Education

Police Take Proactive Measures to Address School Clashes

By Web News 70

By Abisola Oluremi

The Oyo State Police Command has launched a series of initiatives to tackle the recurring clashes in secondary schools in Ibadan.

This move follows a stakeholders meeting held at the command’s headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan.

Speaking, the Commissioner of Police, Joseph Adenola said, the police will conduct regular visits to schools to educate students on the dangers of unruly behaviour, and the command would partner with state government, parents, and other agencies to find solutions to the problem.

Contributing, the Special Assistant to the Oyo state governor on Security Matters, Fatai Owoseeni emphasized the need for parents to take a more proactive role in raising their children.

Also, the Oyo state Commissioner for Education, Professor Saliu Adelabu, urged the government to review the child rights law to enable good training and inculcation of values into children.

These measures were a direct response to the recent invasion of CAC Grammar School by seventeen pupils of Government Technical College, Orita Aperin, Ibadan.

Present at the meeting included, parents, school principals, permanent secretaries, chairman, Oyo Subeb, Nureni Adeniran among others.

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Education

FG Says Schools in 14 States, FCT Risk Attacks from Bandits

By Web News 458

Against the backdrop of the resurgence of the mass abduction of pupils, the Federal Government has said schools in 14 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, are at risk of attacks by bandits and insurgents.

The National Coordinator of Financing Safe Schools in Nigeria, Hajia Halima Iliya, confirmed on Sunday, that the data of at-risk schools had been collected for intervention.

Iliya declined to identify the states, but the Commander of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre, Nigeria Security, and Civil Defence Corps, Hammed Abodunrin, said they included Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Benue, Yobe, Katsina, FCT, Kebbi, Sokoto, Plateau, Zamfara and three others.

No fewer than 465 pupils, teachers, and women abducted in the past week are still in the custody of their captors.

Fifteen pupils of an Islamiya school in Sokoto State were kidnapped in the early hours of Saturday, less than 72 hours after 287 schoolchildren and teachers were abducted from the LEA primary school and the Government Secondary School both at Kuriga, in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

However, 28 of them were on Sunday reported to have escaped 259 in captivity.

A few days before the Kaduna incident, 200 female Internally Displaced Persons were taken away by terrorists in Borno State.

The women were kidnapped in Ngala, the headquarters of Gambarou Ngala in Borno state while fetching firewood in the bush.

On Sunday, there were reports that nine of them had regained freedom remaining 191 in captivity.

Penultimate Thursday, bandits abducted an undisclosed number of people in the Gonin-Gora community in the same Chikun LGA of Kaduna, prompting residents to barricade the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway in protest.

As a response to the April 2014 abduction of the Chibok school girls, the Safe Schools Initiative was launched by the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, alongside the Nigerian Global Business Coalition for Education and private sector leaders at the World Economic Forum Africa.

Safe schools

The initiative entails a combination of school-based interventions, community interventions to protect schools, and special measures for at-risk populations.

The Federal Government inaugurated the Safe Schools Fund with a $10m contribution and another $10m pledge from the private sector.

In further support for the programme, the Federal Government budgeted N15bn for the SSI in the 2023 fiscal year.

Speaking on the programme in an interview with one of our correspondents on Sunday, Iliya explained that the implementation of the SSI had started in several states.

Responding to questions on what was being done to fortify schools against bandit attacks, she said, “The project has taken off. We commenced implementation in 2023 with the flag off of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre, which we intend to replicate at state and local government levels.

“The states have selected most at-risk schools in each senatorial zone for the implementation of National Plan on Financing Safe Schools Programme (2023-2026).’’

In response to the development, the coordinator explained that state governors had expressed plans to provide funding for the SSI for the protection of pupils and teachers in the identified locations.

She added, “Some states have made provision for the Safe Schools Programme in their 2024 budget in line with the National Plan. We intend to engage the states to guide them through the implementation.

“We’ve communicated to all the states; letters have been written for inclusion of Safe Schools in their budget and for them to select the most at-risk schools. More than 11 states have responded. The budget from states is for them to work on physical infrastructure such as fencing state schools and put other control measures.’’

Iliya further disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Education and the NSCDC had conducted some training for their men, adding that the Nigeria Police had trained senior officers, including all divisional police officers across the country on Safe Schools.

According to her, the security forces have commissioned equipment that would be deployed to various state commands for the operations.

“Data of at-risk schools from 14 states, including the FCT have so far been collected for intervention. The Defence headquarters and DSS (Department of Security Services) are expected to mainstream Safe Schools through capacity building of their officers. N15b was provided and released as takeoff in 2023; utilisation is still ongoing,’’ she stated.

The Commander of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre, NSCDC, Abodunrin, said the four-year project was being implemented simultaneously in all the states but in phases, adding that it began with the sensitisation and training of security personnel late last year.

He condemned the latest abductions of school pupils, noting that the attackers operated in locations with poor telecommunication service.

Abodunrin said, “The attacks are unfortunate. What the attackers do is to look for soft targets. They now go to villages where they feel they can quickly operate before help can come. They also target when communication networks are bad. The cases in Ekiti and Kaduna are examples where community members could not quickly call for help. There is also the need to raise more awareness in the communities.

“There is a need for more cooperation. Schools are to register on www.nssrcc.gov.ng detailing their addresses and at least a phone number. Registration is free. Any registered school will automatically be on a database with their coordinates for easy accessibility.

“There are patrols. Global standards do not allow security operatives to be in schools for various reasons. Those who want to target them may kill or injure students and other members of the school communities in the process. There will be more patrols.’’

The commander also said that since security requires personal attention, students and teachers would be given training on personal safety and protection.

“Equipment and platforms are also being developed to facilitate easy communication even without a network. They will be trained on this too. Capacity of various communities are being built in the areas of personal security and information management for effective preventive and response efforts,’’ he disclosed.

On the states that have been identified to be at risk of attacks, Abodunrin said, “Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Benue, Yobe, Katsina, FCT, Kebbi, Sokoto, the Plateau, Zamfara.

“These are the states where the state governments have submitted the list of vulnerable schools to Safe School Financing and some of them have already donated Response centres to NSCDC for coordination.

“Some commit to including Safe School in their budgets for the centre to commence operations. Note that all states’ commissioners for finance were addressed by Safe School Finance for cooperation. You may still seek further clarification from Finance (ministry).’’

On the states that have been identified to be at risk of attacks, Abodunrin said, “Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Benue, Yobe, Katsina, FCT, Kebbi, Sokoto, the Plateau, Zamfara.

“These are the states where the state governments have submitted the list of vulnerable schools to Safe School Financing and some of them have already donated Response centres to NSCDC for coordination.

“Some commit to including Safe School in their budgets for the centre to commence operations. Note that all states’ commissioners for finance were addressed by Safe School Finance for cooperation. You may still seek further clarification from Finance (ministry).’’

Continuing, he noted, “Those selected (states) are where concentration is. What the centre is doing in conjunction with NSCDC is to be proactive by making the sensitisation and community engagement national.

“All states of the federation now have Safe School Desk Officers/Coordinators. These attackers would look for soft targets that they think the government is not considering at present.’’

Meanwhile, the state commands of the NSCDC in Gombe, Kano, Osun, Taraba and other states said they were involved in the SSI implementation.

The Gombe State Commandant, Muhammad Bello, noted that his officers were ensuring that no school child was abducted in its safe school project.

He said, “We are ready to face the problem even though we are dwelling in a serious challenge in the area of logistics, and transportation but I will not allow it to impede securing schools and our children. We are doing our best, shortage of mobility will never impede safeguarding children.’’

In a statement, the spokesperson for Osun NSCDC, Kehinde Adeleke, said the Safe School Programme was operational in the state but identified mobility challenges in covering all local government areas in the state.

The Taraba State Commissioner for Education, Dr Augustina Godwin, on Sunday, said the state government had beefed up security around schools, especially in areas prone to banditry attacks since November last year.

In a telephone interview with our correspondent in Jalingo, Godwin said the state government had embarked on the building of perimeter fencing of most schools in the state as a first layer of security.

Godwin said, “We have credible intelligence regarding the plans by bandits to carry out massive school children abduction in the state, and so, the sad incident in Kaduna did not come to us as a surprise.

“The government has engaged personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, and the state security outfit- Taraba Marshall to provide security in our schools.

“We have also formed the Safe School Security Committee as requested by Unicef. We have also identified schools with serious security needs based on their location and we have fortified such schools with more security.

“Just last week, I embarked on supervision of schools to see the level of security presence in our schools and I was impressed with what I saw on the ground.

“For the schools that are yet to get security personnel, we have provided dedicated phone numbers for school principals and teachers to call in case of any incident,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Presidency has described the recent cases of kidnapping across the country as efforts by ‘’sub-regional geopolitical forces conspiring to undermine the government of President Bola Tinubu.’’

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Ajuri Ngelale, affirmed this when he spoke on TVC’s Politics on Sunday monitored by The PUNCH.

On the programme titled ‘Counting the Cost of Presidents Tinubu’s Reforms,’ Ngelale revealed that the Federal Government was already receiving support from the United States government for the release of students kidnapped in Kaduna.

“I will say this: across the north, we understand that some of the sub-regional geopolitical forces that are currently at play are actively conspiring against the stability of Nigeria,” said the President’s spokesman.

Ngelale assured Nigerians that the Federal Government was on top of the situation and had received support from the US government to secure the release of the school children and address the regional forces at play.

“We understand that and we are not sleeping. We are responding to it and we’re doing it in a concerted way, with our neighbours.

“And it is worth noting that the United States Government has also pledged its assistance to ensure that there is a full return of all of the schoolchildren who were kidnapped recently in Kaduna.

“But the point is we are going to continue to intensify our collaboration not just within the region, but internationally to make sure that some of the regional actors that are conspiring against our nation are brought to justice and ultimately silenced in the future,” he explained.

The Presidential spokesman lamented that with increased security in major communities in the South-East and South-West, the government was working to extend coverage to vulnerable far-flung settlements in the north.

“First of all, the President has been very clear that this is an administration of no excuses. If you look at other parts of the countries that were in flames before he took office, such as the South-East and parts of the South-West for example, you will know the level of work that has gone into securing our nation.

“Where we still have some challenges is in the North-Central in the North-West and to a lesser extent in the Northeast. There’s still a lot of work to be done along the Kaduna axis. Remember the time when you could not travel by road on the Abuja-Kaduna highway? Now, you’re able to do that.

“Now the problem is when you have these far-flung communities, we do have these hit-and-run incidences of not just violence and killings, but kidnappings and hostage-taking,” Ngelale explained.

He toed the line of the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, proposing capital punishment for kidnappers, saying, “I think that there’s going to have to be some sort of robust legislative reform that makes it clear to every citizen of our country that if you kidnap anybody, you will be killed by the justice system.

“There will be a death penalty attached to it. I don’t see how this can be solved if we don’t do this and see to its implementation.”

Punch/Simeon Ugbodovon

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Education

Safety of schools remains priority – IGP

By Web News 349

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Olukayode Egbetokun, says the police will continue to give priority to the safety and security of schools nationwide.

Egbetokun said this in Abuja at the inauguration of training on safe schools for state coordinators and divisional police officers (DPOs).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event also featured inauguration platforms, vehicles, and equipment for the Safe School programme.

Egbetokun said the training was designed to equip state coordinators and DPOs nationwide with comprehensive knowledge and strategies on national plans for the Safe Schools initiative.

According to him, it is aimed at crafting a definitive strategy for collaboration between the police and other vital stakeholders to ensure a more protected learning environment for schoolchildren.

He said the inauguration of the equipment was to optimise the human and material resources of the Nigeria Police in combating crimes, particularly those targeting educational institutions.

“We are committed to implementing measures and utilising our resources to diminish the threats facing students, staff, and educational facilities across the country.

“The current police administration has established the Special Intervention Squad to swiftly address and counteract criminal activities nationwide.

“This squad will operate in support of the School Protection Squad to ensure that the country’s educational facilities remain free from danger and unwelcome incidents,” he said.

He said the police would continue to work harmoniously with relevant security agencies and stakeholders, including host communities, to confront those attacking schools.

The I-G urged the participants to embrace the training with the utmost seriousness, adding that the knowledge and skills to be acquired would directly impact the quality of services to be rendered.

In her remarks, Mrs Halima Iliya, the National Coordinator, the Financing Safe Schools Secretariat, said that though the Nigerian educational system has always been in deep crisis, the kidnapping of schoolchildren represented a major extensional threat to the system.

She said the crisis had contributed to the huge population of out-of-school children in the country.

The coordinator called for a policy framework to provide sustainable funding to address the challenges.

Iliya said the absence of funding mechanisms from budgetary allocations by the federal and subnational governments was a challenge to attaining safe schools in the country.

Vanguard/Simeon Ugbodovon

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Politics

Staff Training is Vital, Lawmakers Tell Osun Tertiary Institutions

By Web News 356

By Mojisola Oladele

The Osun State House of Assembly wants the Management of tertiary institutions across the state to ensure training and retraining of staff.

The Chairman, House of Assembly Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Mr.Olumide Fatunmise and his team made the call during the ongoing budget defence exercise of various Ministries Departments Agencies, and MDAs of government held at the Assembly Complex, Osogbo.

Mr. Fatunmise also stressed the need for the Management of schools to maintain a good relationship with the Education committee for effective Budget performance.

He commended the Vice Chancellor, Osun State University, Professor Clement Adebooye for his brilliant performance in the institution since the inception of the present administration led by Governor Ademola Adeleke.

Mr. Fatunmise advised all the Management of various tertiary institutions in the State to improve on their Internally Generated Revenue to State coffers.

Also, other legislators urged the Management of the various tertiary institutions in Osun to cooperate with members of their Boards and Governing Council.

They also advised them to always ensure accuracy and effectiveness in their doings and put in their best for the respectively institutions.

In their separate remarks, the heads of various tertiary institutions promised to improve on their Internally Generated Revenue to State coffers and solicited for the support of members of the State Assembly at large to succeed in thier ups and doings.

Among the ministries, departments and agencies of government which appeared for Budget defence included Osun State College of Health Technology, Osun State Polytechnic, Osun State University, Osun State College of Education, Osun State College of Technology, University of Ilesa and Osun Road Maintenance Agency.

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Security

NSCDC CG Orders Deployment of Undercover Agents to Schools

By Web News 385

Dr Ahmed Audi, the Commandant General (CG) of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence (NSCDC), has ordered the immediate deployment of undercover agents to schools and host communities to enhance security in schools nationwide.

The CG gave the order on Friday in Kaduna at the closing ceremony of a five-day capacity building on Safe School Response.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that no fewer than 200 NSCDC personnel and other stakeholders from the seven states in the North West attended the five-day programme.

The capacity building was organised by the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre (NSSRCC).

Audi said that the Corps would partner with the Ministry of Education in each state and Local Education Authorities for the successful implementation of the directive.

According to him, the capacity building is to strengthen the resilience of relevant stakeholders, including vigilante groups, retired security personnel, host communities, and serving personnel of the NSCDC.

He explained that the programme was to imbue in them all strategies and knowledge on how to provide protection for schools and host communities from violence and attacks.

Audi, who was represented by ACG Training and Capacity Building, David Abi, said that the NSSRCC was a critical component of the implementation strategy of the National Plan on Safe Schools.

He said that the plan was developed by the government to mobilise synergy among security agencies and relevant stakeholders towards schools’ protection.

The CG acknowledged the rising cases of attacks and violence on schools in Nigeria and its attendant negative impacts, including increasing the rate of out-of-school children in the country.

“The strategic plan is based on the whole-of-society approach with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps as the lead agency.

“The Corps is also hosting the headquarters of the Centre, saddled with the responsibility of coordinating safety and security responses for schools and host communities in collaboration with all security agencies and other relevant stakeholders.

“The Centre is the first of its kind in Africa; available records indicate that no other country has this kind of facility with the sole responsibility of providing safety and security prevention and protection measures for schools and host communities.”

He CG said that in view of the recurring attacks and violence in schools in the country, the task ahead of the centre was enormous.

“It requires effective synergy and collaboration from all stakeholders, including the Federal, State and Local Governments.

“It is also pertinent to state that the standard operating procedure of the centre provides for the creation of state coordinating centres and local government response centres for effective and seamless operation.

“It is for this singular fact that I respectfully present on behalf of the centre, the request for the kind consideration for allocation of an existing structure within each of the state capitals in the North-West to serve as the safe school coordination centres,” he said.

The CG told the participants that the task ahead of them was enormous.

“Be reminded that aside from being ambassadors of the centre, you are equally the foot soldiers who are in direct contact with the members of schools and host communities,” he said.

He charged them to ensure that the knowledge gained from this training was put into effective practice in the discharge of their duties.

“Furthermore, members of the vigilante groups and private guard companies must be ready to collaborate and work in harmony with security agencies to facilitate effective protection of our schools.”

Also, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Valentine Okoro, said that the national plan for safe schools was a programme developed by the government to mobilise synergy among security agencies.

The GOC, represented by Brig.-Gen. Henry Yanet, Commander 51 Signals, said already that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, had directed enjoined army units and formation to work with other security agencies in protecting the civil populace.

In his remarks, Kaduna State Governor, Sen. Uba Sani, reiterated the state government’s commitment to partnering with all security agencies to enhance public safety.

The governor was represented by the administrator of the Kaduna Capital Territory Authority, Mr Samuel Aruwan.

VVanguard/Simeon Ugbodovon

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Education

Schools Bubble with Activities on Resumption

By Web News 904

By Amos Ogunrinde/Rotimi Famakin

Public private Primary and secondary Schools across Ekiti State today resumed for the first term of the 2023/2024 academic session.

Radio Nigeria roving correspondent, who monitored the resumption, observed that nearly all the schools offered prayers to usher in the new academic calendar.

The schools also tidied-up their premises while some were seen cutting grasses and others exchanging pleasantries.

Some of the schools visited were Government Science College, Iyin Ekiti, Deji Fasuan Model College, Christ Boys School, Christ Girl School, SAM/JEWEL Schools, Blue Crest Group of schools and Covenant Academy, all in Ado Ekiti.

Speaking with Radio Nigeria, the founder of Blue Crest Group of Schools, Mr Bolu Akomolafe and the proprietor of Sam/Jewel Schools, Pastor Okuyemi Emmanuel expressed happiness at the turn out of students being the first day of resumption.

They, however, called on parents to allow their children to resume so as not miss out from teaching and learning.

In an interview, some pupils, who said that they enjoyed the long holidays,, also thanked God for the grace given unto them to resume in good health.

The Commissioner for Education, Dr Kofoworola Aderiye had earlier directed heads of schools, teachers and students to begin academic activities on the first day of resumption.

The buses provided by the Ekiti State Government to convey workers and students to ease the cost of transportation were equally seen at major routes taking students to their Schools and workers to their offices.

Equally, in Ogun State, pupils and students of public and private primary and secondary schools as well as government technical colleges resumed for the first term of 2023/2024 academic session.

Radio Nigeria correspondent, who monitored the resumption, reports that the hustle and bustle, especially the traffic jam that usually characterized school resumption, had returned to the state capital after the long term break.

A visit to schools in Abeokuta, Iaro, Sagamu and Ota areas of Ogun State showed an impressive turn out of students along with the enrollments of new students into the junior classes.

A student of Trinity College, Ijaye Abeokuta, Mokunnola Kamikunre expressed excitement for returning  to school after the break.

A teacher, Mrs Temitope Omogboye from  UBE Model Nursery and Primary School, Olorombo, Abeokuta who said the turnout of students was impressive, appealed to parents to release their children early for the academic activities.

Mrs Omogboye explained that the welcome test conducted for students was to refresh their memories and prepare them for the new academic term.

A parent Mr Kolawale Akin said there was the need for Federal Government to address the current inflation which he noted was affecting the economy.

Meanwhile, adequate facilities have been put in place such as new furniture and learning materials supplied, as well as classification of senior secondary school one students into classes.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Science and Technology, Professor Abayomi Arigbabu made this known while monitoring school resumption across the state.

Professor Arigbabu explained that the cancellation of various levies was part of the present administration’s commitment to further ensure education for all, tackle out of school menace and promote free qualitative education for the citizenry

Similarly, in Ibadan the Oyo State capital, academic activities commenced in private and public schools for 2023/2024 academic session.

Radio Nigeria correspondent, who visited some schools in Oluyole Estate, Apata, Mokola, saw students at the assembly ground praising God for witnessing the new academic session while administrative officers attended to the new students.

A senior school teacher Mr Seun Akinwale said academic activities commenced immediately, pointing out that teachers had resumed a week earlier to prepare ahead of resumption.

The head teacher, Kingdom Heritage Model School, Apata, Mrs Jumoke Oluyemi said schools needed to increase their school fee because of the economic situation of the country.

Some parents, while expressing their views, lamented increase in school Fees and other educational materials.

They called on government to promulgate policies that is economically friendly to alleviate the plights of people.

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Education

Oyo Schools Resume for Second Term

By Web News 722

Public and private schools in Ibadan have resumed for the 2022/2023 second-term academic session.

Our correspondent, who monitored the resumption, reports that students and pupils defied the chilling harmattan to arrive at school early.

During visits to some of the schools at Ojoo and, Agbowo, the students were seen lined up on the assembly ground while others were reciting the multiplication table.

In an interview, the headmistress of Shepherd Success Academy, Agbowo, Mrs Bolanle James said the teachers were set for the academic take-off while noting that preparations had been made ahead of today’s resumption.

Speaking in the same vein, the Principal, Oba Akinbiyi High School 2, Mokola, Mrs Oluwatoyin Ayodele said previous meetings had been held with the teachers to ensure a hitch-free second term session.

Schools in Oyo state went on vacation in December last year as the end of the first term, which enabled the students to celebrate Christmas and New Year.

Rotimi Famakin

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Foreign

Covid Spreads, Forces Schools to Go Online in China

By Web News 441

China’s largest city, Shanghai, has ordered most of its schools to take classes online as Covid cases soar.

According to Shanghai’s education bureau, Nurseries and childcare centres will also shut from Monday as restrictions were eased by Chinese authorities earlier this month following a wave of protests targeting China’s zero-Covid strategy.

But the easing of strict lockdown measures has led to growing concerns over the spread of Covid in China.

Significant changes in the country’s Covid testing and reporting systems have made it difficult to know just how widespread the virus has become.

But hospitals and medical facilities have come under increasing strain, with temporary health centres and intensive care facilities being set up across the country.

In Shanghai, it has been reported that an extra 230,000 hospital beds have been made available.

Some schools in the city have also already stopped in-person classes because teachers and staff are ill.

In a statement posted on the Chinese social media site WeChat on Saturday, Shanghai’s education bureau announced that most year groups in primary and secondary schools would move to online learning from Monday.

Students and children who do not have alternative childcare arrangements can apply to attend school.

The statement said the measures were being put in place in order to protect the health of teachers and students in line with current coronavirus prevention measures.

The decision means that schools in the country’s financial hub will be closed for in-person learning until the end of term on 18 January, when the Lunar New Year holiday starts.

Some Chinese social media users praised the decision, agreeing that it was best that students stay at home. Others complained about the efficacy of online learning in relation to in-person teaching and the extra strains put on working parents.

Following the abandonment of its zero-Covid strategy, there has been an explosion of self-reported cases across the country, with many cities eerily quiet as large numbers of people isolated at home, either sick with Covid or trying to avoid becoming infected, reports the BBC’s Celia Hatton.

There are concerns that China’s health infrastructure is not prepared to cope with a rapid increase in patients – especially as Covid spreads among the elderly, many of whom are not fully vaccinated.

BBC/Taiwo Akinola

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Education

Ekiti Reopens Schools on Wednesday

By Web News 753

Ekiti State Government has directed public-private primary and secondary schools in the state to resume tomorrow, Wednesday, May 4 for the 3rd term academic session.

The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr Bimpe Aderiye gave the directive in Ado Ekiti through the Information Officer in the Ministry, Mrs Abimbola Dada.

Dr Aderiye appealed to parents and guardians to allow their children and wards to resume immediately so that they would not miss school activities.

According to her, academic activities would commence on resumption.

She stressed that officials of the ministry would embark on school monitoring to know the level of compliance.

Amos Ogunrinde

Education

Ogun Government Changes Resumption Date For Schools

By Web News 2373

Ogun State government has announced 10th January as the new resumption date for the 2nd term 2021/2022 academic session for all Primary and Secondary Schools as well as Government Science and Technical Colleges in the state.

The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Abayomi Arigbabu made this known in a statement in Abeokuta.

Professor Arigbabu explained that the change in resumption date was necessitated by the series of pre resumption activities lined up by the ministry to further reposition the schools in the state.

He pointed out that parent, guardians and learners would be expected to sign undertaking of willingness to abide by the laid down rules and regulations and support the school in ensuring and enforcing discipline as part of the resumption guidelines.

The ministry of education, science and technology had earlier announced 3rd January as resumption date for the 2nd term academic session in the state.

Olusegun Folarin

Sport

Ilawo Grammar School Wins Ejigbo In Football Competition

By Web News 1379

Ilawo grammar school has won Ejigbo south local government inter- secondary schools  football competition.

Ilawo grammar school defeated Ajoda Grammar school through penalty shootout after the final game ended in a barren draw.

Speaking on the essence of sporting activities, Caretaker Chairman,Ejigbo south local government, Alhaji Bashiru Akintegbe said it was a uniting tool among people.

On his part, a sports enthusiast ,Aliu Aboderin who said that football competition had brought secondary schools Students from different towns together implored well to do Nigerians to always support youth friendly ideas.

He added that sports remained a sector that required more attention.

Adedayo Adelowo

Education

Schools Resume New Academic Session Nationwide

By Web News 919

Public And Private Secondary and Tertiary Institutions in the Country will today resume normal academic activities.

This followed the earlier directive given by the Federal Government that schools should resume today the 18th Of January 

Commenting On The Development, The Chairman Academic Staff Union Of Universities, ASUU, University Of Ibadan Chapter, Professor Ayoola Akinwole said Vice Chancellors Of Universities in the country have responsibility of ensuring that safety measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 are put in place in schools ahead of resumption. 

Professor Akinwole said his members will resume academic work as the strike earlier embarked upon had been called Off.

Rotimi Famakin

Education

#EndSARS: Ibadan Residents Call for Closure of Schools

By Web News 779

Some residents of Ibadan have called on Oyo State Government to close schools following the ENDSARS protest which has brought untold hardship on the people.

They made the call in Ibadan while speaking with Radio Nigeria on their bitter experiences as the protest continues.

One of them Mr. Anuoluwa Jacob said to move up and down had been terrible and expected the state government to have ordered closure of schools to ease the plight of parents and students.

Another resident, Mr. Habeeb Onaolapo said his children were indoor as schooling had been put on hold for now stressing that the state government should have been proactive to close schools as done by Lagos state government.

 They emphasized that the protest is no longer genuine as hoodlums had hijacked the struggle.

 Our correspondent reports that many parents turned back due to heavy traffic caused by the protest.

 Ridwan Fasasi   

Education

Oyo Releases Running Grants to Schools

By Web News 851

The government of Oyo State has approved the release of the sum of 526 million naira as running costs for its 2,500 primary schools and about 640 secondary schools.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa confirms that the sum of 400 million naira has been advanced to the secondary schools, while the primary schools got the sum of 126 million naira.

The amount is to cover the running grants of the schools for the first term of the 2019/2020 academic session.

According to the state statement, principals of secondary schools as well as heads of primary schools across the state have been mandated to open accounts to receive the running grants.

There are 640 secondary schools spread across the state, which have already started benefitting from the 1,000 naira per child per term budget for the schools.

The statement also indicates that the 126 million naira approved for the primary schools has been released to the heads of the various schools. 

The statement notes that Ministry of Education is managing the disbursements to secondary schools, while the State Universal Basic Education Commission, SUBEB, is handling the disbursement to primary schools.

The statement urges all stakeholders in the school system to judiciously apply the funds as the government will demand accountability on every kobo released to the schools.

Iyabo Adebisi