NEWS
FG to Develop Implementation Guidelines to Address out of School Children
Federal Government says it will develop a national implementation guideline on the Accelerated Basic Education Curriculum (ABEC) programme to address issue of out of school children.
Prof Ismail Junaidu, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), disclosed this at a workshop in Abuja on Saturday.
The Workshop on Training of Master Trainers on ABEC was organised by Plan International Nigeria for selected teachers in crisis ridden states in the North-East.
Junaidu explained that the guidelines would be all inclusive where states and stakeholders including non-governmental organisations as well as development partners expected to key into the programme.
“The train-the-trainers strategy will give us the opportunity of training a larger number of teachers as we plan for a national rollout of the programme.
“Currently, we are at the verge of completing the piloting of the programme in Borno State and environs.
“It is important that I inform you that the result from the pilot-testing exercise gives further impetus to stay on course in our intention to use the programme as to bring down the number of out-of-school youths and children in Nigeria.
“Let me also inform you that while some teacher support materials have been completely developed others are in the completion stages,” he said.
The executive secretary said one of the critical requirements for the successful implementation of the ABEC is the availability of teachers who were adequately prepared to effectively teach the contents of the curriculum.
According to him, ABEC is a specialised curriculum with unique implementation strategy which makes it very essential that teachers are given special training on the use of the curriculum.
“One way of getting teachers trained on the implementation of the curriculum is to train a select number of teachers who will in turn train other teachers.
“Principally, the training is intended to provide adequate guidance to the teachers towards ensuring that the learners derive maximum benefits from the well-designed curriculum.
“It will also give the teachers the opportunity to interact deeply with the curriculum and the programme structure,” he added.
Junaidu, however, commended Plan International led consortium for its commitment to the ABEC Programme in the country.
He added that since the beginning of the organisation’s partnership with the federal government on this project, it had continued to demonstrate unwavering commitment to the successful implementation of ABEC.
In her remarks, Mrs Jummai Musa, Director, Programme Quality and Innovation of Plan International Nigeria, decried the rate of out of school children in the country.
Musa said in the past 11 years of insurgency in the country, there were children that were born that period that had no access to education due to collapse education system in some communities.
She explained that a curriculum had been designed for abridged programme for such children in order to be placed in their appropriate classes with a view to have them in schools.
According to her, the number of out of school children is alarming, hence the need for well meaning organisations to work with the government to address it.
She added that Plan International was committed and ready to support the government to drive the implementation of ABEC initiative. (NAN)
NEWS
Police Warn Against Violence During Ramadan Cultural Show
The Police in Kano State on Monday warned youths against perpetrating violence at the Ramadan, particularly during the “Tashe” cultural activities.
The cultural show usually starts during the middle of the holy month and ends few hours before the commencement of the Sallah.
The event is an Hausa cultural show staged during the Ramadan period when people, especially young men and women, dramatise certain cultural norms in form of comedy.
The Commissioner of Police, Usaini Gumel, gave the warning during an interactive session with traditional rulers, community leaders, religious authorities and influential youth leaders in the state, held at the Police Officers Mess, Miller Road, Bompai, Kano.
The session was part of the command’s efforts to ensure a peaceful “Tashe” during the current Ramadan fast.
Gumel assured that proactive security measures had been taken on the build-up to the event.
He said that Area Commanders of the Metro, Central, and Dala as well as SPOs Jakara, Kwalli, Gwale, Nassarawa, Dala, Mandawari in Kano metropolis had briefed him on “the unhealthy practice by some miscreants.
He said such misreants usually took advantage of the show to derail from the practice and promote insecurity.
He warned those planning to perpetrate such act to desist, as adequate security measures had been deployed at the identified locations, and that stringent strategies would be employed to checkmate the situation.
“We have also reached out to traditional rulers in the affected LGAs in the metropolis to preach peace among the youth participating in the show, to desist from any act capable of bringing confusion before, during and after the Ramadan period.
“We have also taken concrete security measures to deal with any person or group of people that take advantage of promoting Tashe cultural show to breach any security during the Ramadan days.
“Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) are also directed to identify and reach out to prominent people/youths that organise Tashe and to beam the necessary searchlight against any form of violence in the state,”Gumel said.
Furthermore, he said the command had increased surveillance and patrols in some identified areas where youths tended to exploit the show to promote nefarious activities.
He said the command’s intelligence units had also increased vigilance for collecting and putting into action relevant information to pre-empt likely emerging security threats.
“These proactive approaches are to allow the command to adequately and swiftly respond to early warning signs of potential breach of security and maintain peace and order.
The commissioner said the command was confident of surmounting the challenges posed by those category of youths that might exploit the show to unleash violence during the fasting period.
“Ultimately, our goal is to create a secure and harmonious atmosphere for all residents of Kano State.” (NAN)
NEWS
Voice, Data Services Affected by Undersea Cable Cuts Restored – NCC
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says the voice and data services affected by the cable cuts have been restored.
NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr Reuben Muoka, stated this in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja.
Muoka said that services were restored, following its disruption on March 14, which affected data and voice services due to cuts in undersea fibre optics on the coasts of Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal.
“We are pleased to announce that services have now been restored to approximately 90 per cent of their peak utilisation capacities,” he said.
Muoka said that all the operators who were impacted by the cuts had taken recovery capacity from submarine cables which were not impacted by the cuts.
According to him, mobile network operators (MNOs) have assured the commission that data and voice services will operate optimally, pending full repairs of the undersea cables.
He said that the MNOs had managed to activate alternative connectivities to bring the situation back to normalcy.
“We extend our appreciation to telecom consumers for their patience and understanding during the downtime caused by the undersea fibre,” he said. (NAN)
NEWS
Borno: Non-Academic Staff Union Seeks Public Understanding Over Strike Action
The University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) branch of Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) has appealed for public understanding over its decision to embark on strike action.
The appeal was made by the branch Chairman, Mr Musa Liman, who spoke to Newsmen on the impact of the strike action in UNIMAID.
Liman said the action, which was nationwide, was in compliance with its national body’s directives to protest the alleged unfair treatment of the union members by the Federal Government.
The Chairman, who said the action was also to save public universities from collapse, noted that the level of compliance in UNIMAID was impressive.
“I want to thank our members for the almost 100 per cent compliance and to urge them to remain calm, peaceful and wait for further directives.
“If you observe, places like senate building, bursary, works department, exams and records, fire service, and many other places in the university are closed for the seven day strike,” Liman said.
He explained that it was only the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) of the university that said it would be joining the strike action on Wednesday. (NAN)