SPLENSIZY'S BLOG: Educational

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Friday 11 August 2017

Cynthia Ali, student with nine distinctions in WAEC, offered full scholarship

Eighteen-year-old Cynthia Ali, who aced her West African Examinations Council (WAEC) test, has been awarded a full scholarship by the Enugu state government.

The indigene of Enugu became the best graduating student of Shalom Academy Nsukka in 2017 when she scored A1 in all the nine subjects she sat for.

The scholarship would cater to her full tuition up to the first-degree level in any Nigerian university and she will also be awarded a certificate of honour in recognition of her outstanding academic performance by the state government.

The award was presented before members of the state executive council (EXCO) on Thursday.

Ali received commendation for her excellent record from Uchenna Eze, the state commissioner for education, Ogbuagu Anikwe, the commissioner for information, and the special adviser on education, Sam Ugwu, who described as her as “a role model”.

The student has applied to read medicine and surgery in the University of Nigeria Nsukka, UNN.

Ali’s academic record has been consistently sterling from junior secondary to senior secondary school.

Prior to this, she has received, on two occasions, a certificate of merit by the Mathematical Association of Nigeria (MAN) Enugu state chapter.

JAMB warns against Fake UTME questions out for N200,000,

•Board releases results of Saturday examination

Some syndicate groups are selling past question papers of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for N200,000 to candidates, Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Prof. Is-haq Oloyede alleged yesterday.

Oloyede warned candidates against falling victims to the fraudsters, who claim to have prepared answers to the examination questions being conducted by JAMB.

He spoke during the monitoring of the ongoing UTME examination with Minister of State for Education Prof. Anthony Anwukah in Abuja.

Oloyede and Anwukah visited Digital Bridge Institute, Global Learning Institute, Sascon International School and the JAMB CBT Centre in Kogo, Bwari.

According to him, some of the fraudulent persons simply take past question papers and redesign them by changing the date and then sell same to gullible candidates, who might not have prepared well for the examination.

He said some candidates fell for the trick, paying huge sums of money to purchase the question papers only to be disappointed on the examination day.

Oloyede said: “This morning, somebody sent me questions. They call it Orijo and he bought it for N200,000 and when I saw it, it was our questions in 1984 and he just put 2017 on it and started selling it and people are buying it.

“So, if people are corrupt, I won’t have any sympathy if they are duped by corrupt people like themselves. They are just being wise. They went into the past questions of JAMB and just changed the heading.

“Somebody else called me and said he had all my questions. I asked him to send them to me and when I checked, I just laughed because none of that was in our questions. What people are just doing, they are making money because people are gullible.

“We appeal to people to do things according to the rules. No cutting of corners will work with JAMB and that is why many of the candidates who fell for such blackmail are disappointed.”

The registrar said the board has released the results of the examination conducted on Saturday.

Oloyede, who expressed satisfaction in the smooth conduct of the examination so far, decried the poor performance of students from the results of Saturday’s examination.

He said: “The result of UTME has come out and the performance is not too bad. But we are sure that this is the performance now rather than thinking you can get result one way or the other.”

He said arrangements are being made by the board to transfer its candidates at the two CBT centres in Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho, Oyo State to University of Ilorin to write their examination.

He said about 440,000 candidates out of the 1.7 million that registered for the UTME sat for the examination on the second day.

Oloyede added that the examinations would end in Bauchi, Abia, Niger states and some other states yesterday.

The JAMB registrar added that the UTME would continue in Kebbi, Lagos, Oyo and some other states.

Prof. Anwukah hailed the board for smooth conduct of the examination.

The minister called on candidates to put in their best for the UTME and shun any act of malpractices.

“This is excellent. Everything is in place and everything is going well based on what we have seen. The candidates should do their best and should not cheat. And of course, they cannot cheat,” he said.

UNIBEN student drowns in River Benue

A yet to be identified student of the University of Benin has drowned in River Benue, on the closing day of Nigeria University Games Association (NUGA) in Makurdi.

Dr Omeche Onoja, Chairman, NUGA games medical and sanitation subcommittee confirmed the incident.

The name of the student was not disclosed.

Onoja said the student had gone to the river to swim when the incident occurred.

She said his corpse had been deposited at Madonna Hospital in Makurdi.

” We had a distress call from some students of the situation but on reaching the river, we found the lifeless body of the student, who has been identified by his colleagues. He was said to have participated in some games.

“The whole incident could have been avoided,” she said.

The Nigeria University Games Association (NUGA) Games was hosted by the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi (UAM).

Fifty-seven universities participated.

There is confusion over the allocation of centres to candidates of the 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation (UTM) examination next month by the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) to states outside their residences.

Checks revealed that the examination body has started issuing centres and seat numbers to candidates.

The slip containing the centre and seat numbers, according to checks by our correspondent also contain the examination towns where candidates will seat for the forthcoming examination.

The exact names of the centre, according to JAMB, will be sent to the candidates’ email boxes in dues course.

However, the online publication of candidates’ examination towns by the body appeared to have been greeted with more confusion ahead of this year’s UTM examination.

Across the country, candidates and their parents are angrily protesting what they called the gross insensitivity of the management of the examination body in the choice of examination towns for many of the candidates.

The Nation gathered that a good number of the candidates have been allocated centers outside their states of residence.

The situation will see many candidates from Lagos state having to travel all the way to Ekiti, Ondo, Edo and other such states for the examination.

Candidates, who spoke with our correspondent in Lagos, lamented the financial and physical difficulties they will encounter with the development.

They added efforts to complain to the examination body and seek changes in their current examination towns are not yielding fruits.

Their claims were corroborated by some parents and guardians who also lamented the development while urging JAMB to urgently do something about the situation.

A 17- year- old candidate posted to Ondo State said she has never travelled out of Lagos alone.

“When I printed out my JAMB e-registration slip last week, I was shocked to discover that I will be writing the examination in Ondo State.

“I registered here in Lagos. I have never been to Ondo. I wonder why I have to go to Akure or Ondo town to write ordinary JAMB.

“I am confused by the whole development. I don’t know if I will still write the examination,” she said.

The mother of another aggrieved candidate ruled out the likelihood of her going to Ekiti state to write the examination.

The middle-aged woman condemned what she called the unrealistic approach of JAMB.

According to her, it is obvious that the examination body no longer understands how to go about organizing the yearly matriculation examination.

“JAMB or what is it they are called should understand how young some of these candidates are.

“My daughter is barely 18 years old and they want her to travel from Ikorodu to Ekiti just to sit for examination.

“Aside the cost implication, the danger of such trip is not worth risking by such a young child.

“They need to realize that they are scaring these children away from seeking education,” she argued on phone.

But JAMB denied sending any candidate to far flung examination towns against their wish.

Its spokesperson, Dr Fabian Benjamin, said all the candidates chose the locations they wanted to write the examination themselves.

Benjamin wondered why candidates who willingly filled the towns they are posted to while registering online will turn around to claim the body is forcing them to go to distance.

“We didn’t send candidates out of town against their wishes on our own. They chose their examination towns themselves.

“That is the truth of the matter. And to be candid, there is no fault of JAMB in any of these things you are talking about.”

Asked why new centres were not created to prevent candidates having to go far away from their bases, he said: “We didn’t do that because we didn’t want to be accused of being biased.

“We gave all the candidates the right of first refusal in choosing their examination towns. But where the centers run out quickly, we didn’t create new ones.

“In fact, I foresee a situation where somebody in Lagos will write JAMB matriculation examination in Maiduguri soon because some places will always fill up before others.

“And if we continue to make provision for more centers, somebody somewhere will say we are biased

Stakeholders Canvass Varsity Status for FCET Umunze

A former Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has called on the federal government to elevate the Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, would widen students’ access to higher degrees in technical education and equip them with employable skills.

Ezeife made the call during the special silver jubilee celebration, which was part of activities that heralded the recent 23rd convocation ceremony of the college.
Speaking on ‘The Nascent of Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze in the South East of Nigeria: The Growth, Impacts and Strategic Plans for Tomorrow’, he said the college stood a better chance of becoming a centre of excellence for quality vocational, technical and science education programme in the south east.

Renewed appeals for the elevation of the college to a university were also made at different occasions by other stakeholders. The pioneer Provost of the college, who is currently the traditional ruler of Azia Community, Prof. Titus Eze, called for the upgrading of the college to a model university of education. Also, the former Vice-Chancellor, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Prof. Boniface Egboka said the college should be granted the autonomy to award degrees so as to satisfy the yearning for higher education by Nigerian students.

Egboka, who was the chairman of the pre-convocation lecture, expressed satisfaction with the improved state of infrastructure in the college under the leadership of the Provost, Prof. Josephat Ogbuagu. He said the institution has developed the pedigree and capacity to become a university, with focus on vocational, technical and science subjects.

Addressing guests and officials of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) at the convocation lecture, Ogbuagu said the enrolment into the institution has increased progressively, especially with the introduction of the degree programme in affiliation with Nnamdi Azikiwe University.
He said the college has a crop of dedicated staff who work tirelessly to produce sound graduates in NCE, Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) and degree.

“While we acknowledge and appreciate government’s efforts in improving the facilities in the college, it is necessary that we bring to your notice the needs of this college for the provision of more hostel accommodation for students, landscaping of the permanent site, tarring of internal network of roads, asphalting the access road to the permanent site, among others.”

The Executive Secretary, NCCE, Prof. Bappa-Aliyu Muhammadu, who was the guest lecturer, stressed the need to focus on effective teacher education to provide quality teachers for the change agenda. He called for clear definition of the professional standard of the teaching profession, which should be sustained through teachers’ associations in the country.

Speaking on the theme, ‘Qualitative Teacher Education and Entrepreneurship in Contemporary Nigerian Society’, Muhammadu said the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria, in conjunction with other agencies, must work out ways and means of improving the position of teachers; he stressed the need for teachers with intellectual and professional background that would add value to the profession.
According to him, today’s teachers must have a thorough knowledge of their chosen subject matters if they would command the respect of their students.

“The student of today is more intelligent than his counterpart of 10 years ago. This is because the art of reading is particularly important today. The printed word is the main route of the past, the present and of what makes the man-made world tick. It is also the passport to teaching, education, adventure, delight, terror, fun and experience, as well as relationships.”

The executive secretary explained that sometimes students protest against ineffective teaching shown by their respective classroom teachers. “When this happens, a number of questions readily come to mind. Do the teachers have a thorough knowledge of the subject matter? Do the teachers have a perfect command of the medium of instruction? Are they professionally trained for a meaningful classroom interaction with their students?”

To improve the quality of teacher education, he called on schools to allow for breath and depth in curriculum content, which are the basis for effective teachers and teaching. He argued that teacher education must focus on the language of instruction for effective teaching and interaction in the classroom and society.

He urged teachers to keep learning to become an authority in the school environment, adding that good teaching is the hallmark of teacher education. He said those in education should be encouraged to become more professional and be ready to share their ideas with other teachers

Water is like a Fuelist to Your Body - read more

A TEACHER’S DIARY

As your car is useless without the power supplied to it by its own type of fuel, so are you and your students without adequate intake of water daily. My friend’s mistake provided me with the learning curve on which I have remained since I witnessed the consequences of her error. Tired, unfocused and dehydrated, Jane drove into the petrol station at 9:45pm after a long day shift. This lapse in concentration resulting from thirst and dehydration made her self-supply her car with diesel instead of petrol. She didn’t go too far before her car stalled. It took a loan by way of an overdraft to get her car back on the road. Fuel is to car as water to the body.

Fuel, like water, is important to your car. Fuel provides your vehicle with the energy with which it works. The most common vehicle fuels are petrol and diesel. Other energy sources are ethanol, biodiesel, propane, compressed natural gas (CNG), electric batteries charged by an external source and hydrogen. Your car is useless without the power supplied it by its fuel. Your Vehicle’s fuel energises it, propels it, and lubricates it amongst other benefits.

In a similar manner, the water you drink provides your body with energy. It also transports substances, aids detoxification and lubricates your joints. The water you drink goes right into your body’s cells, between your cells and in your blood stream to promote high performance in these places. Water is your main energy provider as it generates magnetic and electrical energy within your cells. You would greatly reduce fatigue throughout the day by regularly taking sips of water.

There are trillions of cells in your body and they must have water for you to live. About two thirds of the water in your body is contained inside your cells. One third of your water is between your cells while approximately a third of your water is contained in your blood. Water has an excellent ability to dissolve many substances. Its presence within your cells enables it to use valuable nutrients, minerals and chemicals vital for your growth and wellbeing. Water has virtually no calories and won’t fatten up.

JAMB : Policy, System Should be Reviewed

As the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) prepares to administer its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in May, University Dons who have been monitoring the development, said despite the challenges confronting the board, it should review its current policy to enable candidates surmount the problems, improve on its system, while calling for support from Nigerians. Funmi Ogundare reports

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has always been enmeshed in controversies over its activities in the last few years, the controversies are getting louder this year, with the registration process which brought untold hardship to candidates; and the delayed cancellation of the mock Computer Based Test(CBT) for the 2016/17 matriculation examinations.

As a result, the Board had to extend the registration date for the 2017 UTME and also extended the deadline for sale of forms and registration for the exams from the earlier announced April 19 to May 5. The exams body also postponed the 2017 UMTE from May 13 to May 20, attributing the postponement of the mock to the failure from its technical partners.

The Registrar of the Board, Is-haq Oloyede, consequently, apologised to candidates for the sudden changes, saying, “we could not go on with the mock examination and hereby announce extension of the registration exercise of the 2017 UTME. This is because the appropriate rehearsal and test-running of the new system has been substantially achieved. The plan was to trial-test the readiness of our facilities and address the challenges that may likely confront the main examination.

“At this moment, we have realised that the plan to hold this mock examination was good for us. We are now in a better position to achieve better than we would have done without this trial testing. This is why the exercise is at no cost to the candidates.

“It is our strong conviction that this exercise is an experience for us. Our systems analysis has revealed interesting findings that will engender a seamless and successful 2017 UTME exercise.”
These may not have gone down well with some sections of the society as they called for the scrapping of the board or that its functions should be modified drastically.

According to reports, “a key problem behind JAMB’s failure is the unnecessary centralisation of the admission process, which puts much more pressure on the board than it could cope with. Ever since it was created in 1978 and subsequently, given sweeping powers by Decree No. 33 of 1989 to conduct the matriculation exams and also process the admission of students into the tertiary institutions, it has been struggling to cope with this mandate. It is now time to devolve many of those functions to the respective institutions or scrap it altogether.

Some other analysts have asked the Registrar of the Board, Professor Ishaq Oloyede to voluntarily resign his position for the lopsided nature of the ongoing JAMB registration.

The Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU) University of Ibadan Chapter, Dr. Deji Omole had described the registration problems being experienced by candidates as major set-back and may jeopardise the ambition of candidates who are interested in higher education, while calling on the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu to call the Registrar to order not to make life difficult for the children of the masses who yearn for quality public education.

According to Omole, the cumbersome registration procedure introduced by the JAMB registrar has succeeded in wasting the time the candidates were supposed to be using to read at fraudulent registration centers.
He reiterated the call of the union for the scrapping of JAMB, and that universities must be allowed to design its standard examination for its own candidates.

Despite the criticism being thrown at it, however, the Spokesperson of the Board, Dr. Fabian Benjamin told THISDAY in a telephone conversation that, “what Professor Oloyede has done is to improve on what has been on ground. We need everybody’s support to change the narrative of education in Nigeria. The Registrar of the board believes that the N5000 we are charging for the registration is too high. He wants a situation whereby we can do exams with less than N5000 and save money for government to use for other services, including internet capacity.”

Emphasising on the problems candidates face at the points of registration, he said, “from the study we have conducted , we discovered that the more time we give to candidates, the more likelihood we are going to extend. Last year, we only used three banks for registration, but this year, we insisted we were going to use all the banks as well as Interswitch and we were using over 600 centres this year, and for each centre we insisted that we must have open distribution points of about 100 .

“In Lagos, for instance, we have 59 centres , so if you have 100 distribution points , that would translate to about 7000 distribution points. This means that at any point in time, you should be able to register 7000 candidates at a go. Why are we having crowd? That is the challenge everybody is talking about.

“The crowd we are having is because at the first week of registration, a lot of banks that were supposed to get this PIN, didn’t start on time and the pressure mounted . Is this enough reason why Nigerians are saying we should jettison what we were doing?”

Reacting to the issue of profile creation by the candidates, Benjamin said, “If we look at the registration, we said candidates should create a profile and do registration, we had to capture 10 fingers because we discovered that candidates will register three or four times using different fingers at the point of biometrics then they will write the examination at different locations and choose the one they score a high mark in.
“Somebody once complained that he registered in Lagos and was posted elsewhere. If you check our website, you will see the traffic of candidates doing one type of correction or the other. We want to ensure that in 2017; candidates don’t come to our office to do this correction.”

On the readiness of the board for the UTME, the Spokesperson said, “ we are ready and we are going to do mock before the exams, we are yet to arrive at the date. It’s not as if we could not do the mock, but we discovered that a particular section of the country couldn’t get it right. So we reasoned that if they couldn’t get it right, then we should put it on hold. The mock exams were meant to test our facilities to see how ready we are.”

Benjamin confirmed that five persons were arrested by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps for various registration infractions, saying that they were brought from Oyo, Ogun and Ogun to Abuja where they confessed to their misdeeds.
According to him, “JAMB had given access code only to accredited CBT centres to partake in the registration exercise, but these operators in turn used the privilege information at their disposal in connivance with Honey comb centre and Bright international for percuniary motives, and creating confusion for the board, as procedures, guidelines and standards were compromised.
He said unknown to the fraudsters, the access codes are personalised coupled with features to detect abuses aimed at circumventing the registration process.

“They fraudulently tried to manipulate the system to give a semblance of the Board’s platform to deceive candidates as if a valid registration have been carried out. The suspects deployed fake biometric capturing mechanisms and super-imposed registration slip just to satisfy the curiousity of innocent candidates that their registration was successful and on the day of the examination, such candidate’s data would either be edited, or not found on the data base, such candidates would not be verified during the examination proper.”

Benjamin noted that the board wants to ensure that candidates don’t suffer subsequently when they get to tertiary institutions saying, “if they don’t do it now, they will start running up and down correcting one information or another. These are the challenges we want to address now. So we require the support of Nigerians for us to take education from where we are now, to the next level.”
Inspite of the challenges the Board is confronted with, some university dons avered that the board should be given time to deliver with the reforms being carried out and that it should also review its current policy to enable candidates surmount the problems.

A lecturer in the department of Mass Communication, Dr. Tunde Akanni said, “I dare say JAMB is ambitious with its strides which inevitably are accompanied by some challenges . As an academic, who uses available facts to undertake assessment, I personally believe that JAMB needs to be given sometime to deliver with the reforms being carried out. This year, within four weeks, no fewer than 1.4 million candidates had managed to register in spite of the orchestrated problems. ”

“As for the mock exams, JAMB declared it free and no one feels like commending that. The man who pioneered CBT exams at UNILORIN ahead of JAMB, wants to take it to zero malpractice, no applause still.” Some centres still collected money against the rule. What other forms of sabotage will such daredevil not contemplate to survive now that there is no scratch cards to misappropriate in collusion with corrupt JAMB staff?

Akanni stressed the need for Nigerians to be patient till the board runs the first examination, while expressing confidence that it will be fine.
“He deserves our support, ” he said.
Another of the department of History and International Relations, Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, Dr. Habeeb Sanni said the board needs to extend the registration period to give more room to candidates.
A former Dean, Faculty of Law, Kogi State University, Professor All Well Muzam stressed the need for the students to be exposed early to computer methods so that they will know what is required of them.

“I do realise that there might be difficulties, but on the part of the stakeholders who think it is the way to move forward , let us modernise this process and let the student be aware that this is what is required of them, and start early to be exposed to the computer method . To the authorities at the schools, they should also start to provide these facilities and ensure that the students are conversant with them ; and let them know that this is where modern education is going.”
He added that for candidates who are coming from rural areas , the school system ought to be revolutionised in such a way that not only a partial population of students can benefit from it but it should be across board irrespective of where they are living .

“They should be sensitive to these development and therefore make adequate provisions for them . If they are not familiar with the method of the exams, they may not do well , some students may not be able to enter into the tertiary institutions at first attempt maybe because of this problem , they spend one year and get conversant with the process, knowing that they will face it again the next year, and by then, they will would have been proficient in it, ” Muzam stressed.

He expressed concern about the difficulties the candidates may be facing saying that many of them are new to the method of testing, but that it could be beneficial to the system in the long run.
“The board after realising that the facility is a challenge, should be able to do something for the candidates and ensure that the system improves. The board should also review its policies so that all stakeholders can benefit,” he advised.

The former Vice Chancellor of Fountain University, Osogbo, Professor Bashir Raji argued that there is every possibility that a lot of potential students who are eligible to be offered admission could be denied due to frustration and lack of the board’s capacity to get things done at the right time.
“The impact of the shortcomings in the ongoing JAMB registration on university admission is obvious. This will further compound the yearly admission bottleneck that has been there.

He stressed the need for JAMB to think outside the box by putting all the required mechanism in place for smooth registration and the actual examinations.
“The Board should also be pro-active by planning long ahead of the exercise. After all, it is a yearly exercise and once. Inadequate time for proper planning should not be an excuse,” he said

first class graduates from UNILAG, LASU, LASPOTECH honoured MSSN

LAGOS State Area Unit of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) has honoured 35 students that bagged first class and distinction from the University of Lagos (UNILAG), the Lagos State University (LASU) and the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH).
The students were given plaques and cash at the ceremony held at Shamsi Adisa Hall at the Old Secretariat, in Ikeja GRA.
MSSN President Dr Saheed Ashafa said the students were honoured to show that academic excellence deserved more prominence than social activities.
He deployed what he called the lackadaisical attitude of the Fedral and state governments towards in academic excellence.
Ashafa criticised the government for not recognising outstanding young scholars during it celebration of Lagos @50.
He said: “As a student-based organisation, no activity can be better promoted than having a scrupulous interest in celebrating academic excellence. Since the society we found ourselves has been grossly engulfed in frivolities and celebration of mediocrity, we are left with no option than to take up the responsibility of showcasing the brains among us who are not deterred by the apparent denial that has taken over the society.
“We are all living witnesses to the mouth-watering monetary encouragement, material gifts and accolades given to the winners and participants of the just-concluded Big Brother Nigeria Reality TV Show. This is despite that majority agree that the show does not only corrupt our moral values but also sends a dangerous signal that academic excellence and hardwork are no more prerequisites to success.
“Painfully, some other shows that promote indecency, laziness and the get-rich mentality among our youths also have sponsorships and endorsements from both local and multinational companies. I need not mention them because we already know them! Yet, academic competitions and excellent performance by students receive peanuts from the society. What an irony!”
Lagos State Commissioner for Home Affairs Dr Abdulhakeem Abdullateef urged the honorees to get to the peak of their academic career.
He warned them not to change the winning strategy, adding: “A successful life does not come by chance. If you put a lot of hard work in what you do, you’ll get the result. You must join in taking appropriate steps so as to make the economy sound.”
The commissioner urged them to mentor other Muslim students and use their knowledge to contribute to the society.
“Do not forget Allah in whatever you do. You can attain nothing without Allah. You are part of the MSSN Lagos success story. Of what use is first class without contributing positively to the development of the society. You have to make sure your impact is felt,” he added.

Lagos State Muslim Community Chairman Prof Tajudeen Gbadamosi described the students as worthy representatives of Islam, who are worthy of emulation.
Prof Gbadamosi, represented by Dr Maruf Animashaun, said: “You have made us proud and do not relent. This is a good feat and you deserve more celebration. I commend the organisers of this event for celebrating excellence”.
Responding on behalf of the honorees, Azeez Ejire, former Students Union President of LASPOTECH, said the award would encourage them to do more.

Bida Poly: Students decry incessant occurrences of burglary

The students of the Federal Polytechnic Bida have decried the high rate of burglary in the off campus area of the institution.

This was revealed in the cross section interview granted to some of the students recently.

One of the students Matthew Chukwu HND one student of the department of public administration stressed that he is still in shock over what happened to him as he resumed and find out that his room has been burgled by unknown bandit and valuables what a lots of money cast away before he resumed for the new session.

In his own reaction Banjo Babatunde an HND two Electrical Electronics Engineering department student stressed that stealing of properties is no longer new to him as he was a victim of such in his first year in the institution.

In her own case Odusola Grace student of Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management Department said she is in debt over the ugly incident that occurred on her birthday, in her words she said she was in her room resting after the celebration when the act was carried out and to make it worse the laptop stolen from her room was borrowed from a close friend to type her assignment.

Reacting to these on phone the welfare director of the Students Union Government of the institution Comrade Babalola Monsuru condemned the incident and stated that the reports they get from students recently had prompted the SUG to investigate the incidence and assure the victims that the perpetrators will soon be brought to book.

Meanwhile, the chief security officer of the institution Alhaji Hussain Suleiman while addressing our correspondence in his office commented that the perpetrators have been able to succeed in the act due to the carelessness of the students.

Alhaji Suleiman said the reports of burglary they received recently is on the high rates because the school is in a new academic session and most of the students around at this time are not registered students of the institution and in order to combat these situation, the security operatives of the institution have put in place proactive measures to ensure that perpetrators are brought to book.

He then urged the students to always be security conscious by putting their rooms under lock and should notify the school authority about anyone that is not a registered student of the institution living in their various lodges for proper measure to be taken before they incur pains on the students.

The Joint Union of Tertiary Institutions in Nasarawa State has suspended its two weeks indefinite strike.

The state’s Chairman of the union, Mr Ariks Bashayi, announced the suspension on Wednesday in Lafia, shortly after the union’s emergency meeting.

According to him, the suspension of the strike is due to the commitment shown by the State Government through the authorities of the three tertiary institutions owned by the state.

“Though all our demands were not met, the union has shifted ground for now.

“The State Government and other stakeholders appealed to the union to call-off the strike to pave way for further negotiations.”

Bashayi said that the government had agreed to grant 75 per cent of the union’s demands, resulting to the suspension of the strike.

The chairman called on members of the union to resume work immediately, pending further directives from the union.

On April 5, the union embarked on an indefinite strike, citing government’s refusal to address welfare-related issues.

The institutions involved in the strike are the College of Education, Akwanga, College of Agriculture, Lafia and the Nassarawa State Polytechnic, Lafia.

ASUP calls for end to dichotomy between Polytechnic and University graduates

Ogunseye Timothy, National Vice-President, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), on Wednesday appealed to the Federal Government to end the dichotomy between polytechnic and university graduates in the country.

Timothy made the appeal on the side line of ASUP first International Conference hosted by the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) Chapter of the union in Ikorodu, Lagos.

The conference had the theme: “Africa’s Solution to Africa’s Challenges: Nigeria’s Perspectives’’.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a bill for an act seeking to end the dichotomy between polytechnic and university graduates passed its second reading at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The bill, which was co-sponsored by Balanga Billiri, Ali Isa and Edward Pwajok, seek to create equal opportunities for graduates from universities and polytechnics, in terms of employment and promotions.

Timothy said that polytechnic graduates were not inferior to their university counterparts.

Ogunseye said the unwarranted discriminatory practice of ranking polytechnic graduates lower than university graduates was prevalent among some government agencies and private organizations.

He commended Kano State Government for its decision not to discriminate but ranked polytechnic and university graduates equally.

“I do not see any reason why the dichotomy should continue as the same admission requirement applies to candidates choosing polytechnics and universities.

“Reviewing the curricula of tertiary institutions in terms of practical and other educational contents, polytechnic graduates are far better than universities.

“Nigerian graduates are equal, notwithstanding the schools they attend. However, this discrepancy between polytechnic and university is worrisome.

“Without doubt, if the discrimination continues, the country’s technological advancement being the backbone of any economic growth will be negatively affected.

“As a matter of fact, there is need for employers to change their perception towards HND graduates because BSC holders are not in any way better than them.

“If care is not taken, competent hands will be short-changed which would handicap the country’s progress,’’ he said.

Also speaking on the discrimination, former rector of Lagos State Polytechnic, Mr Babatunde Iginla, said removing the dichotomy would encourage economic independence, employment and stability in the labor market.

University VC shuts school after students poured him water

Professor Dapo Folorunsho Asaju, Vice Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University, ACU, Oyo State, has ordered that the school be shut.

Prof Asaju’s directive may not be unconnected to a physical assault on him by male students at the weekend.

A 300L student of the institution on condition of anonymity told DAILY POST Monday afternoon that the VC has equally ordered disciplinary action against the students.

They are to appear on Tuesday before the Students Disciplinary Committee (SDC).

Trouble started last Friday when some male students of ‘Ibadan Hostel’ and ‘JA (Joseph Adetiloye) Hostel’ allegedly fought over a female student.

The VC was said to have directed internal security personnel to put the situation under control before it escalated.

“Some students then poured water on the security personnel.“When security staff got there, the guys rather than stop the commotion continued,” the source told our correspondent.

“Word got to the VC who decided to personally intervene. On his arrival, the students got violent and said he should leave.

“As the situation got tensed, some yet-to-be-identified poured water and thrash on him.

“Again on Sunday during church service, some students whose phones were seized disrupted service in protest.“Prof Asaju was so angry that he cursed them and vowed to take action.

“The VC got up and said since the it appeared students were getting out of control, he would shut the school and punish any one indicted in recent incidents being investigated by the SDC”.

Responding to DAILY POST enquiry, Shina Bello, Deputy Bursar (Admin) denied any plan to shut the school.

“I’m not aware of any assault on the VC. The school is not in session and students who have no genuine reason to be around should normally be in their homes”.

Less than 10 minutes after his denial, our source forwarded a text sent to all students by the VC, Prof Asaju.

See screenshot below…

JAMB gives two weeks extra for Candidates to register, see details below

· Postpones mock examination

The Joint Admissions and MatriculationS Board yesterday announced extension of registration for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) by two weeks.

The extension covers April 19 – 5th May.

The examination body also announced suspension of the conduct of its mock examination scheduled to hold yesterday in some selected centres across the country indefinitely.

JAMB registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, told reporters in Abuja the postponement of the UTME mock exam was due to failure from its technical partners.

He also announced shift in the conduct of UTME scheduled to begin on 6th May. The exercise, according to him, will commence on 13th – 20th May.

“The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board wishes to apologise to candidates and other stakeholders.

“We could not go on with the mock examination and hereby announce extension of registration exercise of the 2017 UTME.

“Instead of the earlier announced April 19, the deadline for the sale of forms and registration will now extend to Friday, May 5, 2017.

“Consequently, the 2017 UTME has also been postponed to start on Saturday, May 13-20, 2017,” Oloyede said.

Justifying the action, the JAMB boss said: “The postponement of the UTME mock examination was due to failure from our technical partners.

“Yesterday (Friday) we told you people that if there was need for extension, we would do that.

“Today (Saturday), we put the system on trial and discovered that there were certain failures from our technical partners.”

Oloyede said the mock examination remained free for candidates willing to sit for it, adding the agency would pay the fees due to owners of computer based centres (CBT) to allow candidates write the examination.

“The mock examination earlier slated for Saturday, April 8, 2017 has been put on hold.

“This is because the appropriate rehearsal and test-running of the new stem has been substantially achieved.

“The plan was to trial-test the readiness of our facilities and address challenges that may likely confront the main examination.

“At this moment, we have realised that the plan to hold this mock examination was good for us.

“We are now in a better position to achieve better than we would have done without this trial testing. This is why the exercise is at no cost to candidates.

“The blessing that will trail the suspension of this mock examination and extension of registration deadline will manifest in our main UTME by next month,” he said.

JAMB: UTME registration suspended from April 7-10

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has suspended registration as from 7-10 of April.

JAMB, however, assured Nigerians especially the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) candidates and their parents that all hands are on deck to ensure the smooth conduct of this year’s UTME exercise.

A statement by JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, on Friday reiterated that the interest of the candidates is foremost to the Board and there is no need for any apprehension regarding the purchase of forms and registration for the examinations.

It reads in full: “It is our commitment as a responsive and responsible body to ensure that no willing candidate is left out and if there is a need to extend the registration deadline, the needful will be done.

“Meanwhile, Saturday April 8th, 2017 has been set aside for the Mock UTME. To seamlessly achieve this, the Board has SUSPENDED all activities relating to the registration exercise in ANY CBT centre from 8pm today being Friday 7thof April, 2017 and to resume on Monday 10THof April, 2017.

“This is to notify the candidates and the concerned stakeholders that there will be no sale of forms, registration and biometric capturing at the various centres in which the Mock Examinations are taking place.

‘This however does not preclude any candidate from going to Banks, NIPOST, interswitch or Remita to procure pins for registration on Monday. This is to prevent any disruption of the process and conduct of the mock examination.

“The Mock Examinations for interested candidates taking place Saturday 8thApril, 2017 is intended to familiarise our candidates with the CBT systems and generally forecast the challenges that may be faced ahead in order to proactively address them.

“It is just a rehearsal for us and candidates who want to experience the situation to expect during the actual examinations.

“Therefore, the sale of forms, registration and biometrics at CBT Centres are to be suspended from 8:00 p.m. today till Monday, April 10, 2017. This notice is for the strict adherence of our officers and partners throughout the Federation.

“While wishing the candidates and officials participating in the examination a successful mock exercise, we once again re-assure the candidates that there is no need for worry or anxiety.

“The next one week we believe is sufficient to capture the remaining candidates as about 1,000,000 applicants have successful registered.

“However, as stated earlier, no one will be left behind as the deadline may be extended if there are applicants who do not succeed at registering due to circumstances beyond their control.

“The Board sincerely regrets all inconveniences and state its resolved to work tirelessly to change the fortune of education in Nigerian”.

UPDATED: Original WAEC May/June timetable 2017

Monday, 13th March to Thursday, 13th April, 2017

Arabic 3 (Oral)

French 3 (Oral)
Physical Education 3 (Performance Test)
Clothing and Textiles 3 (Practical)
Foods and Nutrition 3 (Practical)
Home Management 3 (Practical)
Music 3B (Performance Test)
Date and time will be announced later.

Friday, 10th March 2017

Foods and Nutrition 3 (Practical) Planning Session - 08.30am - 09.30am
Home Management 3 (Practical) Planning Session - 11.00am - 12.00am

Thursday, 23rd March, 2017

Health Science 3 (Alternative to Practical Work) 2.00pm - 3.45pm

Fisheries (Alternative B) 2 (Essay) 1.00pm - 3.00pm
Fisheries (Alternative B) 1 (Objective) 3.00pm - 3.40pm
============================

Friday, 24th March, 2017

Further Mathematics/Mathematics (Elective) 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 11.00am
Further Mathematics/Mathematics (Elective) 1 (Objective) 2.30pm - 4.00pm

Tuesday, 28th March, 2017

Foods and Nutrition 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 09.45am
Foods and Nutrition 1 (Objective) - 09.45am - 10.45am

Home Management 2 (Essay) 1.00pm - 2.00pm
Home Management 1 (Objective) 2.00pm - 3.00pm

Wednesday, 29th March, 2017

History 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.30am
History 1 (Objective) 10.30am - 11.30am

Friday 31st March, 2017

Data Processing 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.30am
Data Processing 1 (Objective) 10.30am - 11.30am

Monday 3rd April, 2017

Hausa 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.30am
Hausa 1 (Objective) 10.30am - 11.30am

Igbo 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.30am
Igbo 1 (Objective) 10.30am - 11.30am

Yoruba 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.30am
Yoruba 1 (Objective) 10.30am - 11.30am

Civic Education 2 (Essay) 1.00pm - 3.00pm
Civic Education 1 (Objective) 3.00pm - 4.00pm

Tuesday, 4th April, 2017

Physics 3 (Practical) (Alternative A) 08.30am - 11.15am (1st Set)
Physics 3 (Practical) (Alternative A) 11.40am - 2.25pm (2nd Set)

Wednesday, 5th April, 2017

Literature-In-English 2 (Prose) 08.30am - 09.45am
Literature-In-English 1 (Objective) 09.45am - 10.45am

Geography 2 (Essay) 1.00pm - 3.00pm
Geography 1 (Objective) 3.00pm - 4.00pm

Thursday, 6th April, 2017

Physics 3 (Practical) (Alternative B) 08.30am - 11.15am (1st Set)
Physics 3 (Practical) (Alternative B) 11.40am - 2.25pm (2nd Set)

Friday, 7th April, 2017

Health Science 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.00am
Health Science 1 (Objective) 10.00am - 11.00am

Monday, 10th April, 2017

Physics 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.00am
Physics 1 (Objectives) 10.00am - 11.15am

Geography 3 (Practical and Physical Geography) 1.00pm - 2.50pm

Tuesday, 11th April, 2017

Chemistry 3 (Practical) (Alternative A) 08.30am - 10.30am (1st Set)
Chemistry 3 (Practical) (Alternative A) 11.00am - 1.00pm (2nd Set)

Get your WAEC (WASSCE) 2017 Help Here & Pass Once With As, Bs or Cs Flat And Guaranteed.

Wednesday, 12th April, 2017

Government 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.30am
Government 1 (Objective) 10.30am - 11.30pm

Computer Studies 2 (Essay) 2.00pm - 3.00pm
Computer Studies 1 (Objective) 3.00pm - 4.00pm

Thursday, 13th April, 2017

English Language 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.30am
English Language 1 (Objective) 10.30am - 11.30am

English Language 3 (Test of Orals) 1.00pm - 2.45pm

Tuesday, 18th April, 2017

Christian Religious Studies 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.30am
Christian Religious Studies 1 (Objective) 10.30am - 11.30am

Islamic Studies 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.30am
Islamic Studies 1 (Objective) 10.30am - 11.30am

Chemistry 2 (Essay) 1.00pm - 3.00pm
Chemistry 1 (Objective) 3.00 hrs - 4.00pm

Wednesday, 19th April, 2017

Financial Accounting 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 11.00am
Financial Accounting 1 (Objective) 11.00am - 12.00pm

Biology 2 (Essay) 1.00pm - 2.40pm
Biology 1 (Objective) 2.40pm - 3.30pm

Thursday, 20th April, 2017

Agricultural Science 3 (Practical) 08.30am - 10.00am (1st Set)
Agricultural Science 3 (Practical) 10.30am - 12.00pm (2nd Set)

Friday, 21st April, 2017

General Mathematics 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 11.00am
General Mathematics 1 (Objective) 1.00pm - 2.30pm

Monday, 24th April, 2017

Economics 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.30am
Economics 1 (Objective) 10.30am - 11.30am

Tuesday, 25th April, 2017

Chemistry 3 (Practical) (Alternative B) 08.30am - 10.30am (1st Set)
Chemistry 3 (Practical) (Alternative B) 11.00am - 1.00pm (2nd Set)

Wednesday, 26th April, 2017

Biology 3 (Practical (Alternative A) 08.30am - 10.30am (1st Set)
Biology 3 (Practical (Alternative A) 11.00am - 1.00pm (2nd Set)

Literature-In-English 3 (Drama & Poetry) 1.00pm - 3.30pm

Thursday, 27th April, 2017

Computer Studies 3 (Practical) 08.30am - 10.30am (1st Set)
Computer Studies 3 (Practical) 11.00am - 1.00pm (2nd Set)

Friday, 28th April, 2017

Agricultural Science 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.40am
Agricultural Science 1 (Objective) 10.40am - 11.30am

Tuesday, 2nd May, 2017

Bookkeeping 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.30am
Bookkeeping 1 (Objectives) 10.30am - 11.20am

Store Keeping 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.30am
Store Keeping 1 (Objective) 10.30am - 11.20am

Tourism 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.20am
Tourism 1 (Objective) 10.20am - 11.00am

Office Practice 2 (Essay) 1.00pm - 3.10pm
Office Practice 1 (Objective) 3.10pm - 4.10pm

Wednesday, 3rd May, 2017

Animal Husbandry (Alternative B) 3 (Practical) 08.30am - 10.00am (1st Set)
Animal Husbandry (Alternative B) 3 (Practical) 10.30am - 12.00pm (2nd Set)

Commerce 2 (Essay) 1.00pm - 3.00pm
Commerce 1 (Objective) 3.00pm - 3.40pm

Thursday, 4th May, 2017

Animal Husbandry (Alternative B) 2 (Essay) 1.00pm - 3.00pm
Animal Husbandry (Alternative B) 1 (Objective) 3.00pm - 3.40pm

Friday, 5th May, 2017

Marketing 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 10.30am
Marketing 1 (Objective) 10.30am - 11.20am

Insurance 2 (Essay) 1.00pm - 4.00pm
Insurance 1 (Objective) 4.00pm - 4.50pm

2017 WAEC SPECIMEN AND PRACTICAL AVAILABLE SUBSCRIBE FOR OUR HELP TO GET THEM

Monday, 8th May, 2017

Fisheries (Alternative B) 3 (Practical) 08.30am - 10.00am (1st Set)
Fisheries (Alternative B) 3 (Practical) 10.30am - 12.00pm (2nd Set)

Wednesday, 10th May, 2017

French 2 (Essay) 08.30am - 09.45am
French 1 (Objective) 09.45am - 10.45am

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Tuesday 16 May 2017

JAMB warns against Fake UTME questions out for N200,000,

Sunday 30 April 2017

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JAMB: Fresh confusion over examination centres

Wednesday 26 April 2017

Stakeholders Canvass Varsity Status for FCET Umunze

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JAMB : Policy, System Should be Reviewed

Monday 24 April 2017

first class graduates from UNILAG, LASU, LASPOTECH honoured MSSN

Wednesday 19 April 2017

Bida Poly: Students decry incessant occurrences of burglary

Nasarawa tertiary institutions says no to strike

Wednesday 12 April 2017

ASUP calls for end to dichotomy between Polytechnic and University graduates

Tuesday 11 April 2017

University VC shuts school after students poured him water

Sunday 9 April 2017

JAMB gives two weeks extra for Candidates to register, see details below

Saturday 8 April 2017

JAMB: UTME registration suspended from April 7-10

Wednesday 8 March 2017

UPDATED: Original WAEC May/June timetable 2017

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