The Nigerian University Commission (NUC) has reiterated its commitment to the international benchmark in providing 21st-century knowledge-driven education and fostering intellectual growth across the country.

The NUC Deputy Director, Account and Finance, Mrs Anthonia Bawa, spoke in Ikere-Ekiti, Ikere Council Area of Ekiti State on Tuesday during the opening ceremony of the accreditation exercise of 45 academic programmes at the Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology.

Bawa said that NUC, as the regulatory agency for universities in Nigeria was irrevocably committed to ensuring proper development of university education and implementation of minimum academic standards. She expressed joy the commission is achieving its goals and objectives going by the distinguished quality of graduates being produced by Nigerian universities who she said can favourably compete with their counterparts in other climes.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has expressed deep concern over the widespread lack of infrastructure, physical safety, and psychological stability in many schools, severely impacting the safety of learning and teaching.

This assertion was made by Education Specialist Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ado of UNICEF’s Bauchi Field Office during opening remarks at a one-day state-level sensitization meeting on Bauchi State’s implementation of minimum standards for safe schools.

Ado highlighted that UNICEF conducted a survey in 2023 to assess the state of safe schools in Bauchi State, revealing a troubling situation requiring urgent attention from all stakeholders. He emphasized that children in these schools face various forms of insecurity, both physical and psychological, which hinder their education.

The Ministry of Education through Malawi Education Reform Program (MERP) has engaged 4200 temporary Auxiliary teachers to be deployed in various primary schools across the country. The Ministry has also increased the monthly honoraria amount from K80,000 to K120,000 representing a jump of 50 per cent.

The Ministry's Public Relations Officer, Mphatso Nkuonera confirmed the development saying the teachers have been drawn from the Initial Primary Teacher Education IPTE 14, 15 and 16. "The engagement of the teachers forms part of efforts by government to reduce the pupil-qualified teacher ratio across the country," he said.

Nkuonera added that the teachers will be placed in various primary schools in 32 education divisions for 2024 to 2025 academic year. The selected teachers are expected to report to work on 1st September, 2024.
He, however, reminded the prospective teachers that the engagement does not in any way guarantee automatic employment on permanent basis after the expiry of the temporary period.

The delayed disbursement of capitation funds for primary and secondary schools in Kenya has impacted school operations, leaving heads of institutions in a difficult position. Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (Kessha) and the Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association (Kepsha) have voiced their concerns, emphasising the strain on school managers.

In June, the government disbursed Sh35.6 billion in capitation funds for the second term. The allocation covered Sh18.85 billion for secondary schools under the Free Day Secondary Education programme, Sh14.047 billion for Junior Secondary Schools, and Sh2.74 billion for primary schools.

However, Johnson Nzioka, chairman of Kepsha, revealed that the Ministry of Education has not released the funds despite prior assurances. He noted that many school programmes, including co-curricular activities, have been halted due to underfunding.

A Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics from the University of Ibadan, Akinyinka Omigbodun, has urged the government to implement measures aimed at dissuading intellectuals and professionals from leaving the country in search of better opportunities abroad.

Speaking at the fourth Emeritus Professor Oladipupo Akinkugbe Distinguished Lecture at the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Omigbodun highlighted the critical issue of youth migration, stressing its national significance.

While acknowledging the inevitability of individuals seeking better prospects elsewhere, he emphasised the importance of creating conditions that would encourage professionals and intellectuals to remain in Nigeria and contribute to its development. “People migrating in search of better opportunities is a longstanding national issue.

The British Council scholarship programme alumni have called on Ghanaian students to embrace the quality education provided by UK academic institutions to better the nation’s development. They also called for more cultural and educational exchanges among the two nations to foster unity and cooperation between the two countries.

The British Council Country Director, Nii Doodo Dodoo, asserted that the council was now a tool that produced young Ghanaian educated elites through exchange educational programmes with the UK for the future of Ghana.

The British High Commissioner, Harriet Thompson, touching on the theme for the celebration, “80 years of building connections, understanding and trust; turning legacies and lessons into innovation and impact”, noted that the celebration was to enhance awareness of the British Council’s work while spotlighting the contributions of Ghanaian-UK alumni in both national and international development.

Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), a civil society platform, has welcomed the self-placement module for the posting of newly recruited teachers for public basic schools in the country.

The module allows qualified teachers to select their preferred schools from a list of only schools with declared and validated vacancies. Eduwatch says it was its firm conviction that once the system was transparent and allowed to function effectively as intended that the country’s teacher posting inequities would be significantly addressed.

“Eduwatch has for years been advocating a demand-driven and decentralised teacher posting system as a sustainable way of ending the inequitable deployment of teachers,” he said. Mr Asare said the system had proven ineffective by creating teacher surplus in some urban and peri-urban schools, and huge deficits in many rural schools. That, it said, had been occasioned by human interferences in teacher postings overtime.

Within a decade, one in three entrants to the global workforce will be from Africa. Over the next 30 years, the majority of the world’s new workers may well be on the continent. What they learn in the classroom and how they learn it is a vital question of our time.

But Africa’s future success in education is not yet guaranteed. Basic literacy skills have declined in four out of ten African countries over the last three decades. Even as participation grows, children still face low primary education completion rates – about 63%, compared to a worldwide average of 87%.

Those rates are worse for girls. Around 50 million children remain out of school across Africa. These challenges are especially acute in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa needs at least 9 million new classrooms and 9.5 million additional teachers by 2050, according to UNESCO.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has appealed to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) to relax some of its guidelines to enable state-owned universities to access the N4.9 billion intervention fund earmarked for them between 2017 and 2023.

Sanwo-Olu made this appeal during a courtesy visit by the House of Representatives Committee on TETFUND, chaired by Princess Miriam Onuoha, at Lagos House. The committee, which was on an oversight mission, disclosed that Lagos State was among several states that failed to access the intervention funds earmarked by the Federal Government

Onuoha specifically revealed that Lagos State had not accessed the N4.9 billion allocated over the past six years due to its inability to meet the funding criteria. During discussions with the governor, Onuoha stated that the committee was in the state to understand the reasons behind the state’s failure to access the funds and to propose solutions to overcome the challenges

The World Bank has revealed that Nigeria’s public expenditure on education and health is inadequate by any standard. The World Bank said the spending on health and education is low mainly because of the overall level of public spending, which is constrained by the very low overall revenue.

The newly released report titled, ‘Human Capital Public Expenditure and Institutional Review’, noted that the overall public spending, at merely 12 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, falls short of the threshold necessary to underwrite fundamental public services.

“This compares to the Sub-Saharan African average of 17.2 per cent and the lower middle-income countries average of 18.5 per cent. Over the past five years, Nigeria’s health and education expenditure has fluctuated between 10 and 12 per cent of GDP.0:00 / 0:00

The Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board has announced the closure of its online portal for recruiting primary school teachers, with a total of 52,423 applications received during the application window. The job application portal for recruiting 7,000 primary school teachers was opened on June 25, 2024.

A statement signed by Oyo SUBEB Chairman, Nureni Adeniran, on Thursday, said the job application portal was closed after the July 9 deadline. Adeniran added, “We received not less than 52,423 submitted applications within the number of days of opening the portal. That was impressive.

He said, “We are impressed by this response which shows that people are truly keen and excited to work with the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board. However, we are compelled to close the portal, as the deadline has passed.”

An online educational tool, Gradely, asserts that learning through its platform has significantly enhanced student outcomes. According to CEO, Gradely, Boye Oshinaga, students can advance by up to a grade level after just 20 hours of using the platform.

Oshinaga in a statement affirmed, “Our technology demonstrably improves student learning outcomes. ”The statement said, “Gradely’s approach identifies learning gaps and delivers personalized interventions to ensure mastery of each curriculum topic.

The platform’s new app incorporates gamified and animated content to enhance student engagement, especially in subjects typically challenging for students. An appealing reward system further incentivizes continued participation.