, why should today be different? The attitude of modern democracy is to build social enclaves that make modern democracy operative.

“Today, modern democracy is no longer operative in our state. We are committed to free education. We are committed to free and sound healthcare. We have done it in the past and we are ready to do it again under APC.

“We are committed to paying pensioners what is due to them. We are committed to paying retirees their gratuity.......

https://ebzik-frontier.com/2018/07/06/2019-apc-govtll-make-education-free-in-abia-kalu/