qualification in primary schools
From ISAAC ANUMIHE, Abuja
Friday, November 12, 2010
Following the approval of six Federal Universities on Wednesday by the
Federal Executive Council (FEC), the Federal Government, yesterday
approved N10 billion for the take-off of the proposed institutions. This
came as the Federal Government considered bachelors degree as minimum
teaching qualification the primary and secondary schools in the country.
This implies that the former minimum qualification of the National College
of Education Certificate (NCE) would soon be scrapped and the future of
polytechnic education, seriously threatened. To this effect, the Federal
Government yesterday inaugurated a committee to work out the modalities
for establishing the varsities which will be sited in Bayelsa, Jigawa and
other states where Federal universities are absent.
Members of the committee include the Executive Secretary of National
Universities Commission (NUC) as chairman and the CEO/PSE as secretary.
Other members are Executive Secretary of National Board for Technical
Education (NBTE); Executive Secretary, National Colleges of Education
Commission (NCCE); Executive Secretary Education Trust Fund (ETF) and
Deputy Director, PSE.
They also include; Deputy Director, Universities; Deputy Director,
Polytechnics; Deputy Director, Colleges of Education; representative of
Department, Basic Education and two external members.
The committee has the mandate to develop the modalities for the setting up
of six new universities in Nigeria considering the location (one per
geographical zone, in a state that does not currently have a Federal
university), proposed size (considering that it may not be the size of a
conventional university as it currently exists in Nigeria); detailed
costing of each university in developmental phases; required take-off
grant for the first phase of each university and mode of funding.
The committee was also charged to consider the future of the Colleges of
Education and the resultant NCE qualification; consider the future of
mono-discipline universities; develop two council memos (one for the
establishment of six new universities and the other, for the future of
colleges of education, polytechnics and mono-discipline universities for
deliberation at the next Federal Executive Council meeting, on Wednesday,
next week.
While inaugurating the committee, the Minister of State for Education,
Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, declared that the Federal Government has approved
N10 billion for the take-off of the universities and that the committee
has till Monday, next week to submit its report. He noted that although 12
new Federal universities were approved, six of them would receive
immediate attention while the committee is required to recommend a
time-frame, states and towns for the location of the other six.
***
But continue with this addition....
New varsities: Avenue to siphon money for 2011 elections –CPC
…'We're not idiots, stop playing to the gallery'
From: FRANCIS AWOWOLE-BROWNE, Abuja
Friday, November 12, 2010
General Mohammed Buhari's Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has
described the decision of the government to establish six more
universities in each of the six geo-political zones as a surreptitious
move to siphon public resources to help the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
in 2011 general elections.
Besides, the party which asked that the projects be stopped, said
President Goodluck Jonathan should be told that "Nigerians are not idiots
and that there is limit to which one can be played around."
Faulting the decision, CPC said the planned universities would end up as
white elephant projects because the existing ones were starved of funds
and were therefore in comatose with their teachers complaining every time.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Dennis Aghanya in his reaction
to the development, said by the decision, government was just playing to
the gallery to score cheap political points.
"All the existing federal and state universities in the country are in
comatose because of the lack of infrastructures and desired manpower to
get them to a reasonable learning standard. It is no more history that
Nigerians studying in neighbouring West African countries alone, in search
of quality education, constitutes a major source of economic loss to the
country," he stated.
Recalling that the universities in the South-east had been under lock and
key for months with the authorities obviously not worried, CPC said the
move to establish more universities could not impress anyone because it
was misplaced.
While noting that corruption had been the bane of the nation's education
underdevelopment, the CPC asked the government to use the money that would
be used for new institutions to resuscitate the ones in dire need of funds
to function well.
It stated: "For the past months, all the South-east state universities
have been on strike. Yet, it is not a source of worry to our shameless
leadership in the country. President Goodluck Jonathan should be informed
that Nigerians are not idiots and that there is limit to which one can be
played around. We are ready to resist his corrupt and imperialistic
tendencies inherited from his master.
"Corruption has been the bane of the country's economic woes and no
genuine effort seems to be in place to tackle this canker worm. The fight
against corruption by the PDP government since 1999 has been a lip
service. "Funds voted for the UBE programmes are used by the governors as
if they are meant for their security votes, in addition to the local
governments' allocations which are at their beck and call. Our primary
schools are in sorry sights, yet billions of naira is voted every quarter
in the name of UBE programmes.
"Our existing universities are nothing better than glorified nursery
schools. The lecturers barely access funds for necessary research work."
CPC then advised government to channel that huge sum earmarked for the
white-elephant project into the existing universities saying; "their
structures can be expanded and improved on to accommodate more students
seeking admission into our universities."
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