In commemoration of this year’s World Children’s Day, children across Bauchi State have called on the government of Nigeria to create a safer learning environment, promote child welfare, and invest in education.

In their separate speeches while marking the day on Thursday, November 20, 2025, during an event organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bauchi Field Office, one of the students, Aisha Abubakar Makama, said that “Education is not a gift. It is not a favour. We, the children, are happy to stand here today, on World Children’s Day— to speak about something that matters to every one of us – education.

“Education is a fundamental right, just like the right to life, the right to safety, and the right to be heard. But why is education such an important right? Education opens our minds. It helps us understand the world, solve problems, and make smart decisions. With education, we learn how to read, write, think, and dream big.

The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has stated that resolving issues concerning unposted teachers is a key government priority, and steps are already underway to place them in schools. He stressed that the education sector remained Ghana’s largest employer and, with the government’s plans for quality education, every effort would be made to ensure that the human resources to achieve that were deployed.

Mr Iddrisu was responding to the peaceful protests by some unposted teachers who hit the streets last Wednesday to demand postings. The group, calling themselves the Coalition of Unemployed Trained Teachers from the Colleges of Education, staged a demonstration to demand postings after multiple appeals to the government had failed to yield any positive results for them.

In his response, the Education Minister indicated that Cabinet had approved the recruitment of 6,100 teachers, exclusively from the 2023 graduate cohort, adding that they had been duly accounted for in the government’s recruitment records.

Several countries across Africa are missing out on the benefits of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) due to underfunding, which has hindered the growth of the sector, a new report by the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) has said.

The report focused on six countries – Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Niger, Rwanda and Uganda – where, it said, the resource constraints were compounded by fragmented funding mechanisms and weak financial management systems.

“Many countries lack coherent national frameworks for financing TVET, leading to inefficiencies and funding volatility. Heavy reliance on donor funding or short-term projects often creates misalignment with long-term national skills strategies,” the report said.

The Ghanaian government plans to establish four new universities an announcement that has had a mixed response from within the sector.

Whereas the plan has been welcomed because it would expand access to the growing number of school leavers seeking tertiary education, the lack of funding for existing institutions has raised questions about the government’s ability to finance new universities, experts told University World News.

Ghana currently has 16 public universities, 10 technical universities, 48 colleges of education as well as seven agricultural and veterinary colleges; and 77 nursing and allied health colleges. There are also 120 private universities, culminating in 278 tertiary institutions of higher learning, according to Eliasu Mumuni, the immediate past general secretary of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), and currently the president of the University for Development Studies (UDS) branch of UTAG.

The National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) has begun deploying upgraded technology across colleges of education as part of efforts to strengthen teaching and learning nationwide. Executive Secretary of NCCE, Prof. Paulinus Okwelle, who disclosed this in Abuja during an interaction with journalists, said that the commission is also reviewing the curriculum for colleges of education to ensure alignment with the present reality and global standards.

He said, “We have entered into partnership with so many other development partners where we have upgraded technology as a means of delivery. “We have some of the companies like Huawei. Huawei is running an academy. Some of our students and lecturers are there.

“In collaboration with UNESCO, we have also been doing some upskilling of our lecturers on the use of technology in lesson delivery. In many of our colleges, all the beneficiary institutions, we are deploying a new technology that we can use to enhance teaching and learning.”

The government has been urged to deliberately support the efforts of private universities, especially in infrastructure development and tax reduction. Alewo Akubo, vice chancellor, Salem University, Lokoja, made the call during a pre-convocation press briefing on Tuesday, stressing that private universities require intentional government backing to thrive.

He highlighted the institution’s remarkable achievements and outlined the vision for the future ahead of the university’s 7th convocation ceremony, noting that Salem University prides itself on high-quality human resources and capital development and has maintained regular, uninterrupted academic sessions, ensuring that students graduate as scheduled.

Akubo reaffirmed the institution’s commitment to sustaining and improving its achievements for the benefit of the people, the state, and Nigeria at large, as he disclosed that the university, in its 7th convocation, will graduate 168 students, comprising four First Class, 93 Second Class Upper, 31 Second Class Lower, 8 Third Class, and several postgraduate students.

The TESOL DZAIR Association is proud to announce its upcoming 3rd International Conference, themed “AI in the Classroom: Transforming Teaching and Learning.” This major academic event is dedicated to advancing the future of English language teaching in Algeria through innovation, collaboration, and the meaningful integration of technology in education.

We invite educators, researchers, and professionals from all English language teaching contexts and related fields across Algeria and beyond to participate in this three-day conference, which will be held at Mohamed Khider University in Biskra from December 20–22, 2025.

With over 500 participants expected, the conference offers a unique opportunity to connect with local and international ELT experts, exchange ideas, and gain new perspectives on how artificial intelligence is reshaping the classroom experience.

With hands-on training, industry partnerships and a focus on innovation, they are producing graduates ready to meet the needs of a rapidly changing economy, but challenges remain, from funding shortfalls to outdated perceptions.

Ghana’s transition from a commodity-based economy to one driven by manufacturing, innovation and technology depends heavily on the quality and relevance of its human capital. In recent years, technical universities have emerged as a critical link in bridging the gap between academic training and industry needs, equipping graduates with the practical skills and entrepreneurial mindset necessary to thrive in a competitive job market.

According to the Ghana Statistical Service, youth unemployment hovers in double digits, with many graduates unable to find work in their areas of study. A recent survey (2023) by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicated a 21.4% unemployment rate for those aged 15-35.

Artificial intelligence-powered discovery services are redefining what is possible in academic research by speeding up literature reviews and aiding knowledge management and analysis. Researchers using AI-powered searches report faster and more efficient workflows, as AI can provide high-quality initial overviews of literature much more quickly than manual searches.

This allows users to focus their investigations early on and move more rapidly to experimental and fieldwork, where new discoveries could be made. “There’s a reason why every experiment starts with the review of the literature. [Researchers] look at what relevant work has already been done in a field to direct what they’re going to do,” Eric Olson, CEO and co-founder of US- and Canada-based AI search engine company Consensus, told University World News.

“But that isn’t where people are discovering things. We think if you can help people do that part faster, more amazing things will happen for the world. Because more people can spend less time digging through papers and more time in the field,” he added.

The Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono, has called for a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s education system to better prepare graduates for the contemporary workforce.

Speaking at the 13th convocation lecture of Nile University in Abuja on Tuesday, Echono stressed that reforms must align with curricula, teaching, and institutional priorities in light of 21st-century economic realities.

The lecture, titled ‘Redefining the Nigerian Education System for the 21st Century Workforce’, emphasised the urgent need for universities to bridge gaps between theoretical knowledge and practical skills “Education must focus on access, quality, and measurable outcomes.

The Senate has called on President Bola Tinubu and security agencies to urgently secure the release of 25 students abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State.

In addition, the Senate urged the President, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, to authorize the recruitment of at least 100,000 additional military personnel, fully trained and equipped, to address the rising security challenges in the country.

The Upper Chamber also resolved to set up an Ad Hoc Committee, comprising members of the Finance, Education, Defence, Army, and Navy committees, to investigate the Safe School Programme, including its funding, expenditure, and the reasons for its inability to secure schools effectively.

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has approved 13 new academic programmes for Nigerian universities – a decision education experts say could reshape the country’s higher education system and strengthen its global competitiveness if implementation, funding and faculty development challenges are also addressed.

According to a recent circular signed by Professor Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, the NUC’s executive secretary, 70% of each programme’s national curriculum was developed by experts from Nigerian universities earlier this year, while individual universities are required to design the remaining 30% a flexibility meant to ensure the programmes are relevant to local needs in the areas where the universities are located.

The NUC directed universities wishing to offer any of the new programmes to prepare for the 2025-26 academic session, which runs from about September 2025 to July 2026, but approval for offering the courses will be subject to verification of the institution’s availability of resources to offer the academic programmes.