" i can not get jobs for my Daughters" - a respected Nigerian says

I cannot understand Nigerian elites the way they reason, their way of life it’s just so ridiculous.

In the news this week a well respected Nigerian stated that despite his high to the heavens connections he has been unable to get jobs for his two daughters (holders of  a Masters Degree).

 

Aside from the political statement he made I find this very ridiculous that a father needs connection to get jobs for his supposedly well educated children but then that is Nigeria for you.

When children are young parent stress them to finish their primary education by age seven ( 7) if they can, they rush them through secondary school and register them for senior school certificate examinations from Senior secondary 2, they rush them straight into the university and are regally proud that their child had obtained a first degree by 18 years, then they go look for jobs for them. Of course the people who do this are the policy makers who as a matter of policies insist that no child should be admitted into primary 1 unless the child reaches age 6, (their own children get admitted at age 4),they insist as a matter of policy that no pupil be admitted into the junior secondary unless they are age 10 and have completed primary six(6) (of course their children skip primary 5 and 6 and are admitted into the (junior secondary at age 8), then by the time the child is 13 years and in senior secondary 2 he tries(as they say) the senior secondary (WEAC/NECO/GCE) examinations and of course they are registered at miracle centers were they clear their papers and proceed to university at age 14, the university admission process is hijacked by their names and money and voila the child graduates from university at age 19 then they call friends and families to celebrate their …………...

You will think that the rate we graduate underage children in Nigeria we would be producing geniuses, because the process of skipping classes and double promotions are only for a genius not an average or above average student.

A child needs maturity and a certain level of preparedness for every stage of education. The progenitors of western education after having studied the process longer than us have specifically stated the ages for admission into various stages in education. So you cannot just cheat nature and get away with it, whatever you gain at the bend you lose at the corner.

The problem of underage admissions is not new to the Nigerian elite they relish it and disdain the needed maturity a child needs for each stage of education, that is why you find these underage student becoming cult members in school, some end up spending 10 years instead of four for their first degree, the girls turn to “Aristo girls”, some cannot form appropriate relationships and bonds in the university and after graduation these half baked , half literate human beings( now adults) are let loose on the society then of course daddy comes to the rescue and seek for employment for them after securing the job for them their cannot keep the jobs and become in their own parlance very mobile graduates.

Corruption in Nigeria is not just about government funds been diverted it goes beyond this; we need a total moral re-armament in all spheres of our thinking and way of life if we expect things to change. Each of us must as a matter of urgency start to obey all guidelines and rule of law in all spheres of endeavor.

Now to that respectable man, if you had done a good job with your daughters they will be independent and go look for job or create one for themselves. After all there is a 10 year old in my school that makes about 200k a year from selling Zobo drinks to his friends and classmates.

Parents - positive confessions and student evaluation

Some years ago i wrote a comment for a child in my class thus: "Seyi is enthusiastic about his work but lazy to follow through on goals we set out for the class"

This comment almost cost me my job, why? the Parents wrote a petition against me to the school management saying "that their child was not lazy in Jesus name" i stood my ground and explained giving an analogy- if you go to the hospital and you are diagnosed of malaria the Doctor prescribes a medicine for your use whether you use it or not does not remove the facts that you have malaria, as a teacher who had studied a child for three months if i observed he is lazy then the home and school should work together to help set attainable targets for the child.
Parents saying "i reject it in Jesus name" once a not too favorable report is given about the children. The fact that a child has a not to positive report from the school does not mean the teacher or school should be vilified for saying the truth, if you want to confess do that during your private prayers and  take constructive actions that encourages growth in all spheres of school development for your child. After all no person is perfect and giving children the impression that their is some one or something behind their inadequacies and moral weaknesses will breed a generation of children who will never take responsibility for their actions and seek to improve themselves.
So many children have health issues that needs to be addressed medically but some parents would rather cast out devils alone  and make positive confession than face the facts and seek help, some of this conditions are caused by parents inability to  secure and provide appropriately for their children.
For example there are so many cases of diabetes in Nigerian school children now according to health experts  reports but when you advice parents to pack healthy balanced foods for their children they will say "my child need to enjoy my money" when did enjoying money include eating over spiced noodles , exotic sweet biscuits, drinks and candies for children day in day out amount to showing wealth? or what of a child who still uses diapers at age 4 because mummy is too busy to sit the child down to potty early in the morning like our mothers taught us become showing wealth some parents will tell you that i can afford the diapers so let him use it until he is older? There is no point of been spiritual about moral, physical and health  issues that can be corrected.
I know that some schools and teachers write negative reports that are not constructive, this can be corrected by retraining of teachers and by placing emphasis on constructive reports.
Moreover,  i agree that we need to pray fervently for our children at the same time we should take responsibility for training them and take positive actions as the need arises.

Please leave a comment and share your experiences

WHY READ

To have the opportunity to learn to read is the greatest gift, which everyone should be given. If you can read, the door is open to you to move anywhere in the world – and you don’t need a passport or a plane ticket! You can read a story taking place in another country; you can learn how they look, how they talk, what they wear, what they laugh at, what work they do. Or you can move back in time into another century, find out what life was like a hundred years ago or go further back and read about life a thousand years ago. On the other hand, try moving forward in time. Some writers try to imagine what life may be like some hundred years from now. They may not be right in their forecasts, but it is interesting to imagine.

If you cannot read you can only find out what somebody tells you, or these days what you can hear on radio or television. But so far you cannot choose just what you want to hear. If you read you can choose whichever book you like from the shelf, and you can read for as long as you have the time and inclination. Your ‘station’ does not close down; your speaker does not go away.

HOW TO READ

Most people learn to read as children with one finger on the word, whilst they pronounce it. Later, in many cases even when they could read faster, they still feel they must at least pronounce the words in their heads, even if they do not actually say it loud. However, if we think of reading as comprehension, of understanding and thinking about what we are reading it is not necessary to ‘hear’ the word in your head or say it with your mouth. Understanding depends on seeing those black marks on the pages and relating them to ideas, to information. It is possible to learn to read and understand a foreign language without even hearing or speaking it.

So try reading faster than you think you can. You may find that you understand just as much or even more when you read faster. Your short-term memory can only hold certain amount of information for a very short time. If you read slowly you will have forgotten the beginning before you reach the end.

This is not to say you should always read fast. The idea is to develop different ways of reading for reading for different purposes. If I have just a few minutes to read the daily papers, I glance at the headlines; perhaps skim through something that looks interesting, maybe even read thoroughly something that seems to me important. On the other hand, if I am reading about a new theory that seems difficult to understand I may glance through the chapter and paragraph headings if any, noting any diagrams, graphs, graphs or pictures. With this I have turned my mind in the direction of the topic and I am ready to begin reading fairly slowly and with concentration. Later I may go through it again more quickly to get the feel of the whole idea again.

When you meet a new word you do not know should you stop? Turn to the dictionary and look up the meaning? If you do, you may lose the thread of what you are reading and still end up confused. It is often better to go on to the end of the sentence, to the end of the paragraph, perhaps to end of end of the chapter. The word has a place in the context, in the total meaning and often you can guess may not absolutely be right and you may find yourself adjusting that idea as you go along. Only if you find you still cannot understand the sentence, the paragraph or the chapter without the exact meaning of that word should you turn to the dictionary.

Do not be afraid of guessing! For some reason guessing has often been discouraged in schools. An informed guess is very useful and is the basis of the thinking of researchers. A guess is the spark that jumps across the electric current that is nearly touching. The connection in your mind is almost made: the guesses go across and often in this way eventually arrive at a correct answer.

We need to remember always that reading is a thinking process. You are not a machine with camera eyes and nothing happening to the ‘picture’ your eyes takes. Your eyes are part of the work, but already before you cast your eyes on the page you have a surprising amount of information in your head on an amazing range of subjects. Your job is to put together what you already know with what you see on the page. This does not mean that what you see on the page will always agree with what you know. It may entirely contradict your previous knowledge. So think and you are reading, put two and two together even if you are going to get a new and surprising five for the answer, instead of the four you expected!

Many students studying for an English examination such as GCE fail woefully, in the section known as ‘comprehension’. Perhaps if we used simpler word ‘understating’ the failures would be less.

How can you tackle the comprehension passage? It is advisable to skim through very quickly first, to turn your mind in the right direction and stir up whatever information you already have on the topic.

Skimming is not really reading. In English writing, often the first paragraph states the main idea, or the writer’s attitude to the topic. The last paragraph often sums up the arguments for the various ideas. Frequently, the first sentence in the paragraph is ‘meatier’ than the rest of the paragraph.

Try reading the first paragraph, than the first sentence of each sentence of the paragraph. Now sit back and think, is it about elephants or space or travel or mathematics? Is it explaining, describing or telling a story of several events? What did you not understand?

Now read again at a moderate pace, thinking as you read. Again sit back and think what you have gained now over the first reading. What points still trouble you? You are now perhaps ready to look at the questions and think about them, bearing in mind what you have just read. Now go back and read again, holding the questions at the back of your mind as you read. Next go through the questions again with the passage you have read in your mind. You can now begin actively to look for answers. Notice that as far you have not written a word, and you may have used up half the allotted time. Don’t panic. Remember that what you have to write is only a sentence or two that may take you only five minutes. Most of your time should be spent on reading and thinking. Your aim is to understand. Without understanding you cannot answer those questions. So read the passage several times, stopping to think after each reading and you will find that in the end the answers will form themselves. Don’t forget to give a minute or two to checking what you have written. We all make careless mistakes especially under examination pressure.

WHAT TO READ

The general answer is everything you can lay your eyes on – road signs, wrappers, magazines. At first, if you have trouble reading English, don’t be ashamed of looking for something much easier than what you feel you ought to be reading. If you are in secondary school you may need to go back to the reading meant for primary 4, 5 or 6. If you are at the top end of secondary school you might need to read what class 1 is supposed to read. You need plenty of practice in reading what seems easy, so that you can increase your reading speed and not feel that you have to labour over every sentence. The more you read the quicker you will read and the more easily you will understand and the more you will enjoy reading. Become a reading addict. If you get into the habit of reading in every moment, you will begin to feel empty if you don’t have something to read. Cut down on your talking time and spend it on reading! The world is waiting for you out there!

Please leave  a comment and you could win a pack of classroom craft activity for your preschool.

STAFF STABILITY IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA

The subject of this write up is somehow nebulous. This is so because of the possibility of the multiple interpretations that can be given to it. Some of the possible interpretations are staff stability as it hampers or fosters good teaching and learning in the school, is it the stability of the individual teacher/ staff as meaning his psych-stability? Or is it the institution stabilizing her staff as could be seen in longer stay in the school? Or is it the retention of a staff in a position (in a class) or what?

This should not be taken as a mere dribbling of the subject; it is the understanding in either ways that is often experienced in the system.

We shall be examining this in three broad ways: reasons for and against staff stability in a school, principles of stability of staff and benefits of staff stability as it serves the advantage of teaching / learning process in the school.

Most proprietors of schools go into the establishment of school as a branch of their economic enterprise. As a result they go to all length to ‘make it’ like the woman who sells rice in the market giving a false measure in order to make more money. Definitely we know that such a woman when discovered by her customers they will surely cut her off.  The point that needs to be scored here is that those who give true measures to staff always maintain stability but those who give false measure always maintain instability.

When a proprietor has no educational mission/vision in establishing a school this is the beginning of instability in the school set up. The proprietor must set out clearly the objectives, goals, aspiration for school in terms of curriculum, assessment, examinations, classroom behaviour, what do you want to achieve with this school?

There are proprietors who establish schools as a means to achieving public corporate image for themselves. These categories could be likened to the initiator of a rural dwellers project, who having got approval to propagate her fine programme for rural dwellers went ahead to launch the programme at the International Conference Centre Abuja, inviting an audience of people who have never been to any village let alone stayed in any rural area in all their lives. The point here is that some proprietors establish schools merely for propagating their name but having no bearing with a vision or a universal educational objective. Therefore stability of staff can never be maintained since their stability or otherwise does not matter

Even though, some proprietors have good intentions and good understanding of establishing schools they are not equipped with organisational skills with which to run the schools. To worsen situation very many in this category surround themselves with people who do not have organisational abilities as chief architects of their school organisational designs. The stability of staff is affected when within the roll of staff there are people who know exactly what to do and how to do it but because they are employees they are not able to change the situation so they leave the system. The employers not been able to identify the problem frames ideas and slogans such as ‘’ let him/her go after all many people are rushing to come here’’ ‘’can she/he get what is obtainable here else where?’’ soldier go soldier come’’

Another point here is that most employers in the private educational enterprise do not have staff schedules of duties; they employ a staff and expect them to ‘know’ what to do! This is an aberration in Nigerian private schools. Roles must be clearly defined. If objectives are to be achieved staff must have a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities, this is essential for the staff’s own sense of well being and the smooth functioning of the programme. A written job description helps teachers understand the scope of their own position as well as those of others. Clearly defined teacher roles also serve as a guard against legal and ethical problems. Also when roles are stated staff evaluation will be easier.

Unemployment and the hardship of the times cause several employees get into jobs that are not to their taste, they are placed in positions where they do not exhibit their expertise, and therefore they never get fulfilled in their respective jobs. When teachers do not teach subjects they had studied in school or teach in a level outside of their qualification, instability sets in.  They move to other places whenever vacancies are announced.

As the great Islamic jihadist of 18^th century in Nigeria Alhaji Uthman Dan Fodio said “the greatest crime that could be committed is when a man refuses or is not allowed to put to practice what he has learnt’.

Greed and the desire to become ordinarily what is unattainable, makes several staff to change jobs. For instance staffs do compare themselves with others who probably are doing better elsewhere. The grass is always greener at the other side of the fence. They never take into account how those people got to their present positions. They are not even ready to go through what those people have gone through, yet they want to get to that height overnight. In an attempt to attain this they feel a compulsive need for change.

Some staff often feels that they are been oppressed or persecuted, Some employees feel that their employer is not qualified after all to be their boss by the mere fact that they are expected to do their job, or even when they are asked to give report /keep records of their work.

They go from place to place at the end they may not find the kind of boss they are looking for.

Also there are societal factors – your friends, relatives, peers and other people and the times may

cause the instability of staff in the school. A person could enjoy his job, but peer pressure may make his life miserable, friends may say ‘Ah, you of all people to be working in such a low and unrecognised place. Don’t you know your class of people’?

On the part of the employer, friends could come round and say ‘Ah, Mr man you are wasting your money, how can you be paying such big salary in the civil service they don’t pay that much. You may think they are helping you but in the long run they disorganize your establishment. The employer may feel, all the money I get I am paying my staff, why? Let me make things hard for them so that they will go then I will employ cheaper labour. With this I can have more money to live up to the expectation of people and the times. Such an employer does not realise that the fact that his staff are leaving he is already living below expectations of his objectives and the times.   

Relatives who work for you must have specified job description and should not poke their noses into what is basically not their business. They must realise that your staff are very important to you and they are the ones that help to make you.

Both the employer and the employee should let morality guide their actions and thinking, and do unto others what you would they do to you.

Consequently the employer should recognise that his /her staffs are his assistants and not slaves, give free hand for them to operate. Recognise merit and hard work of individual workers

Let the spirit of fairness be seen in the remuneration that is given to your workers

Set a standard for yourself and the school and work towards it

Spell out in details what benefit staffs are to derive from working for you from time to time, their conditions of service must be clearly stated and explicit.

The employee must know that a rolling stone gathers no moss. Frequent changes of employment does not popularise you nor does it stabilize you in fact some schools now only employ people who have worked in another place for up to five years as this indicates that they will stay in their new employment. The greatest position a man can occupy is that of a servant. So take time to serve others and per harps one day you may be served if you are not faithful in another man’s thing who will entrust your own to you. Accept your job and your position and attach importance to what you are doing. Nothing brings contentment other than the grace of God. So do not always feel unsatisfied with your position with your employer. Always faith your fate so as to avoid unnecessary grumbling and unhappiness, look more to the work you are doing more than what you are getting out of work.

Some benefits of Staff Stability in the school include a better understanding between the employer and his employees. Teachers will understand their jobs better and do it more effectively. Teachers and pupils would have taken time to study each other which would aid in the good performance of the pupils and the school. When staffs have stayed longer in the school they quickly understand problems and know their solution almost at once. People really come to occupy their real positions when they stay longer in a particular employment

Let it be recommended here that for stability in the school system there should be regular dialogue and consultation between the employer and the employee. The manager should develop the ability to recognise the feelings of his assistants promptly and act accordingly as soon as possible. The employee should as a matter of practicality bear with the employer since he is a human being with limited abilities.

From the above it would seem that both the founders of schools and teachers in schools got it all wrong when they thought that school is a means of making more money. Establishing a school or working in a school ought to be regarded as participating in the rendering of social/ humanitarian services and not only for personal gain. This therefore should be a sacrificial duty, which only those who are willing should be involved in.

Akintayo O. Titilola

09-8752033

Low enrolment in technical schools: The cracks in the 6-3-3-4 system

Technical and vocational education is an important stream of the educational system in many societies due to its impact on diversified human resources development. But in Nigeria, little or no attention is being paid to this aspect. With more than 167 technical colleges nationwide whose enrollment is below capacity, stakeholders have continued to worry over the lack of attention paid to this section of the sector and its implications for national manpower development.
According to an education expert, Mr. Victor Dike, technical education is a planned programme of learning experiences that begins with exploration of career options, supports basic academic and life skills, and enables achievement of high academic standards, leadership, preparation for industry-defined work, and advanced and continuing education.
To ensure that Nigerian students are given equal opportunities to pursue their educational goals, the academically inclined ones are encouraged to proceed to senior secondary or grammar school, those commercially inclined can go to commercial school, while the technically inclined ones are encouraged to go to technical colleges.
But due to the public’s misunderstanding of the rationale behind this policy, which is to ensure their inclusiveness, a lot of parents see commercial and technical colleges as inferior to conventional secondary schools, and thus, would not want their wards to attend such institutions.

Students writing exam

Explaining the reason for the low enrollment of students into technical colleges, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Research and Development Council, NERDC, Professor Godswill Obioma, said they were given ‘a stigma of inferiority, resulting in the ever-increasing registration of students into secondary schools.
“The reasoning was that if a child goes to technical school, he’ll become a carpenter or something like that, and this is responsible for the high number of students in the conventional secondary schools. But at the end of the day, a lot of them come out without competencies and functioning skills needed for survival.
“The challenge we had in revising the curriculum was to seek the best ways to enable the youths acquire functioning skills of survival, whether they further their education or not.”
Accordingly, the revised curriculum for the senior secondary school now incorporates technical and entrepreneurship subjects which are compulsory for everybody. Thus, it is hoped that by 2014, the first batch of students with these skills would be graduating from secondary schools with the required skills for survival and economic growth.
Arguing that technical schools are well funded, especially those sited in the state, Lagos State Ministry of Education sources say they are better equipped to churn out qualified employers of labour.
“These colleges, especially the ones in Lagos, aren’t inferior to secondary schools. In fact, technical college students are more intelligent than their counterparts in secondary schools because they have to make use of their hands and creative parts of their brains to execute the practical aspect of their studies.
“The truth is that these schools are not only for those that are not academically inclined and are not inferior to secondary schools because you have to be talented and intelligent to get into one.”
Vanguard Learning investigation reveals that the Lagos State Government is tailoring the education system to enable it identify students suitable for technical colleges right from primary school, and help develop their talents through proper guidance and counselling. The ultimate goal is to prepare them for the outside world and make them employers of labour.
Speaking at a different occasion, the Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye disclosed that the state government is committed to the development of technical and vocational education in the state so as to prepare the youths for the challenges of the global economy.
“In the past year, 159 trainees have graduated in modern auto-diagnosis and were awarded certificates of diagnosis, competence in auto-diagnosis and working knowledge in auto diagnosis. Over 2,000 youths in Lagos State have benefited from the Samsung Electronics Engineering Academy established at Government Technical College, Agidingbi.
“We have trained 20 master trainers through the entrepreneurship training programmes and five business clinics have been created in each of our technical colleges across the state to assist our students/trainees to prepare business plans, link them up with microfinance banks and encourage young business owners to develop the habit of proper record keeping.”
But despite the numerous benefits of technical education to national development, a seasoned educationist and Principal of Kings College, Otunba Oladele Peju, has called for the reversal of the policy, which he said is a ‘fundamental error.’
“The JSS-3 class is supposed to be a terminal one for those that can’t progress to the senior class, but what we have today is 100 per cent transition. The UBE law needs to be updated and made to fit the reality on ground, and rather than having the 6-3-3-4, we can have the 6-6-4 system of education.”
Though most of the junior secondary students that Vanguard Learning spoke with said they’ll never attend a technical school, a visit to some technical colleges revealed that students seem less disciplined and the dress code less enforced than students of secondary schools.
Adeola Marcus is studying catering in a technical college. Unlike the normal procedure of resuming technical school after JSS3, she began her technical studies after finishing secondary school.
“I did it to apply the skills and since I couldn’t get a job after secondary school, I decided to come here. In my department, we have no qualms about practical classes at all. I’ve learnt how to make so many dishes and snacks and almost ready to establish my catering business.”
Joshua Orizu who studies automobile engineering says he has no regrets toeing the technical college path.
“We are being taught how to repair cars. We use actual cars for our practical, and I can repair the engine of any car, if given the chance. If there’s enough money, when I’m done I would like to go to a polytechnic or university to study automobile engineering.”
 By Amaka Abayomi, Favour Nnabugwu & Laju AreNyeka

Expert blames teachers for failure in Mathematics

BY DAYO ADESULU
The reason for yearly failure in Mathematics among secondary school students has been traced to teachers’ lack of practical skills that  make the subject interesting to students.
Proprietress of Chrisfield Private  Schools, Ita-maga, Ikorodu, Mrs Olabisi Olateru who made this assertion during the school’s maiden sports festival stated that most students who fail Mathematics do so because their teachers lack practical skills that make the subject interesting to students.
She said; “If teachers do not device means of teaching this key subject,  students will continue to see it as difficult and run away from it.”
Olateru who urged teachers to use true life situation to explain Mathematics to students pointed out that  some teachers’ lack of practical skills in this basic area has made students hate the unavoidable subject.
The Chartered Accountant turned educationist said; “If you bring the teaching of Mathematics into reality by using true life stories and examples, it will make the subject interesting as students will find it not boring thereby falling in love with the subject and subsequently understand it.”
She maintained that the problem of our education sector started from our home, adding that many parents have failed to support the strategy put in place by teachers to enhance students’ learning.
Olateru explained that if assignment is given to students, many parents would not bother to check whether their wards did it or not, not to talk of assisting them in doing it.
To arrest the downward trend, she reiterated that there should be stakeholders’ meetings in every school, where vital issues affecting the sector would be discussed.
She disclosed that already in her school, stakeholders’ programme like parenting and seminars were held in the just- concluded term, adding that they hope to continue with such programme next session.
On reasons some students in private schools perform better academically than those in public schools, she noted that the difference is in the way both are being handled explaining that in private schools anyone who does not perform is fired, whereas in the public schools, teachers can do whatever they like and go free.
Her words; “I love teaching, I love impacting knowledge to children. I love adding value to children’s lives, that was what led me to establish the school. I know what education was like in the 1960s and what  obtains now. I want to see how I can make a change in this generation. I want to give what I had gained over the years and even add better things.”
Source: The Vanguard

2Face to tour schools to inspire students

Lagos – A pop star, Innocent Idibia  (a.k.a, 2Face), says he will do his best to influence  the youth to be resourceful and self-reliant.
Idibia said in Lagos on Thursday that he would tour some tertiary institutions to inspire students to develop their talents.

*2face

He noted that education institutions were among the most important sections of any society.
“It is the schools that produce the leaders of tomorrow; so, social development which are happening outside their walls should be taken to them.
“The music industry in Nigeria is a very strong opinion shaper in the society; getting closer to students is a very good way of influencing their thoughts and inspiring them”.
Idibia said that the Nigerian music industry had become a force to reckon with, adding that the country was blessed with numerous talents.
“We have successfully built a veritable industry that represents the country internationally, and many talents exist in the schools.
“ I am a product of a school – the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Enugu.
“That is one of the major reasons IMT is on my tour list.
“ It is a very emotional choice for me because the school was a very important part of my development.
“That was where Plantashun Boiz began and I have very fond memories,” Idibia said.
Idibia is set for a month-long tour of selected tertiary institutions in the country this month.
The schools include the universities of Lagos, Benin, Port-Harcourt and Abuja.
Idibia has practised as a solo artiste for almost a decade.
One of his biggest hits is the “African Queen” which is the soundtrack of a Hollywood movie, “Phat Girls’’. (NAN)
Source; The Vanguard