YOU CAN MAKE IT: EVEN IN BROKEN PIECIES

 THE JOURNEY OF LIFE IS NOT THAT WITHOUT STORMS AND VOLCANOES, BOTH THE EXPECTED AND THE UNEXPECTED. BUT THE DISTINGUISHING FACTOR IS THE COURAGE TO ACCEPT ALL  UNCERTAINTIES AND STILL BELIEVE WE CAN MAKE IT OUTSTANDINGLY.

LET US BEGIN TO CAST OUR MINDS BACK ON WHAT WE'VE BEEN THROUGH, I MEAN OUR EXPERIENCES BEFORE WE GOT TO WHERE WE ARE NOW. DEFINITELY IT HAS NOT BEEN ROSY. CONSIDER THAT DAVID DID NOT HERE OF ANYONE KILL A LION BEFORE, BUT THAT DID NOT MEAN HE COULDN'T BE THE FIRST.

WHEN FACED WITH GOLIATH, HE DID NOT BANK ON OTHER PEOPLES' EXPERIENCES, SCIENTIFIC PROCEDURES AND LOGICAL REASONING. RATHER HE DEPENDED UPON THE GOD OF ISRAEL, THE GOD WHO SAVED HIM FROM THE LION AND THE BEAR. HE FORSOOK THE SUGGESTIONS OF SAUL BECAUSE IT COULD HAVE MEANT DOOM FOR HIM. HE HAD NOT TESTED THAT BEFORE. HE COULD NOT AFFORD TO RELY ON IT. THAT IS HOW HE MADE IT.

OTHERS ARE ENTITLED TO THEIR SUGGESTIONS AND OPINION, BUT  IT IS ALL ABOUT YOU. THAT OTHER PEOPLE SUCCEEDED USING A PARTICULAR APPROACH DOES NOT MEAN THAT IS THE ONLY APPROACH TO SUCCESS. AS IN MATHEMATICS, THERE ARE A THOUSAND AND ONE WAYS OF SOLVING ANY PARTICULAR PROBLEM. SO IT IS LEFT FOR YOU TO CHOOSE WHICH OF THEM IS FAVOURABLE TO YOU.

PEOPLE CAN ONLY SUGGEST BUT YOU HAVE TO DECIDE. WHILE MAKING YOUR DECISION IT IS BEST TO USE WHAT HAS WORKED FOR YOU BEFORE OR YOUR ARE  BOUND TO LEARN THE HARD WAY. YOU MAY NOT HAVE THE TIME TO MAKE AMENDS.

THE GOD THAT BROUGHT YOU HERE WILL NOT FORSAKE YOU IF YOU DON'T FORSAKE HIM. THAT YOU ARE FACE WITH TERRIBLE CIRCUMSTANCES DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD FORSAKE HIM OR IT WOULD BE MUCH MORE TERRIBLE.

BELIEVE YOU CAN MAKE IT, AND BELIEVE HE WILL SEE YOU THROUGH. PURSUE IT WITH THE LAST DROP OF YOUR BLOOD AND YOU WILL BE ASTONISHED AT THE LEVEL OF ACHIEVEMENTS YOU WILL MAKE.


CHEERS. LOVE YOU ALL


04/EEN/012

NIGERIA: EDUCATION FOR ALL 2015 POSSIBLE

Nigeria likely to meet 2015 EFA goals, assures Mohammed

 By Rotimi Lawrence Oyekanmi 

 

FROM the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr. Ahmed Modibo Mohammed, came the cheering news at the weekend, that Nigeria now stands a good chance of meeting the 2015 Education for All (EFA) target, if the current tempo by state governments to improve basic education is sustained throughout the country.

However, one sure way of achieving the target, according to him, is by ensuring that teachers are adequately taken care of and respected across the country. But Mohammed also dispelled the rumours making the rounds in certain quarters, that the almajiri education initiative could promote Islamic fundamentalism in a secular Nigeria, arguing instead that the initiative was the best and only way to prevent the perceived danger.

Mohammed, who spoke on a wide range of issues in an exclusive interview with The Guardian in Port Harcourt, Rivers State during the quarterly meeting of chairmen of the states’ Universal Basic Education Boards, also affirmed that more states have now accessed their UBE funds, following a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan at the end of which a major concession was given.
He explained: “by the middle of 2010, we were confronted with a situation whereby we had over N40 billion that was still not accessed by the states, and Mr. President became very worried. He directed the Minister of Education and the Minister of Finance to sit down with governors to find out how best to their states could be assisted to access these funds.”

The ministers met with the governors, after which a presentation was made to the National Economic Council. It was then agreed that Mr. President could direct that the (UBE) funds be moved (from the Central Bank) to commercial banks, where the state governments could leverage on the availability of their funds to obtain counterpart funds needed to meet the requirement of the law.

“I am glad to say that, at least, over 12 states have leveraged on that and have made their counterpart funds available. Lagos provided its counterpart fund of about N1.6 billion, Taraba and Gombe made about N800 million available. Plateau has just provided about N1.9 billion, Osun has also provided over a billion naira. We are now waiting for the necessary Action Plans, so that funds can be released for them to implement basic education.

But Mohammed, in a passionate plea, urged state governments to take the issue of teachers’ conditions of service seriously. He referred to the Rivers State government, which, he noted, has set a good example of how to take good care of teachers.

His words: “I want to see a situation whereby the state governments will stop paying lip service to the working conditions of teachers. In Rivers State, we saw the staff quarters, which the state government is building for their secondary school teachers. I can assure you that these staff quarters are well built, well furnished with leather seats in their living rooms, to the extent that some SUBEB chairmen said they don’t mind becoming classroom teachers in Rivers State. That is how it should be.”Worried about the practice among the states not to employ teachers, who are non – indigenes, the UBEC boss said: “we want to see a situation where there is no discrimination in the recruitment of teachers. There is now a policy whereby states discourage recruiting permanent and pensionable people (teachers), who are non-indigenes. There was a time when we were recruiting Indians, Ghanaians and other foreigners to teach in our schools. There is no reason why we cannot give Nigerians permanent and pensionable appointments to teach anywhere in this country.”

Modibbo also decried the habit by some states of recruiting unqualified persons as primary school teachers. “I am also worried that there are still many states, especially in the North East and North West geopolitical zones, where they unfortunately still recruit secondary school leavers to teach, even when there are unemployed NCE holders. State governors should please call the Local Education Authorities and Local Government chairmen to order, because unfortunately, the constitution makes it the responsibility of local governments to recruit teachers at that (basic) level.

“So long as this issue is not addressed, we will keep on having low quality teachers in the system. No matter how beautiful your classrooms are and no matter how wonderful you provide instructional materials, if the quality of teachers is not looked into, you are still going to have problems. We should support the recruitment of teachers on permanent and pensionable basis from wherever they come from in this country. Once this is done, with the support of state and federal government to provide continuous professional development of teachers, you would see a revolution in the educational sector in the country.”

On the training of teachers, Mohammed explained that in the past, states were allowed to handle teacher training and capacity building. But from last year, he stated, UBEC centralised the concept by engaging tertiary institutions to handle trainings on behalf of the states. He gave the reasons: “We found out that the manuals used for the training were not uniform in standards. Some just merely gave handouts, some gave good training manuals, while other people didn’t even use any manuals.

“So, what we did was to develop a standardised training manual in collaboration with the United Kingdom Open University, the National Teachers Institute (NTI) and some education experts. It is available online. We have adopted that and we are asking states to, from the beginning of this year, start using the standardised training manuals, because we believe if teachers attend the one week training workshop and go with the manual, it will go a long way in enabling them to not only remember what they have done, they can also use it to improve other teachers that did not attend the training.”

Mohammed also spoke on the controversial Almajiri education programme. Some stakeholders have expressed fears that the concept could encourage Islamic fundamentalism, which could in turn escalate the religious crises that occur occasionally in some northern parts of the country. But Mohammed dispelled such fears, insisting that the programme would, on the contrary, prevent religious crisis. “ It will not promote any (Islamic) fundamentalism as such,” he assured.

“There are two things: one, it the infusion of basic education into Islamic education and then, you are also infusing skill acquisition into the programme. We have had workshops and seminars with leading Islamic scholars and traditional rulers. We have had interactions with the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). The Almajiri Implementation Committee has met with all these major stakeholders, particularly CAN, and they have supported the programme. I can assure you that it is not going to breed any fundamentalism, rather, it’s going to make sure that our children acquire good education, so that we can avoid the tragedy that is now sweeping through some north African Arab countries.”

Mohammed also warned that the danger inherent in not educating the Almajiri far outweighs the fears being expressed in certain quarters. He revealed that over 9.9 million Almajiri children across some 15 northern states would benefit from the initiative.
His words: “the Federal Government has massively built over 31 boarding and day secondary schools specifically for the Almajiris, through the Education Trust Fund (ETF) and our own intervention. We (UBEC) are building nearly 100 schools for the Almajiris. It has never happened in the history of this country.

“Indeed, scholars who specialise in memorising the Quran paid a courtesy visit to Mr. President, congratulating him and saying that they have been waiting for this (Almajiri education programme) for the past 50 years and it is just happening now. I think it is a major achievement in basic education. If you institutionalise the integration of the Almajiris or out of school children into basic education, I think we would have done a great service for the country.”

On the achievements recorded by UBEC last year, Mohammed said the year enjoyed reasonable peace and undisrupted academic calendar. He submitted that with the federal government’s support, UBEC massively distributed textbooks in Mathematics, English and Science subjects. “We expect the states to provide for the other two subjects, so that every child would have a textbook from Primary 1 to Primary 5.”

He continued: “in 2010, the Federal Government awarded contracts worth over N20 billion to procure textbooks directly through the UBE intervention and through the MDGs. The MDGs earlier in the year made a sum of N4 billion available and towards the end of the year (2010), another N5.2 billion was made available. The UBE intervention is over N10 billion.

“We are talking of a textbook initiative of close to N20 billion and that is massive. It has never happened before in this country. With that, and the capacity building initiatives for teachers, improvement in infrastructure, you would definitely begin to record a steady improvement in teaching and learning, and of course the learning achievement of pupils will begin to improve.”

On Early Child Care and Development Education (ECCDE), Mohammed affirmed that there was already a national policy on it, just as he noted that the Federal Ministry of Education had established models centres in Abuja.   “Commissioners of Education and SUBEB chairmen have been urged to go and see these model centres and try as much as possible to establish at least on ECCDE class in every school.”

The UBEC boss also shed some light on the Special Education Fund, currently being disbursed by the Federal Government to states. “The Special Education Fund is two per cent of the two per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund we get from the Federal Government,” he revealed.    

“We provide this as un-conditional grant to states, that is, they (states) don’t require any counterpart fund (to get these funds). We give them because, again, the world is moving towards inclusive education.
“Here in Nigeria, there are children, who have special physical challenges. So we try to provide them a conducive environment where they can learn and improve themselves.

“We also support NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations) that provide education to this special category of children. So, we are asking states to come forward to establish schools to cater for this category of children. Also, the little that the federal government is giving to them (states), they should account for it, so that they can access their funds in order to improve this category of Nigerian children.”

On prospects for UBEC this year, Mohammed expressed optimism. “I see bright prospects,?he assured. “There is determination and collaboration between our international development partners and UBEC. Everybody is partnering with us to develop the capacity of teachers. Governors are increasingly coming forward to access their funds and providing their counterpart funds. We are moving towards the attainment of the EFA goals. If by 2015, we miss the target of attaining the goals by 100 per cent, I can assure you that it will be by a very small margin.”

04/EEN/012

SOUTH AFRICA: LEEDS AND SOUTH AFRICA STREGHTEN TIES ON EDUCATION

News Leeds Welcomes South African Visitors

Principals and education officials from Leeds’ twin city of Durban have come to Leeds this week to develop new connections between schools in both cities.
The two principals, Mahkosazana Zondi and Dheyakul Govender, are joined on the trip by Bongani Mpanza, a deputy manager of inter-governmental relations. Already this week, they have visited four primary schools in Bramley, Moortown and Guiseley and plan to visit a further seven schools around the Garforth area as part of their visit, which has been arranged by Leeds City Council.

Jane Dowson, an executive board member for learning, highlighted the positives of such initiatives, saying: “I’m sure the schools involved this week will learn from their South African counterparts who, in turn, will reap the benefits of meeting our fantastic teachers, children and young people.”
The deputy chief executive of Education Leeds, Derek Gilliard, praised the cross-cultural aspect of it all. He said: “An understanding of different cultures and countries is important. These visits will help develop our children’s knowledge of life in another country.”

Since 1998, Leeds and Durban have established strong links between our local education authorities and the KwaZulu Natal Department of Education, who stay in regular contact with each other. These school partnerships are designed to be sustainable and add an international dimension to structured learning. The council has said that community cohesion is a vital part of cultural understanding, as part of efforts to counter racism and xenophobia while also preventing the reinforcement of negative stereotypes.



04/EEN/012

SOUTH AFRICA-SCHOOLS HAVE FAKE TEACHERS

04/EEN/012

Fake teachers cheated pupils

By Sinegugu Ndlovu

Comment on this story

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Independent Newspapers

School pupils in KwaZulu-Natal have been taught for several years by people with fake degrees and qualifications. Photo: Matthews Baloy

School pupils in KwaZulu-Natal have been taught for several years by people with fake degrees and qualifications.

An education expert says the effect of children being taught by under-qualified teachers would be felt for years.

The Education Department announced yesterday that it had dismissed 53 employees it found guilty of submitting fake education qualifications, a scam that cost the department R14 million in inflated salaries it should not have paid.

The fake qualifications were discovered after an internal control and risk management exercise conducted by the department earlier this year.

The results of the exercise prompted the department to em bark on a headcount of all its employees, as part of a programme to identify employees with fraudulent qualifications.

More than 100 000 workers were covered in the investigation.

The department’s superintendent-general, Cassius Lubisi, said 56 employees initially faced charges of misconduct relating to fake qualifications. However, three had since died.

In an attempt to rid itself of bogus employees, in 2006 the department opened an amnesty period for employees who had submitted CVs with bogus qualifications.

“Those who failed to come forward are now facing the consequences,” said Lubisi.

Most cases were concentrated in the department’s largely rural northern KZN cluster.

Lubisi said the financial loss suffered by the department was immeasurable compared to how the education of hundreds of children had been compromised as a result.

“The department has suffered huge financial losses, with an estimated R14 million (paid) from March 2004 to August last year because of this fraud. This has dire consequences for the department, considering that some officials were holders of critical teaching posts, as the majority were school-based educators.

“These individuals not only defrauded the department of millions of rands… They gambled with the future of many children, the majority of whom come from the most disadvantaged rural areas,” he said.

Lubisi said the matter had been handed to the police, and the individuals concerned would be charged with fraud. The department would try to recover the R14m.

Mthokozisi Miya, owner of Makhawini Recruitment Agency, said the government often fell into the “fake CV trap” because nepotism played a big role in how people were employed. He said it was important for employers to double-check the credentials on CVs before making appointments.

“With the government, recruitment is about who you know… But it’s not only government that gets caught in this trap – even big corporations fall into it. It’s important to check if the credentials on a CV are valid,” he said.

Education analyst Kobus Maree said the effects of such scams were felt for years. “The children will acquire a backlog in terms of how they learn… In isolated cases, pupils will achieve, but in most cases they won’t,” he said. - The Mercury

KENYA-DEGREES IN CONTENTION

04/EEN/012

New dawn for varsity education?

Published on 05/10/2010

By Wachira Kigotho

The debate about whether local universities are offering irrelevant degrees will continue taking centre-stage so long as there are no guidelines on marketing of higher education amid shrinking Government support of public universities.

On their part, universities contend there are no irrelevant degrees in their menu of courses while Higher Education Minister William Ruto alleges some academic programmes are of no value to the country’s development goals.

But the issue is that in the last two decades, the university scene has undergone significant changes, ushering sharp focus of competition between courses. Internally competition is also rife between high and low-earning departments and faculties.

Externally, competition for students is intense among public and private universities. According to educationists, the emerging academic capitalism has reduced some degrees and diplomas to mere marketable commodities. "The commercial dimension of higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa is determining the very nature and conditions in which courses are taught," says Unesco in its recent World Social Science Report 2010.

Junior colleges

Subsequently, the underlying dynamics of market forces have made people to hold divergent viewpoints on what higher education should be. For instance, universities top management and academic staff have no qualms about introduction of courses that are traditionally offered by junior colleges and polytechnics. Some of those certificate and diploma courses have been upgraded into degrees without change in content.

For instance, programmes in tourism, leisure and hospitality, secretarial studies, information technology, entrepreneurship and small business management, which in most countries are taught in junior colleges, have been created.

Time is now to strengthen vocational colleges instead of competing with universities for students. "In some cases, boundaries have been blurred between offerings of elite public universities and vocational colleges," says Dr Carol Bidemi, the foremost leading expert on marketisation of higher education in East African universities.

Even as the Government fault universities for offering what they consider to be irrelevant courses, there is need to understand that public universities are struggling from decades of brain drain and neglect by the Government. Consequently intrusion of business practices into higher education is radically changing institutional behaviour of the universities, not only in Kenya but also across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Currently, there are about 145,000 university students enrolled in local public universities of which 35 per cent are private students paying full-cost of their education. Most of those students are enrolled in arts-based degrees not necessarily because they wanted to study those courses but because they had poor grades in sciences and maths at secondary level.

Science intake

According to Carnegie Foundation, an education think tank based in New York, African universities lack a significant number of students and academic staff in fields of science and technology. In this case Ruto’s enthusiasm for universities to improve on their intake in science and technology programmes should be welcomed. But, the Government should know the hurdles lying ahead as it embarks on an ambitious plan to improve science education in public universities. A recent report from Carnegie Foundation on building science capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa indicates Kenya’s universities have inadequate senior academic staff in sciences.

"At Kenyatta University, of 730 academic staff, only 31 are full professors and 48 associate professors," says Prof Phillip Griffiths, a senior research fellow at Carnegie and a member of an international lobby of scholars dedicated to fostering science in Africa.

Even then, Griffith’s says most of the professors and those in other public universities are nearing retirement age. Taking into account that demand for science graduates is rising, time is now for the Government to jump-start staff development programmes in public universities by offering scholarships to brilliant young scholars to pursue doctoral degrees in basic sciences, maths and engineering. "There should be a concerted effort to prepare PhD-level scientists and engineers through university –based research and networks," says Griffiths.

The government should consider as a matter of priority improving science laboratories in public universities. Most university science and engineering laboratories and equipment are in a state of decay or are obsolete.

Before Ruto cracks the whip on universities to go back to their original missions, there should be a comprehensive assessment of scientific needs of the institutions.

KENYA-BEYOND ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

04/EEN/012

Published on 28/09/2010

By KIUNDU WAWERU

Students of Visa Oshwal Academy Senior High were ecstatic as they received awards for excellence in final examinations after two years of study.

Finally, with the quality British curriculum education, they would join top universities and hopefully on graduation get highflying jobs.

But the guest of honour Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph, surprised them by telling them that "to make it in life, you need to achieve something more than a degree."

 

‘What?’ the students, parents and teachers may have wondered even as they listened keenly to their guest who is the epitome of success. You could here a pin drop as the CEO carried on: "You need much more than schooling to live your life’s ambitions."

An electrical engineer by profession, Joseph has steered Safaricom into the leading company in East Africa.

So what sets achievers, average performers and losers apart? Clearly, much more than books. One of the most revered educationists in the world proved this in her scientific observations.

A doctor, Maria Montessori started a new system of education that is also offered in Kenya. She believed that education is not what a teacher gives, but; "a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences upon the environment. The task of the teacher becomes that of preparing a series of motives of cultural activity, spread over a specially prepared environment, and then refraining from obtrusive interference."

Transmission

One of Montessori’s successes was having mentally handicapped children study for a state examination, which they passed with above average scores. "And if education is always to be conceived along the same antiquated lines of a mere transmission of knowledge, there is little to hope for it in the bettering of man’s future. For what is the use When career counsellors met with over 900 high school students in Limuru, they were taken aback by how ignorant they were about careers.

Among the students was Dennis Thiongo a Form Three student at Thigio Boys High School who has has no idea what he needs to qualify for his dream career — engineering.

"I love design, and making and repairing gadgets, but I do not know how to nurture this passion into a career," he says.

Unlike his counterparts in the city who may access to information on careers from the Internet, he relies on his overworked guidance and counselling teacher who also handles her normal teaching load and other student problems.

Thiongo’s mother says she does not have much knowledge about careers, which renders her unable to mentor her son. "The best I can do is to struggle to pay school fees and encourage my son to work hard in his studies but I can not make an engineer out of him because I don’t know anything about engineering," she says.

Platform

Recently Mwathi Foundation and Broad Horizon Limited held a career exhibition at Ndungu Girls Secondary School in Limuru to encourage students to select the right careers.

Broad Horizons Operations Director Florence Njoroge says the event is an opportunity for the students, teachers and parents to think ahead. "Our mission is to provide a networking platform for educational and career stakeholders by bringing together successful former local students, prospective employers, institutions of higher learning, and Government educational bodies to the rural areas to enlighten and motivate students", she says.

The founder and Limuru constituency MP Peter Mwathi says that the foundation is committed to promoting education in Limuru by giving individuals a chance to achieve their career objectives.

He says lack of appropriate role models has been a big problem in the schools and at home and calls on parents, teachers, professionals to help nurture students to the right careers.

But Ms Mercy Njoroge an alumnus of Kambui High School says the various stakeholders lack the necessary training and exposure to assess and advise the students properly.

Roselyne Maina of The chartered Institute of Marketing, one of the key exhibitors believes that entrenching the value of professionalism among the youth is key to achievement of vision 2030.

"Students should embrace professionalism right from schools so as to fit into the various corporate cultures and Chartered Institute of Marketing has been enhancing professional standards by providing links to those who want to join professional bodies, " she says.

student abilities

According to Ms Julie Waweru of Compuera College, it is important to enlighten students on the opportunities available even for those who do not make it to the university. "Some students become disillusioned in life when they fail to join universities yet there are many opportunities", says the college administrator.

Ms Njoroge a teacher at St Mary’s Thigo, feels there is a disconnect between the choice of professional courses and the abilities of students. She says students want to join prestigious universities where the cut off points are high, yet they could have still joined other chartered institutes with lower cut off points. Gladys Wanjohi of Kenya Accountants and Secretaries National Examination Board, advises students to combine professions so as to be more marketable in the work place. "We have Doctors and lawyers who are accountants and MBAs," she said.

Students at a career exhibition held by Mwathi Foundation and Broad Horizon Limited in Limuru. [PHOTO: COURTESY].

CELEBRATION OF EXCELLENCE

04/EEN/012

University of Nairobi

Published on 05/10/2010

Over 4,473 students from the University of Nairobi were awarded degrees and diplomas at a colourful ceremony presided over by the Chancellor, Joseph Wanjui. The 43rd graduation brought the total number of alumni to 117,531.

 

During the ceremony, 26 PhDs, 679 masters, 2,409 bachelors, 43 post-graduate diplomas and 1,314 diplomas were awarded.

The event featured graduands from the Colleges of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences, Architecture and Engineering, Biological and Physical Sciences, and, the College of Education and External Studies.

The remaining two colleges will graduate at the 44th ceremony scheduled for December 3 – in keeping with the tradition of two ceremonies per academic year, embraced five years ago.