By Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus

The Kwara Government has announced that the 10 grant-aided missionary schools will remain shut down over the Hijab (religious veil) controversies would remain closed until further notice.

This is contained in a statement by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, Mrs Kemi Adeosun on Monday in Ilorin.

“The government therefore directs school children and teachers in the affected schools to remain at home until the contrary is announced.

”The government remains committed to fairness, pluralism, and respect for the law and rights of every citizen at all times,” she said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 10 schools were on Feb.19, closed down temporarily over Hijab controversy in the state.

A committee was set up by the government to  find  a solution to the issue.

However, on Feb. 26,  the state government announced March 8, for the reopening of all the closed schools, after stakeholders agreed in a meeting held that Hijab be accepted as part of school uniform in schools .

The affected schools are C&S College Sabo Oke, St. Anthony Secondary School, Offa Road, ECWA School, Oja Iya, Surulere Baptist Secondary School and Bishop Smith Secondary School, Agba Dam.

Other schools are CAC Secondary School Asa Dam road, St. Barnabas Secondary School Sabo Oke, St. John School Maraba, St. Williams Secondary School Taiwo Isale, and St. James Secondary School Maraba. (NAN)

By Thompson Yamput

Prof. Yohana Izam, Vice Chancellor, Plateau State University (PLASU), Bokkos, says academic activities in the institution will resume on March 8, following Wednesday’s end of ASUU’s strike.

The vice chancellor who made the pronouncement in a  statement, signed by the university’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr John Agam, said the Senate of the university had approved the 2019/2020 academic calendar.

He said the approval was made during the special senate session on Thursday, after the long break occasioned by the COVID-19 Pandemic and the period lost due to the strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)  and other unions.

“According to the revised calendar, between March 8 and March 20 is the reporting date for new and returning students, continuation of online registration and completion of course registration in faculties and departments, while semester lectures will commence on Monday, March 22.

“The academic calendar also shows that the first semester examination will hold between May 31 and June 16 while departmental and faculty boards will meet to consider first semester results between June 22 and June 25 ahead of the senate meeting to approve the results on July 8,” he said.

The vice chancellor also stated that lectures for the second semester will commence on June 28.

Izam explained that during the 68th special meeting of the senate, it was discovered that the abridged academic calendar was as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic which stalled academic activities in the university since March 2020.

“With this setback, PLASU will adopt technology to increase the speed of lecture deliveries in a safe environment strictly in line with approved guidelines.

“Consequently, faculties and departments are hereby directed to seek other creative ways to hold lectures using the ICT as academic activities kick off in earnest,” he said.

The vice chancellor announced the employment of some essential staff to improve activities at faculties and departments to strengthen the administrative machinery.

According to him, the essential staff employed have already gone through an in-house training programme organised by the Registrar of the University, Mr Amos Mallo, and are awaiting posting. (NAN)

By Philip Yatai

The World Bank, Adolescent Girls Initiative and Empowerment (AGILE), is to construct 90 Junior Secondary Schools (JSS), 69 Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) and renovate 69 others in Kaduna State.

AGILE Project Coordinator in the state, Mr Habibu Alhassan, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) In Kaduna on Wednesday.

Alhassan explained that the five-year project was designed to ensure that the girl child, aged 10 to 20 years was enrolled, retained, and supported to complete senior secondary school education.

He said that the construction of the new schools and the renovations of existing ones was to create additional learning space and make available spaces conducive and comfortable for the girl child to learn.

He added that the project would also provide a form of scholarship to support girls that were prevented from attending schools due to hawking and other commercial activities at home.

This, according to him, will enable the parents to allow such girls to enroll in school, remain in school, complete secondary school education, and become useful to their self, their family, and their community.

He also said that the project would equally empower the girl child with livelihood and life skills to enable her live well in the society.

He said that although the goal was to improve secondary education opportunities among girls, the boy child would equally benefit from the project.

“We are still at the preparatory stage. The Work Plan has been developed and undergoing review, while the Project Implementation Manual is being developed by the National Head Office.

“Project Appraisal and other relevant documents had also been developed.

“We have just finished going round the three Senatorial Zones of the state to get the buy-in of critical stakeholders and domesticate the National School-Based Management Committees Manual.

The project coordinator said that the state government has fulfilled all required conditions to participate in the project.

“One of the conditions was the state government’s commitment to recruit teachers that will teach in the newly constructed schools.

“You may be aware that the state government is currently concluding recruitment exercise of 7,600 qualified secondary school teachers, more than the about 2,000 teachers required by the AGILE project.

“The state government has also committed to paying any compensation that may arise due to expansion of school spaces and has also provided office space for the Project implementation Unit.

“Gov. Nasir el-Rufa’i has also allocated N47 million in the 2021 Budget to ensure smooth take-off of the project,” he added.

NAN reports that the 500 million dollar’s project (N190 billion at N380 to a dollar) will support access to secondary education and empowerment for adolescent girls in seven states namely Kano, Kebbi, Kaduna, Katsina, Borno, Plateau and Ekiti.

The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri had in 2020 explained that the AGILE project would use secondary school as a platform to empower girls through education, life skills, health, and education.

Chaudhuri added that other areas would include nutrition, reproductive health, gender-based violence awareness and prevention, negotiations skills, self-agency, and digital literacy skills.

“Specifically, the project will benefit about 6.7 million adolescents and 15.5 million direct project beneficiaries which will include families and communities in participating states.

“The project entails building more than 5,500 JSS and 3,300 classrooms for SSS, as well as improving 2,786 JSS and 1,914 SSS with safe, accessible, and inclusive infrastructure.

“About 340,000 girls will receive life skills training in safe spaces, which will help them navigate challenges in life. This will incorporate health and key information on climate change, safety, and gender-based violence awareness.

“To help girls thrive in the digital economy, 300,000 girls will receive digital literacy training and offer half a million girls from the poorest households’ financial incentives to support their retention and completion of secondary school,” he said. (NAN)

By Zainab Garba

Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, the Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Tuesday urges members of staff of organisations to maintain loyalty and dedication to duty.

He said this was a necessary prerequisite to attainment corporate objectives and progress within any small or large organisation.

At the opening ceremony of the National Youth service corps (NYSC) 2021 Batch `A’ pre-mobilization workshop in Nasarawa, Oloyede said that Nigerians organisations had lost out due to staff attitudes.

The JAMB registrar explained that organisations like the defunct Nigeria Telecommunication Limited and National Electrical Power Authority were brought on their knees due to disloyalty by some members of staff.

He advised the management of the NYSC scheme to be diligent and meticulous in the certification of credential of corps members before mobilising them.

He also said that institutions of learning have a great role to play in ending these acts of illegal certification of students for NYSC mobilisation.

Director General of the NYSC, Brig.-Gen. Ibrahim Shuaibu, said the pre-mobilisation workshop was an avenue for stakeholders to review challenges in past mobilisation exercises and profer workable solutions.

He warned that foolproof measures have been put in place to ensure that only qualified graduates are mobilised, adding that any unqualified person caught would face the wrath of the law.

Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa state, represented by the commissioner for youths and sports, Mr Othman Adam, commended the NYSC director general for the successes recorded by the scheme.

He said the successes had made it endearing to Nigerians through visibility and relevance of the scheme in the state, especially in areas of health, education and rural infrastructure.

By Dorcas Elusogbon

The authorities of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife in Osun, has fixed March 15 to March 19 as the new dates for its 2020 post UTME online screening.

Mr Olarewaju Abiodun, the university Public Relations Officer, made this known on Tuesday in a statement in Ile-Ife.

Abiodun said, “all candidates that registered for the 2020 OAU Post UTME screening are hereby notified that the exercise will now hold online.”

According to him, it will start from March 15 to March 19.

He said that the screening details in respect of guidelines, date and schedule for each candidate would be available on the university admission’s portal (https://admissions.oauife.edu.ng) from March 9.

“Candidates are advised to update their contact details on the university admission’s portal by providing valid and active email addresses and phone numbers, as the details will also be sent to the email addresses provided.

“Candidates should note that registration for this exercise closes midnight Thursday March 4, 2021,” Abiodun said. (NAN)