Education

By Maryam Mohammed Bawa

The outbreak of Covid-19 in late December 2019 has wreaked havoc worldwide, especially in critical sectors like education. Students, schools, colleges, and universities have been deeply affected. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), over 800 million learners from around the world have been affected, 1 in 5 learners cannot attend school, 1 in 4 cannot attend higher education classes, and over 102 countries have ordered nationwide school closures while 11 have implemented localized school closure.

The sudden outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019, which originated in the city of Wuhan, China, has become a major public health challenge for China and countries worldwide. The pandemic has led to the total lockdown of most human activities in various parts of the world. Infection control measures were necessary to prevent the virus from spreading further and to help control the epidemic. One of the control measures is the total lockdown of schools at various levels worldwide on March 19, 2020. Through the Federal Ministry of Education, the Nigerian government ordered the closure of all schools at various levels.

There is no doubt that the interference of the coronavirus pandemic has caused so many challenges in the Nigerian education system. Covid-19 has had an enormous negative impact on education at every level worldwide. Education is among the sectors with the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, the Nigerian education system adopted a face-to-face approach to teaching and learning in primary and secondary schools.

Primary and secondary school learners were not allowed to own any digital gadgets such as phones or computers. With the emergence of the lockdown condition and school closure, teachers and learners were helpless about how to continue learning in the face of the pandemic following the pandemic. In many African countries, the pandemic experience has been traumatic but not perhaps as catastrophic as some observers and experts had predicted. Mistakes were made, but there were notable successes too. Some African governments and institutions took steps that showed the sort of foresight, imagination, and innovation that was often lacking in other parts of the world.

It is on record that education challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic include school closures. So as not to spread the virus, the students and everyone else were advised to stay at home and have classes online instead for those who are able. The lack of face-to-face interaction and poor facilities sometimes led to poor learning. There was also unequal access to education opportunities and poor skills. As I stated earlier, not every pupil had access to gadgets, so there would be unequal knowledge gain or inequality in education.         

Furthermore, the pandemic negatively affects education, causing poor school enrollment and poor achievement because proper attention was not given to schools at that time. Poor school health and challenges in school assessment and transition. This was a challenge because some students were not a part of it, which led to chaos and confusion after the resumption. Also, schools weren’t going at the same pace because some were in their first term while others were already getting promoted. In this direction, Nigeria should put in place measures that will help to tackle such situations in the future, considering the negative impact of Covid-19 on education in Nigeria.

Maryam Mohammed Bawa wrote from the Department of Mass Communication, Skyline University, Nigeria. She sent this article via magicwriter009@gmail.com.

By Abdullahi Nayaya

Education, especially at the tertiary level, remains the bedrock for national progress and prosperity. It provides society with skilled manpower and eases the process of governance and technological progress. Governments, the world over, invest hugely in education in their quest for human capital development. In this regard, I write this piece to appeal and send a friendly reminder to Gombe state Government to fulfil its promise of settling students’ scholarship arrears.

Many students have lost their valuable property for a long time, so they waste staying at home. In addition, students left their valuables in the hostels or their rented houses off campus due to the recent eight-month-old strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, otherwise known as ASUU.

Given the plights of the students, therefore, I would like to appeal to the Gombe State Government under the leadership of His excellency Alh. Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, as a matter of urgency, to come to the university students’ aid, particularly those studying outside the state. This category of students deserves to get scholarship arrears so they can go back to their various institutions/campuses smoothly. Undoubtedly, this would greatly help the poorest among them and even those who have and put a smile on their faces. There is no better time to help students than now!

To my recollection, Gombe State students have not been paid their stipends for the past three years. Also, it has been reported in the news that the State Government has promised to pay the scholarship when the universities re-open. It made this promise when the State Governor invited the Gombe State Students Association (GOSSA) president and his entourage for Iftar during the holy month of Ramadan in the government house.

Now that the universities have re-opened, we pray that Gombe State Government will fulfil its promise as it has been known. Despite the economic uncertainty, the State Government is doing its best in terms of education, infrastructural development, healthcare, security, etc.

I hope our governor, the ministry of education and all concerned will expedite actions to help and pay the Gombe students their scholarship entitlements. The students have suffered a lot at the hands of the cruel repercussions of the strike, and now all students dearly need help. I am happy because I know our great governor of Gombe State has listening ears, and he has already promised to pay. I am sure he will pay. This is just a reminder, Sir.

Long live Gombe State Government.

Long live Gombe state students.

Best regards to the daily reality.

Abdullahi Nayaya writes from Gombe State, Nigeria.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Following its resumption on Monday, the Management of Bayero University, Kano (BUK), revised its academic calendar, giving the students three weeks to revisit their previous lectures before exams.

The decision by the management was a result of a Senate Meeting held today, Monday, October 26, 2022, at the university’s Convocation Arena.

The university was about to start its first-semester examination on February 16 when the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) embarked on a strike.

The industrial action by the union, which lasted for eight consecutive months, started on February 14, 2022.

The university lecturers embarked on the total shutdown of the universities to press their demands home, which they said the Federal Government failed to fulfil.

However, after several disputes between the Federal Government and the ASUU, the union ended its strike just recently. Still, many students, parents and even most lecturers are not enthusiastic about the resumption. This is simply because the lecturers are still left stranded by the FG without payment of their salaries. If the salaries are paid, it will surely and greatly serve as a motivating factor for a vibrant return of the lecturers to their classes.

By Muhammad Aminu

Dubai authorities have opened a unique modern nine-in-one library that gulped over $272 million to establish.

The library named after Dubai’s ruler ‘Mohammed Bin Rashid AlMaktoum Library’ is at par with the pantheon of world-class book repositories such as London’s British Library and Egypt’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Al Maktoum announced the construction of the new library in 2016, which now houses more than 1.1 million print and digital books in its 54,000 square-meter facility.

CNN reports that the library has a beautiful oasis of calm contemplation, where visitors can curl up with a good book, plug in laptops for study or work, or marvel at the rare manuscripts and first-edition books displayed in the exhibition space.

The library reportedly houses nine separate libraries containing almost all areas of expertise, from sciences to arts and entertainment.

“The facility is home to nine separate libraries, dedicated to everything from media and the arts to business titles, international periodicals, maps and atlases, books for children and young adults, and a collection of precious archival treasures,” it said.

“The collection of works is still being built, but it already boasts some impressive numbers. Alongside its multilingual print and digital books, visitors can access more than six million dissertations, 73,000 musical scores, 75,000 videos, 35,000 printed and digital international journals, and over 5,000 historical periodicals spanning 325 years.

The library, which has a cafe for a break, also contains a database of thousands of digital titles that can be downloaded from machines in each of the nine libraries.

There are books in braille for visually impaired readers and a quiet space with reading pods for visitors with special needs.

It also has an Auto Book Store, a subterranean storeroom for the 400,000 titles that don’t appear on the library’s shelves, but members can request a book via the library’s app.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Engausa Global Tech Hub (EGTH) has launched a library to enhance lifetime reading culture among youths at its school premises in Kano State, Nigeria.

The founder and chairman of the technology hub, Engineer Habu Ringim, disclosed this in a statement he made available to journalists on Saturday. 

Ringim said the library is named Maisuga Ringim Library and has both hard and soft copies of reading materials for the apprentice of the technology hub. 

He also stated that the Maisuga Ringim Library project aimed at bridging the wide gap between academic and vocational education in society.

He further explained that the effort was to break the barriers of language impeding the cognitive aspect of learning in almost all African education systems. 

The statement read, “Launching Maisuga Ringim Library is a big step towards cultivating a rational lifetime reading habit among our youths by making the scarce library resources available to our apprentices at both entry and professional levels of learning hard and soft skills.

“The main objectives of EngausaHub.com, as our motto reads, ‘breaking barriers and bridging gaps’, is to entrench an inclusive technical skills acquisition and entrepreneurial skills among our teaming youths, against all language barriers and technical gaps bedevilling the human capital development at the grassroots.

Engausa was founded in 2019 and has recorded numerous successes in teaching people various scientific and technological skills to depend on themselves and become employers of labour.

The Daily Reality recalls that over two thousand people, including university lecturers and students who have never had formal education, such as Almajirai, graduated from the Engausa Global Technology Hub just recently. 

The graduates were trained in various skills to become self-reliant and job providers.

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

The Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufa’i, has appointed Prof. Abdullahi I. Musa as the substantive Vice-Chancellor of the Kaduna State University (KASU).

A statement made available to journalists in Kaduna shows that Prof. Musa is the current University’s librarian.

He holds a PhD in Library Science from Emporia University, Kansas, and an MBA from Bayero University, Kano (BUK).

The new vice-chancellor also obtained his bachelor’s degree in Library Science from BUK and a master’s in Library Science from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Dr Sani Isah Abba, a specialist in optimization algorithms and artificial intelligence from Kano, had made it to the global list of the top 2% of scientists in their field by a joint research evaluation metric developed by Stanford University’s Elsevier and the Meta-Research Innovation Center.

Abba is a certified engineer and a lecturer at Base University Abuja, Nigeria.

According to a document obtained by The Daily Reality (TDR), Abba has published more than one hundred research articles and book chapters.

He also presented at numerous regional, national, and worldwide conferences.

The academic did his BSc, MSc and PhD at Bayero University Kano, Sharda University India and Near East University Cyprus, respectively.

TDR understands that his works can be accessed on Google Scholar, Research Gate and ORCID, among other academic platforms.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Eleven additional academic courses have been approved for Igbinedion University, Okada, by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

The development was made public on Friday by the institution’s Registrar, Mr Friday Bakare, in a statement made available to journalists in Benin.  

Bakare disclosed that the NUC’s approval to commence the new programmes is contained in a recent communication to the University by the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed.

The courses included: “B.Sc Industrial Chemistry, B.Sc Cyber Security, B.Sc Pharmacology, B.Sc Software Engineering and B.Eng Environmental Engineering.

“Others are B.Eng Mechatronics Engineering; PGD, M.Eng & PhD. Civil Engineering; PGD, M.Eng & PhD. Petroleum Engineering; PGD, M.Eng & PhD. Computer Engineering; M.Sc & PhD. Sociology; and M.Sc & PhD. Geography and Regional Planning,” he said.

He states that admission into the new programmes will commence from the ongoing 2022/23 academic session.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has suspended its eight-months-old strike.

The union disclosed this in a press statement signed by its president, Emmanuel Osodeke, on Friday.

Speaking on the reasons for the strike suspension, ASUU said the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila were imperative for the suspension of the strike action. The union argues that their demands were not satisfactorily addressed .

The statement partly reads: “While appreciating the commendable efforts of the leadership of the House of Representatives and other patriotic Nigerians who waded into the matter, NEC noted with regrets that the issues in dispute are yet to be satisfactorily addressed.

However, as a law-abiding Union and in deference to appeals by the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, and in recognition of the efforts of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, and other well-meaning Nigerians, ASUU NEC resolved to suspend the strike action embarked upon on 14th February 2022.

Consequently, all members of ASUU are hereby directed to resume all services hitherto withdrawn with effect from 12:01 on Friday, 14th October 2022.”

By Uzair Adam Imam

Bayero University, Kano (BUK), has emerged as the first in the north on the Times Higher Education 2023 World University Rankings list. 

Topping the list in the north, BUK is the fourth in Nigeria, with the University of Ibadan emerging as the best in the country.  

The University of Lagos is the second, while Covenant University is the third in the ranking in Nigeria. 

BUK, being the first varsity in Kano, was established in 1975. It currently has over fifty thousand students.

The University of Oxford emerges as the best university in the world, followed by Havard University, the University of Cambridge Standford University. 

BUK students, alums, and some of the university’s lecturers took to their social media spaces to jubilate the success.