Education

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

Two (2) inmates of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) studying with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Corrections’ Special Study Centre in Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kaduna, have graduated with degree certificates.

In a congratulatory message to the graduands, the Assistant Controller General of Corrections, Umar Audu, on behalf of the Controller General of Corrections, congratulated the graduands and charged them to see the educational advancement as a stepping stone to a brighter future.

He urged them to shun anti-social behaviours capable of tainting the new course of positive life they have chosen for themselves and be good ambassadors of both the NCoS and NOUN.

The graduands, Umolu Emmanuel Onyebuchi, who studied BSc Communication Technology and Alexander Okpe, who studied BA Christian Theology, thanked the management of NCoS and NOUN for their support and encouragement.

Since the inception of the collaboration between the NCoS and NOUN, numerous inmates have graduated in different fields of study such as Conflict and Peace Resolution, Political Science, Communication Technology, Sociology, Guidance and Counselling, among others.

By Muhammad Aminu

Kano State Government has said that all students who passed its qualifying examination would write the 2022 Senior School Certificate Examination organised by the National Examination Council (NECO).

Kano State Commissioner of Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, told journalists in Kano on Monday that the Kano State Government had settled part of its debt with the examination body.

Malam Garba further debunked what he called “erroneous reports” that the State owes NECO N15 billion naira.

He confirmed that 15, 313 students would sit for the examination as planned.

Mal Garba also hinted that the examination would not hold on Monday as it is only the Test Interpretation Practical for teachers to come up with modalities for the practical exams that would be held Monday.

He said the State Government also paid examination fees for over 1000 students with special needs in public schools to enable them to write this year’s examination.

He said: “We have settled for 15,313 Students with nine credits and the essay part of the exam is commencing on 4th July while the State still paid for 1,018,000 Disabled Students, which means that the story that Kano is holding N15 Billion Debts is untrue”.

According to the Commissioner, 7,500 female students’ registration fees had been also settled as part of a special intervention to promote girl-child education in Kano State.

He added that LGAs cumulatively also sponsored 5,400 students for the examination.

“15,313 students that had 9 credits from qualifying examination; 1,018 students living with disabilities, as well as 7,300 for Special Intervention which is basically for Girl Child Education; and local government councils paid for 5,400 students,” the Commissioner explained.

The Daily Reality reported earlier that Kano students may not write the examination due to debt settlement conflict between Kano State Government and the examination body.

The examination body demands settlement of N700m of the N1.5bn before the students will be allowed.

He said the state government had paid NECO N356m last week and would finalise their discussion any moment to resolve the impasses.

By Muhammad Aminu & Uzair Adam Imam

Kano State students from public secondary schools may not write the 2022 Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) due to the failure of the Kano State Government to settle outstanding debt of N1.5bn to the National Examination Council (NECO).

Sources familiar with the matter in the Kano Ministry of Education and NECO office confirmed to The Daily Reality.

The examination body has been in touch with the Kano State Government for the settlement of the debt, but the feedback remained negative.

At least 15000 students from Kano State public secondary schools are expected to sit for the examination, whose fees are paid by the Kano State Government.

Insiders in the NECO Office said that due to the indebtedness, which affects logistics and other obligations, it is less likely for the exam to commence tomorrow, June 27, as scheduled nationwide.

Earlier, Permanent Secretary Kano State Ministry of Education, Hajia Lauratu Ado, told Solacebase that the state government is already discussing with NECO.

Hajia Lauratu said the state government had paid NECO N356m last week. Still, the examination body insisted that N700m must be paid before the state students would be allowed to write the examination.

“We are surprised with the stand of NECO because apart from the payment of N356m, the state government also wrote a commitment letter to the body stating that N50m would be released to the examination body monthly.

“The examination body did not inform us that it did not accept our commitment and the payment of the N356m not until yesterday. Since then, we have been in discussion with NECO so as to address the issue,” quoting the Permanent Secretary.

Hajia Lauratu said the state government is committed to releasing another N300m to enable Kano students to participate in the examination, but the NECO’s portal was not available as at Sunday evening.

NECO’s Public Relations Officer, Azeez Sani, said he is unaware of the development between NECO and Kano State Government.

Meanwhile, parents and teachers lament the lackadaisical attitude with which Kano State Government is handling the education sector in the state.

“Look, I paid the fees for my children and I was told they may not be allowed to write the examination starting tomorrow due to the government owing NECO, how is that my problem?

“As I speak with you, my children are disturbed about the situation,” said a parent.

A secondary teacher who spoke in confidence to The Daily Reality said: “The development is very traumatic. The Kano State Government has failed both teachers and students, let alone parents.

“Government shouldn’t have allowed this to happen. The debt of about N1.5bn should be paid, so our students do not miss this year’s exams.”

It can be recalled that NECO withheld the 2021 results for Kano students due to the outstanding debt the state owed the Council.

Similarly, in 2022, Kano State Government drew public outcry for declining to pay NECO fees for students that failed the Qualifying Examination.

By Ahmad Abdulhadi

Math phobia, as from the name, means fear of mathematics or a mixed feeling of tension and apprehension towards mathematics. When dealing with mathematics, many students feel like they are in the middle of a battle with little or no chance of surviving. Thus, such feeling interferes with the atmosphere of their emotional and intellectual status, hindering them from understanding the concept.

I will begin this article with a true story that happened to me when I was in secondary school. I told myself that mathematics is a gift, but I was left to believe that I lacked that gift. Hence I would not even practice what I was taught in mathematics class, even though I don’t know how to simplify simple fraction addition.

The real journey began when I secured admission to a university to study in the Faculty of Sciences. Among the prerequisite courses I had to take, mathematics was among, and in the university, the fear of carry-over will hunt someone to his sleep. So, naturally, the student will try every possible means to see that he is free from such prison; that was what I did.

When I absolutely realized that I had to pass those elementary mathematics and other elementary courses that require the application of mathematics, like Chemistry and Physics, I decided to face my fears. I firstly installed in my mind that mathematics was no gift. Then, I started practising every topic taught in mathematics class, solving numerous examples, and going to tutorials and group discussions. In less than three months, I realized mathematics was not a gift. All it needs is the morale to learn and the time to practice where you have missed.

After I paid the price of time sacrifice, I began to enjoy mathematics more than any course. Moreover, understanding mathematics helped me significantly pass other elementary courses like Physical Chemistry and Mechanics with A grades, including mathematics which was almost every 100-level student’s headache.

In short, I face my fears, and I surely did see wonders in less than three months, and so does everyone that thinks mathematics is a gift to certain people. If only you can face that fear hidden inside of you and pay the little price you have to pay, I’m more than sure that you, too, will see wonders    

Ahmad Abdulhadi wrote via bnabdulhadee@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Sabiu

Contrary to rumours claiming that the exam had been postponed to a later date, the National Examination Council has declared that the 2022 Senior School Certificate Examination would begin on Monday, June 27, 2022, for school-based applicants.

Azeez Sani, the council’s head of information and public relations, revealed this information in a statement to journalists in Minna on Saturday.

Sani urged interested parties to reject rumours that the examination would be delayed.

“State Ministries of Education, Principals, Commandants and all stakeholders are enjoined to disregard any speculation on the alleged postponement of the examination,” Sani said, adding that “the Council has put all necessary measures in place to ensure a seamless conduct of the 2022 Senior School Certificate Examination.”

By Uzair Adam Imam

Tension rocks the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the party’s presidential candidate, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, allegedly obtained no primary and secondary school certificates. 

However, Tinubu insisted that he had two degrees from two American universities. Yet, he stated that the certificates were stolen by unknown soldiers during the military junta of the 1990s.

The Daily Reality gathered that the information was in an affidavit submitted by Tinubu to the INEC office as part of his eligibility filings for the 2023 presidential elections.

The documents released Friday by the electoral body showed that Tinubu completely left the columns for his primary and secondary schools unmarked.

Additionally, the latest claims by Tinubu in his submission to INEC reportedly contradicted the previous submissions of 1999 and 2003 when contested as a governorship candidate in Lagos state.

It was gathered that Tinubu allegedly claimed in 1999 and 2003 that he attended primary and secondary schools.

He indicated that he attended St. Paul Children’s Home School, Ibadan, between 1958 and 1964 and secondary school at the Government College, Ibadan, between 1965 and 1968.

By Salisu Yusuf

One of the problems encountered in learning English phonetics and phonology by the second language learners in Nigeria is the assumption that the English phonemic orthography is having the same trends as those of our first language. For example, the Hausa letter /c/ as in caca, ciki and abinci is always predictably realised as /c/. It can’t be realised as any other sound in any other environment. In contrast, English letters are unpredictable in their phonetic realisation. For instance, the sound /y/ can be realised in ‘lure’ as in ‘failure’ /’feilja/ or something like /felya/ not /felwa/ as we pronounce. The /y/ can also be realised in /year/, etc. 

 While the phonemic orthographies of Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba are uni dimensional, that each written symbol or letter has a predictable sound, the English phonemic orthography is complex and unpredictable. For example, the symbol /ch/ can be realised as /sh/ sound in ‘charade’ /ʃəˈrɑːd/ or /sharad/, the /teous/ in ‘righteous’ /’raetʃas/ or something like /raicas/ not the /raitiyos/ we say.

 What I am trying to say, is that the English spelling of words can’t be a reliable guide to pronunciation. For example, there are 26 English alphabets and 20 vowels but there are 44 conventional English sounds! Moreover, there are English sounds that aren’t found in African languages. For example, the /ʒ/ sound in ‘division’ or /ə/ in ‘police,’ etc.

 Some English letters are not pronounced at all in their phonetic realisation. For example, the /t/ in ‘ ballet’ /’baelei/ or /balei/, the /au/ in ‘restaurant’ /’resrɒnt/ or /restront/ not /restaurant/ as we say, the /w/ in ‘sword’ is deleted /sod/, the /b/ in ‘plumber’ /ˈplʌmə/ or /plama/, the /t/ is deleted in pronouncing ‘sachet’ /ˈsaʃeɪ/ or /sashe/ not /sacet/, the /o/ in ‘leopard’ /ˈlepəd/ /lepad/is silent, the /b/ in bomb /bom/ is also silent, so is /s/ in ‘debris’ /’debri:/ or /debrii/, etc.

Some letters are substituted with other sounds that are different from the actual letters. For example, ‘memoir’ /ˈmemwɑ/ is closer to /memwa/, the ‘chure’ in brochure /ˈbrəʊʃə/ is /sh/ sound pronounce closer to /brausha/, the /toise/ in tortoise /ˈtɔːtəs/is /ta/ sound, pronounce as /totas/ not /totuwas/ as we say. The word ‘poignant’ /ˈpɔɪnjənt/ is pronounce as /poyinyant/, vehicle /vi:ikl/ is more closer to /viyikl/ not /vehikl/ we say. Chasis /ˈʃasi/ is /shasi/ not the /chasis/ we say. 

 Some vowels are changed during phonetic pronunciation differently from the written ones. Example, honey /ˈhʌni/ is /hani/ not /honi/, onion /ˈʌnjən/ or /anyan/ rather than the /oniyon/ we pronounce. Matrix /ˈmeɪtrɪks/ is /meitriks/ , village /’vilidz/ or /vilij/ not /vilej/. Stipend /ˈstaɪpend/, quay is pronounced as /ki/, chaos /ˈkeɪɒs/ or /keyos/, fuel /fjuː(ə)l/ is pronounced as closely as /fyuuwal/, verbatim /vəːˈbeɪtɪm/ or /vabeitim/ not /vaba../ we say. Albeit /ɔːlˈbiːɪt/ is pronounced as /olbiit/, receipt is /’risit/ not /resipt/, and liason /li’eizan/ or /liyezn/.

 We pronounce certain combinations through generalisation of certain features of similar combinations from other environments. For example, the following words are pronounced from similar sounds say in example the word ‘ tuition’. So unlike in ‘ tuition’ almost all those English words with /ui/ combination are pronounced with a long /u:/: juice /dzu:s/ or /juus/, suitable /’su:tabl/, or /suutabl/, suicide /’su:said/ or /suusaid/, suit /su:t/( but ‘ suite’ is /swi:t/ or /swiit/) or /suut/, fruit /fru:t/ is /fruut/, etc.

 In words with similar syllables, a preceding sound is used to randomly pronounce wrongly the immediate syllable. For example, gigantic /dzae’gaentik/ or /jaigantik/ is usually pronounced wrongly as /dzaidzantik/, etc.

These are some of the features that influence Nigerian phonetics. A companionship with an English dictionary, listening to stations like the BBC World Service, etc. can give us some hints on English phonetics and phonology.

Salisu Yusuf wrote from Katsina via salisuyusuf111@gmail.com.

By Kasim Isa Muhammad

Yobe State students across Nigeria were left with questions about the silence of the Yobe state scholarship board and the state government itself. The students filled out all the requirements and paid money to complete the registration. Since then, not even a cough, nobody has heard from the scholarship board. The students gave different excuses for the board until things reached a confusing level.

Meanwhile, the Yobe state government has not yet released any information about the scholarship board. His Excellence, Mai Mala Buni, as executive governor, and be seen as responsible for all matters around the state in Yobe and should have to call upon the board and question them about the approved funds for the scholarship. Still, the views turned out to be different. 

However, the students are in high demand for scholarships to cover some of their academic programs. Even if there is any problem, the board or state ministry of finance should release a statement to convince the students and acknowledge their whereabouts.

The school tuition fees are rapidly increasing because of the current economic impact on Nigeria. Some students look forward to the scholarship as a means to support them in one way or another. Silence is never an answer because the past administration has never failed the students in paying scholarships.

The one thousand-dollar question is: where do the good people of Yobe donate the funds meant for fostering the state’s educational sector in the form of an educational appeal fund?

Therefore, It is a good idea for the government of Yobe State to form a high-powered committee laden with a task to look after the issues pending.

Kasim Isa Muhammad wrote from Potiskum, Yobe state.

By ImamMalik Abdullahi Kaga

Many students across Nigerian schools hate the king of subjects – mathematics. Mathematics is a subject that has application in most things, if not everything, in our life. Yet it is loved by few. Why?

The application of mathematics is there in every aspect of our life. Mathematics is crucial for industries, artisans, doctors, engineers, and many others. Yet, despite the vast and promising applications of the subject in our day-to-day activities, many students find it uninteresting. However, as a 200-level student, it is among the most straightforward and exciting subjects I enjoy. The reasons for the aversion towards mathematics include the teachers’ teaching methodology, students’ attitude towards the subject, poor reading culture, and lure of peer mates.                                                                                                                                                  

Some teachers (trained ones) employed to teach this almighty subject do not teach from the background. On the other hand, some are not trained and qualified to teach the subject. We cannot deny the fact that not all that are practising the noble profession of teaching are teachers. The majority have found themselves in the cause accidentally. This results in their inability to carry out the job correctly. It is becoming rare seeing a well-trained mathematics graduate teaching the students because the untrained ones are displacing them. And this applies not only to mathematics but to other subjects too. It is worrisome to notice that most of our schools produce students with a minimal or poor background in mathematics. The truth is that our schools are invaded by non-professionals parading themselves as teachers.                     

Students’ lack of seriousness and keenness on the subject cannot be over-emphasized. In this world of technology, students face many distractions which cause hindrances to their studies. Students nowadays are addicted to phones. They prefer surfing the internet and social media, playing games, watching the so-called series films, listening to music to devoting time to practising the subject. With this attitude, no student will perform excellently in this subject because mathematics requires constant practice.                                                                        

These days, students are not keen on their studies, so they barely read their books. In the past, students worked hard; some even read harder than their teachers. This helped them understand mathematics and other subjects, and then a holistic knowledge and solid background. Ours is entirely different. We hardly ever find students that have devoted keen interest in reading the subject in the six-year academic program at the secondary level. Still, they expect to score a credit pass in the subject.                                                

In some instances, fellow students discourage others in their crew from being focused on the study of mathematics in our schools. Some of the students in question, either out of sheer laziness or fear, would not devote their time and energy to the subject, which is one of the reasons for the mass failure in the subject in recent times. It is a fact that once a student hates a topic, he will equally hate the teacher, resulting in a large group of students who develop an aversion toward learning the subject. Another disturbing aspect is the influence of peer groups that lure others who might have an interest in this subject to go to games, parties and others. This has ignited lugubrious discouragement to others.                                                                    

Another disturbing aspect is the kind of textbooks used in schools. Unemployed folks searching for jobs plagiarize the works of hardworking researchers and sell them to schools. You will believe me that the books in circulation in various schools are full of silly pictures instead of extensive clarifications about the topics contained.

ImamMalik Abdullahi Kaga wrote from Borno State University via abdullahiimammalik@gmail.com.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which has been on strike for four months, will call off the industrial action soon, the Federal Government assures through Minister of Labour Chris Ngige.

Dr Chris Ngige revealed this to reporters after the Federal Executive Council, FEC, met for its weekly meeting on Wednesday.

Ngige claimed that efforts were being made to settle the ongoing conflict, which was primarily brought on by payment platforms.

However, he confirmed that the Federal Government has no plans to set up an alternative funding model for institutions.

Dr Ngige was quoted to have said, “Federal Government was indeed engaging with ASUU, despite notions that it has been snubbing the union.”

The university teachers have been insisting on the use of a payment system called University Transparency and Accountability Solution, which the Federal Government opposes, showing no sign of shifting ground on the use of the initial payment platform it came up with, called Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).