EDUCATION: A MIRROR OF THE SOCIETY : 2014

POLITICIANS AND TEACHERS

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The governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on October 30, announced a donation of 22 million Naira towards the purchase of PDP presidential form for president Jonathan in his Buy Form For Jonathan Campaign. At about two months later, December 21, the governors once again announced the donation of 50 million Naira each during the fund raising dinner at the presidential villa towards president Jonathan's re-election campaign. A total sum of 1.05 billion Naira was donated by the governors alone at the event. <br /> </div>
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At a time of supposed austerity measures when citizens are constantly reminded of the fall in oil prices on the international market and the need to cut spending, politicians at this period are indifferent, they are on spending spree. It may be hard to tell exactly what the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) party governors are contributing to their party, but it can be speculated to run into fortunes. Nigerians have no doubt where the monies comes from - it must be from the government's chest - even if the politicians say otherwise. <br /> </div>
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Whenever its election period, state governors known where and how to source money to fund campaigns, contrary to their cries when to pay salaries and allowances of state workers - its always "no money". Lots of the PDP governors who made handsome donations at the event have a backlog of unpaid salaries and allowances to teachers and civil servants back home in their various states. <br />
In Benue, the government is notorious for owing its workers, it was in the state that primary school teachers embark on strike for over 8 months due to government's non implementation of a paltry 18,000 Naira minimum wages and currently, the teacher are enduring nearly 4 months of unpaid salaries. <br /> </div>
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The situation is no different in Ondo, Abia, Akwa Ibom and Plateau States where teachers suffers similar fate. The Ebonyi state government owes its teachers under the Universal Basic Education scheme, an alarming one year salary but the governor didn't return home to pay the state's teachers after the donation, he probably doesn't "give a damn". Likewise, in Niger state, the expected recruitment of teachers in early 2014 was quietly shelved probably for "lack of money" to eventually pay salaries.<br /> </div>
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But it seems more like politicians were saving a fortune of their states treasures for politicking than their cries of no money, sadly, education sector appears to be their soft target, teachers are easier to tell stories,lies and victimized, otherwise they won't have to endure months of work without pay unlike their counterparts in other civil service sector. After all, the politicians children won't school in the state, maybe not even in Nigeria where, by their collective actions, they have bastardized the education system. If the truth be said - we don't have any long way to go - we are perishing, successful nations are those who passionately invest in education, not those who consider it a favour on their citizens. Our politicians need a change of heart ! </div>
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<b>You may also like to read :</b></h3>
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<a href="http://www.akomst.blogspot.com/2014/02/free-rice-free-education.html?m=1">Feed and educate a child at no cost to you.</a> United Nation Charity.</h4>
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<a href="http://www.akomst.blogspot.com/2014/03/my-first-online-edx-certificate.html?m=1">Online education platform where you can study best courses for free.</a></h4>
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<a href="http://www.akomst.blogspot.com/2014/12/blog-post.html?m=1%20">Plaque of mass failure (2010-2014 statistics) and why</a><br />
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POLITICIANS AND TEACHERS

The governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on October 30, announced a donation of 22 million Naira towards the purchase of PDP pr...

ENGLISH FOR "NIGERIAN" SCAMMERS

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Many of us are accustomed to receiving spam mails with dubious claims, questionable and too good to be true offers from scammers whose sole intent is to swindle us of our hard earn savings.</div>
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Sometimes, reading through some of the messages, one is forced to ask, did these people ever went through a basic English Language class ? Their grammar is so often poor or unintelligible that one may not finish reading the mail before deleting it. However, if scammers wish to, their fortune is soon to change with the release of an handy book - <b>English For Scammers</b> - which target the <i>scamming industry</i>.</div>
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You may have noticed the similarity in this post title- English for Nigerian scammers - and the book's title, unfortunately, that's because a large portion of scam mails originate from Nigeria ! No thanks to the <i>yahoo-yahoo boys</i> as the scammers are often called.</div>
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Reading the book which is available on <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/408740">this link</a> is a small investment most or all Nigerian scammers should be willing to make, more so because, the book has lots of genuine examples or correspondence - typical mails from scammers - that are analyze for their format, tone, addresses, grammatical correctness and little details as punctuations and spellings.</div>
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<i>"If you are lucky enough as a scammer, one or more of your scam messages may have made it into the book and you need to read it again !"</i></div>
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Essentially, the book takes readers through the step wise means of writing an acceptable business letter and that is what qualify it for a read by non-scammers as well. In fact, the book's purpose - as claimed in its introduction - is to help readers avoid writing like scammers and having their business letter wind up in the recipients' junk mail folder. So, if you are into a legitimate business or have a genuine business offer for your recipient, it's proper you learn the numerous pitfalls of scam messages and avoid writing an email like one. In which case, English For Scammers would be your handy companion. </div>
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The book has eight (8) chapters and each chapter ends with exercises designed as a self study guide and for possible use in business letter writing classes or trainings. And there is also a final exam at the end of the last chapter. </div>
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Finally, on a personal note, the book was soft refresher of how to or not to write a business/formal letter which of course, I last learnt several years ago during my secondary school days, so, its a book I hope to keep for a much longer period - such a book will save me lots of trouble if the need to write a business proposal or offer ever arises. And I would recommend it for business start ups. </div>
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<b>Disclaimer</b> : this is not a <i>paid</i> review, rather, a personal perspective of the book. I got a coupon for a free copy of the book courtesy of the authors during the closing days of college writing : an online English course taught by one of the book's author on the <a href="http://www.akomst.blogspot.com/2013/11/study-online-for-certificate-at-harvard.html?m=1">edx platform</a></div>
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ENGLISH FOR "NIGERIAN" SCAMMERS

Many of us are accustomed to receiving spam mails with dubious claims, questionable and too good to be true offers from scammers whose sol...

WHY ARE WE BEING WICKED TO CHIBOK SCHOOL GIRLS ?

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Recently, the small nation of South Korea had a disaster involving a ferry that sunk in the sea with hundreds of school children onboard. In the wake of the accident, the nation went sober and their were wide spread anger directed at the government,the captain of the ship, disaster management teams and all parties that may be involved in regulations and rescue. It was a disaster of "national scale", more so because of the hundreds of school children involved in the accident, all media houses in the country minimized their reporting on other matter so as to give up-to-date information on the tragedy, resources and the technological wealth of the country were mobilized towards the rescue effort. Pages of the nation's newspapers were splashed with up-to-date photos of grieving parents, divers on rescue effort and of the remnant of the ship as it sinks further into the depth of the sea, international news media also played their role, keeping the world informed and independently probing the likely cause of the accident. </div>
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Essentially, the nation was consumed in the tragedy.<a href="http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBREA3F01Y20140425?irpc=932"> This article on Reuters</a> sums up the emotional mood of the nation as lifeless bodies of some of the children were pulled out of the sunken ship. <br />
Parallel that incident to some of the recent happenings in Nigeria, hundreds of school children have been murdered in cold blood, some where butchered and others burnt alive in their dormitory, yet the government remain indifferent, in fact the nation's president even went partying in the open, barely a week of one of such incident, reminiscent of insensitivity of people in power and of the larger insecurity which plague the nation particularly the North East corner of the country where the dreaded Boko Haram fighters operate with near impunity. </div>
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More troubling is the fate of the over 200 school girls recently abducted from their school in the small town of Chibok, Borno State. The girls have been in the hand of their captors for weeks now -most probably being abused- yet the nation pretends as if "all is well". To further aggravate the feelings of the victims families, few days after the kidnap incident and barely 24hours after a major bomb blast near Abuja that claimed scores of life, the president, President Goodluck Jonathan went on a political rally at a nearby state of Kano where he was pictured merrymaking with his cronies to the delight of  rented crowds and political thugs - a "branch" visit was never made to the town, school or the victims families !<br />
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The nation's populace has also been indifferent, there has hardly been any major protest calling for the girls' freedom and while international media like Aljazeera has been updating viewers of the girls fate and interviewing lying government officials, our local media news is awashed with political news, events in the on-going National Conference and other trivial matters. Only a few as the <a href="http://m.premiumtimesng.com/opinion/159371-editorial-how-jonathan-his-government-and-the-rest-of-us-have-failed-abducted-schoolgirls.html">Premium Times Editorial</a> has made statement on the matter, register its protest and call for mass actions until the government makes substantial act and free the girls from their abductors. </div>
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To sum things up, this is a nation rule by the wicked and the population divided. Children are being kidnapped, maimed, and killed horrifically, yet, some still find the victims to blame probably because it isn't happening in their "safe zone". No body wants to act now because they feel comfortable and unconcerned of events elsewhere, yet experience has taught many times that what goes around comes around. In his words and experience, pastor Martin was quoted thus : </div>
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<i>"They came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist; And then they came.for the trade unionists, And I.didn’t speak up because I wasn’t.a trade unionist; And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew And then . . . they came for me ... And by that time there was no one left to speak up".</i></div>
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So your time to act from your comfort /safe zone is now ! Use your Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and all social networking account available to you to swell mass action for the freedom of the school girls from captivity - over 200 of them ! Make a difference, use the hashtag on Twitter, the popular one #BringBackOurGirls or any other one for your campaign to free the girls. Act now, save our girls, save our future !!!</div>
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Related Post :</h3>
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<a href="http://akomst.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-beautiful-ones-are-dying.html?m=1">The Beautiful Ones are Dying !</a></h4>
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WHY ARE WE BEING WICKED TO CHIBOK SCHOOL GIRLS ?

Recently, the small nation of South Korea had a disaster involving a ferry that sunk in the sea with hundreds of school children onboard. ...

MY FIRST ONLINE (Edx) CERTIFICATE

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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VNuLIs5J6XU/UnWW7s-121I/AAAAAAAAADs/mqHr9UWtJn0/s1600/295px-EdX.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="edx courses, logo" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VNuLIs5J6XU/UnWW7s-121I/AAAAAAAAADs/mqHr9UWtJn0/s1600/295px-EdX.svg.png" title="edx logo" /></a> Studying online for a certificate is still a unimaginable for many people out there. Whilst I didn't doubt the possibility of earning a verifiable certificate in an online course, like most other persons, I didn't hope it would be anything close to a "real-class" experience until joined edx. </div>
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<a href="http://www.akomst.blogspot.com/2013/11/study-online-for-certificate-at-harvard.html?m=1">Click hear to read more about edx, available courses and how to register</a>. For free! </h4>
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Having successfully completed an online course (my first) and earning a certificate for my achievement, am excited to share personal experience with edx- the platform on which i enrolled as a "virtual student". Edx is among the hundreds, perhaps thousands of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) available on the internet except that it stands out. Courses available on the edx platform are diverse, covers several interest areas and are taught by some of the world class universities. </div>
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After an initial rush in which I registered for multiple courses relating to my interest, I eventually settled for just one course due to challenges which i didn't anticipate. Every course has its own requirements and prerequisites which every enrolling student must posses to be able to have course satisfaction and meet the minimum grade for the award of a certificate. I dropped some courses along the line as I discover that I didn't possess the necessary material and or prerequisites for those courses. But most importantly, are some peculiar challenges which relates to internet connectivity and time constraints. <br />
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I finally opted for ColWri 2.2x : Principle of Written English which has a "soft requirement" but wasn't short of standard and quality. In fact, it was quiet engaging even for an English speaker like me. Like all other courses, lecture videos are released each week and every student is expected to watch the videos either through streaming or downloading and watching them offline. The challenge for me was in streaming the videos as the 3G network of all mobile carrier in my vicinity was either non-existence or unstable, so, I had to opt for downloading and watching the videos offline. But edx lecture videos are exceptionally of high resolution and quality, in effect, its video sizes are large thus, downloading a single video could take hours with multiple failed downloading attempts. The videos sizes also hold another constraint, since i depend on my android smart phones throughout the course, my monthly data subscription couldn't cope with a regular video downloading, so, i sometimes use my friends BlackBerry(BB) device to download videos since BB data subscription is relatively cheap and large in size. Even after downloading the videos, it took me quiet a while to figure out the way to watch them. Most phones default video players doesn't support edx video resolution and format and as in my own case, it took me quiet some time to understand this, not until I installed a third party video player (MX player) before I could watch the videos. Though, some courses do provide transcript of each video, however, transcripts are not always a substitute to watching the videos. </div>
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Most videos are based on a topic and are often accompanied by homework. Each home work has a due date for submission and students may be required to read additional text material on the platform or on an external site whose link would be provided before being able to effectively answer the homework questions. These activities could be time consuming and in fact, time factor almost made me to want to unregister all of my courses. I eventually dropped all other courses except ColWri - as I was missing due dates for homework submission. As for ColWri, i was meeting up with assignment due dates since i devoted my weekends - when am less busy - to watching the videos, reading text materials and answering the home work questions, in the end, I got a certificate !</div>
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My experience with ColWri was thrilling, it totally change my perspective of online learning and also proved challenging, not in the context of internet connectivity and time constraint that i explained above, but of efforts, skills and intelligence expected of each students. </div>
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Asides the certificate, enrolling for ColWri brought me personal development, I was privilege to learn new things while improving on the ones I already knew. A post on this blog:<a href="http://akomst.blogspot.com/2014/02/education-sector-solving-unemployment.html" target="_blank"> Education Sector ; Solving the Unemployment Problem</a> was originally written as a draft essay and submitted for grades as it was required. It was edited multiple times, thanks to the innovative peer review assessment initiative of edx and the powerful editing techniques taught during the course. So, it was a journey of personal development and improvements. </div>
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Am currently enrolled for "Medicinal Chemistry" on edx and so far, I would say am learning ! I hope to also share my experience with you in the near future. As a way to show case my achievements and encourage more people to also enroll for a course of interest, am creating a dedicated page on this blog as a hall of certificates in online courses to show off my achievements. ( <a href="http://akomst.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html" target="_blank">Click here to view my certificate(s)</a> )</div>
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<b>Recommend reading</b> : You can feed and educate a child today, at no cost to your pocket. <a href="http://www.akomst.blogspot.com/2014/02/free-rice-free-education.html?m=1">Click here to learn how. </a></div>
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MY FIRST ONLINE (Edx) CERTIFICATE

Studying online for a certificate is still a unimaginable for many people out there. Whilst I didn't doubt the possibility of earning...

2014 IMMIGRATION TEST QUESTIONS : THE KILLER TEST QUESTIONS

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The 2014 Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) Recruitment Exercise which resulted in lots of injuries and death has conveniently been titled " the killer recruitment exercise", " a show of national shame" , " job seeker's reunion and parade" and lots other titles. <br /> </div>
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Equally disturbing was the service's "killer questions" served to candidates during the test exercise.Candidates were required to answer each of the 30 questions within a time frame of one minutes, yet in their confession, each question requires "critical reasoning and thinking on the part of the candidate" . </div>
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Thus, most candidates - rather than leave the questions unanswered - randomly shaded options from each question before submitting. As one candidate remarked to me after his test : " Not even the Controller General of the service can answer these questions in 30minutes" <br /> </div>
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Questions rendered below are not the complete set of 30 questions served to <b>university graduates </b>at one of the centres</div>
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 You may however have fun brainstorming the question...</div>
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<i><b>Start of the questions</b></i></h4>
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A genealogist has determined that M, N, P, Q, R, S and T are the father, the mother, the aunt, the brother, the sister, the wife and the daughter of X but she has been unable to determine which person has which status. She does know :</li>
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    P and Q are of the same sex <br />
    M and N are not of the same sex<br />
    S was born before M<br />
    Q is not the mother of X </div>
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<b>Question </b>: How many of the seven people M, N, P, Q, R, S and T are female ? <br />
(a) 3 (b) 4 (c) 5 (d) 6 (e) 7<br />
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<b>Question </b>: Which of the following must be true ?<br />
(a) M is a female <br />
(b) N is a female <br />
(c) P is a female <br />
(d) Q is a male <br />
(e) S is a male <br />
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<b>Question </b>: If T is the daughter of X which of the following must be true ?<br />
(a) M and P are of the same sex <br />
(b) M and Q are of the same sex<br />
(c) P is not of the same sex as N <br />
(d) R is not of the same sex as S <br />
(e) S is not of the same sex as T <br />
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<b>Question </b>: If M and Q are sisters, all of the following must be true except <br />
(a) N is a male<br />
(b) M is X's mother <br />
(c) Q is X's aunt <br />
(d) T is X's daughter <br />
(e) S is not X's brother <br />
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<b>Question </b>: If S is N's grandfather then which of the following must be true ?<br />
(a) R is N's aunt <br />
(b) X is P's son <br />
(c) M is X's brother <br />
(d) Q is S's husband <br />
(e) P is N's aunt <br />
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<b>Question </b>: If M is X's wife, all of the following could be true except <br />
(a) S is X's daughter <br />
(b) P is X's sister <br />
(c) Q is X's sister <br />
(d) R is X's father <br />
(e) N is X's brother </div>
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A farmer has 3 fields, 1,2,3 and he is deciding which crop to plant. The crops are F, G, H, I and J<br />
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 F will grow only in field 1 and 3 but in order for F to grow, it must be fertilized with X <br />
  G will grow in field 1,2 and 3 but in order for G to grow, fertilizer X must be used. <br />
  H will grow in field 1,2 and 3 but in order for H to grow in field 3, it must be fertilized with Y<br />
  I will grow only in field 2 and 3 but in order for I to grow in field 2, it must be sprayed with pesticide Z and  in order for I to grow in field 3 it must be sprayed with Z. </div>
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<b>Question </b>: It is possible to grow which of the following crops together in field 1 ?<br />
(a) F and G<br />
(b) F and J<br />
(c) G and H <br />
(d) J and H<br />
(e) J and G<br />
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<b>Question </b>: It is possible for which of the following group of crops to grow together in field 2 ?<br />
(a) F, G and H <br />
(b) F, H and I<br />
(c) G, H and J<br />
(d) G, I and J <br />
(e) H, I and J<br />
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<b>Question </b>: Which of the following is a complete and accurate list of crops that will grow alone in field 2 if the only pesticides or  fertilizer used is Y ?<br />
(a) F <br />
(b) F and H <br />
(c) G and H <br />
(d) G, H and J<br />
(e) G, H, I and J<br />
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<b>Question </b>: Which of the following pair of crops will grow together in field 3 if no other crops are planted in the field and no fertilizer or pesticides are applied ?<br />
(a) F and H<br />
(b) F and I <br />
(c) G and H<br />
(d) G and I <br />
(e) H and J<br />
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<b>Question </b>: Which is the maximum number of different crops that can be planted together in field 3 ?<br /> </div>
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(a) 1 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 4 (e) 5<br />
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<b>Question </b>: Which of the following is a complete and accurate list of crops that will grow alone in field 2 if only pesticide or fertilizer is applied<br /> </div>
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(a) H, J (b) I, G (c) I, H (d) I, J (e) J, G</div>
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"The Problem in this test involves a certain amount of critical reasoning and thinking on your part. Read each question carefully and choose the correct answer from the multiple choices that follow. "<br />
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<b>Question </b>: A national travel survey in 2007 found that Nigerians took 382.6 million trips within and outside of the country. Lagos was destination of 38 million trips. Approximately what percent of the trips had Lagos as the destination ?<br /> </div>
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(a) 0.01% (b) 0.1% (c) 1% (d) 3.8% (e) 10%<br />
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<b>Question </b>: The taxi fares were N 1.00 for the first mile and N 0.20 for each 1mile 55 thereafter, then the taxi fare for 3 mile ride was ?<br /> </div>
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(a) N 1.56 (b) N 2.40 (c) N 3.00 (d) N 3.80 (e) N 4.20<br />
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<b>Question : </b>A warehouse had a square floor with area 10,000 square metres. A rectangular addition was built along one entire side of the warehouse that increased the floor area by one-half as much as the original floor area. How much metre did the extension extend the original building ?<br /> </div>
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(a) 10 (b) 20 (c) 50 (d) 200 (e) 500<br />
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<b>Question </b>: A digital wrist watch was set accurately at 8:30am, the watch then lost 2 seconds every 5 minutes. What time is indicated on the watch at 6:30pm of the same day, assuming the watch operated continuously until that time ?<br /> </div>
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(a)... (b) 5:58 (c) 6:00 (d) 6:23 (e) 6:26<br />
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<b>Question </b>: A merchant sells an item at a 20 percent discount but still makes a gross profit of 20 percent of the cost. What percent of the cost would the gross profit on the item have been if it had been sold without the discount ? <br /> </div>
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(a) 20% (b) 40% (c) 50%  (d) 60% (e) 75%<br />
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<b>Question </b>: Each step of a staircase is 0.25m wide anf 0.20m high, as shown in the figure above ( <b>no figure or shape was provided </b>). All angles shown in the figure are right angles. If the height of the staircase is 3.6m and the landing at the top of the staircase is 1m wide. How long, in metre is AB ?<br /> </div>
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(a) 3.0 (b) 4.25 (c) 4.5 (d) 5.25 (e) 5.5<br />
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<b>Question </b>: The table above ( no i<b>mage, shape or figure was provided </b>) shows the number of tickets sold during each of the first 4 weeks after a movie release. The producer of the movie received 10% of the revenue for every ticket sold with a guaranteed minimum of N 200,000 each week for the first 4weeks. If the tickets sold for N4 each, how much did the producer receive for the first for weeks ? <br /> </div>
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(a) N800,000 (b) N900,000 (c) N1,000,000 (d) N1,200,000 (e) 1,300,000<br />
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<b>Question</b> : Some stack containing equal numbers of chips are to be made from 9 red chips, 7 blue chips and 5 green chips. If all of these chips are used and each stack contain at least 1 chips of each colour, what is the maximum number of read chips in any one stack ?<br /> </div>
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(a) 7 (b) 6 (c) 5 (d) 4 (e) 3 <br />
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<b>Question : </b>Three automobiles travel distance that are in the ratio of 1:2:3. If the ratio of the traveling times over these distances for those automobiles are 3:2:1 in the same respective order, what are the ratio of their respective average speed ?<br /> </div>
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(a) 1:1:1 (b) 1:3:3 (c) 1:3:9 (d) 3:2:1 (e) 3:4:3<br />
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<b>Question : </b>Over the last three years, a scientist had an average (arithmetic mean) yearly income of N45,000. The scientist earned 11/2 times as much the second year as the first year and 21/2 times as much as the third year as the first year. What was the scientist's income the second year ? <br /> </div>
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(a) N9,000 (b) N13,500 (c)N27,500 (d) N40,500 (e) N45,000<br />
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<b>Question : </b>How many two digit whole numbers yield a remainder of 1 when divided by 10 and also yield a remainder of 1 when divided by 6 ? <br /> </div>
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(a) none (b) one (c) two (d) three (e) four. </div>
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<i><b>Did you answer any question and how long did it take you to do so ?</b></i></div>
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2014 IMMIGRATION TEST QUESTIONS : THE KILLER TEST QUESTIONS

The 2014 Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) Recruitment Exercise which resulted in lots of injuries and death has conveniently been titled...

NO ENDING TO ASUP STRIKE

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Any hope to ending the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (A.S.U.P) was yesterday dashed after the meeting between A.S.U.P executives and representatives from the ministry of education ended in a deadlock. Both team has been in and out of several meetings in the past with little to no progress at resolving their differences. <br /><br />
The latest round of meeting which ended on Wednesday evening went in the direction of past meetings, according to the National Publicity Secretary, Mr Clement Chairman, the government had brought nothing new to the table and the union has no choice than to continue its strike action. Mr Chairman said, " Federal Government has offered nothing other their former position and A.S.U.P is not accepting that. We see the strike prolonging " <br /><br />
The union's strike is in its 5th months and with no end in sight, thousands of polytechnic students may have to wait "forever" before returning to school. The union is demanding among other things, that Needs Assessment Committee be set up to establish areas of infrastructural interventions in polytechnics, constitution of Governing Councils for polytechnics as its obtainable in universities, improvement in salary structure and an end to the discrimination of polytechnic graduates in the labour market. <br /><br />
While the crises linger on, both parties (ASUP and FG) have shifted blames for the deadlock in negotiation. </div>

NO ENDING TO ASUP STRIKE

Any hope to ending the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (A.S.U.P) was yesterday dashed after the meeting between ...

THE BEAUTIFUL ONES ARE DYING !

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Too early, too soon, the nation was again thrown into mourning over the killing of innocent students in the troubled North East of the country. Over 40 students were reportedly killed in this latest savagery attack on schools in the region. </div>
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While no group had directly claim responsibility of the incident, the attack bears the hallmark of the dreaded Boko Haram group operating wild in the region. The group had been fingered for similar attacks in the past, most often leading to closure of schools in the affected state(s). Like the previous killings, the students were attack and killed as they slept in their dormitories in an overnight raid on their school - Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Yobe State. <br /> </div>
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Unlike in most civilize nations around the world where all the resources of the state would be mobilize into finding and prosecuting the perpetrators of such attacks, our politicians only gave the knee jack response, condemning the act, issuing statements after statements in a well familiar fashion, but little or no action has been taken to forestall such killings in another few months time, nor to bring the perpetrators to book. <br />
As families of the victims mourn their loss and are preparing to bury the dead, bigwigs of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (P.D.P) including the Nigerian president were gearing-up for a big political rally elsewhere in the country, just how insensitive, selfish and little value is attach to the blood of our dying dreams. Not a single day of mourning was declared to reflect and grieve on this monumental loss of life nor was any day declared for any other recent attacks on defenseless victims of Boko Haram, instead, a high ranking member of the government was alleged to have orchestrate a failed blackmail of one perceived political enemy through associating him with the killings incident. No doubt, the administration seeks to escape its primary responsibility and score a cheap political point as the 2015 general election approaches. </div>
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These men - the ugly generation - won't leave the stage and would not let the beautiful ones live. They are trading the country's future for the gains of today - no, of their pockets. The country still do not have an education minister (just a supervising one) ASUP and COEASU strikes is ongoing and lots of schools are under lock and key in Boko Haram affected states, yet, the president is on a political tour in attempt to win the next general election. To the political class, winning elections seems more important than keeping the youths in school, protecting the lives of school children and creating jobs for the teeming unemployed graduates. <br /> </div>
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Things may not totally be hopeless now, but are definitely worrisome. It would be insane to not worry for the future if substantial number of higher institutions are locked down by striking lecturers and students are being killed in their sleep. More than ever, our education system needs a Moses not luck any longer. </div>
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THE BEAUTIFUL ONES ARE DYING !

Too early, too soon, the nation was again thrown into mourning over the killing of innocent students in the troubled North East of the cou...

EDUCATION SECTOR : SOLVING THE UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM (FIRST PART)

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Unemployment is a big issue in Nigeria, the country has the largest human population on the African continent with an estimated population of about 165 million and youths represent over 55% of this population. A 2013 statistics released by the National Population Commission indicate that youth unemployment stands at 54%. So disturbing is unemployment rate that the 2014 National budget was tagged by the government as " budget of job creation and inclusive growth "<br /> </div>
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The unemployment problem is strongly tied to the type of economy being operated in the country, which is largely dependent on oil export. Despite large revenue generated from the oil industries, limited jobs are created from it. In addition, much of the revenue is lost to corruption in the public offices. Previous efforts to diversify the economy such as investment in agriculture and solid minerals so as to create more jobs for the teeming population has most often suffered set backs largely due to corruption. However, one sector of the economy that has yet to be extensively explored in job creation is the education sector. The education sector comprising of schools, ministries, commissions, agencies, publishing houses and educational material industries are manpower intensive. With the appropriate strategies and investment in education, several millions of Nigerians would be gainfully employed. <br /> </div>
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Manpower deficiency in the education sector - particularly in the rank of qualify and trained teachers - is well known both by the government and the larger public. This problem was also highlighted by the recent strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (A.S.U.U) and the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (A.S.U.P) strike. Among its demands, the unions pray government to recruit more lecturers to compliment the available ones, who in their arguments are over stretched. Labour deficiency isn't confined to the tertiary education system alone, the ordinary level is suffering similar problem. Public (primary and secondary) schools are notorious for having a low teachers to students ratio. In some rural and remote areas, schools are all but names. <br /> </div>
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Labour deficiency in the education sector is certainly a dire problem that requires urgent attention. Direct investment into the sector through the recruitment and training of graduates as teachers would greatly impact youths unemployment rate. Thousands, perhaps millions would be taken off the street and ultimately employed. But not only the recruitment of teaching staff, also of non-teaching staff that are badly lacking, from administration, through security, works, maintenance, sports, transportation, cleaners, gardner to library. Staffing of these essential and non-essential department would create jobs and job opportunities that will greatly depress unemployment rates. <br /> </div>
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Another job opportunity in the education sector lies in schools infrastructural development through governments investment. Since the adoption of Structural Adjustment Programs (S.A.Ps) by the government in the 80s, at the time of economic downturn and fall in oil revenues, infrastructural development in schools have been in decline while the available ones deteriorates. The trend has continue till date, and with the growing number of students admission, classes are now overcrowded, office blocks are dilapidated and libraries and laboratories are either obsolete or non existence in lots of schools. The challenges of infrastructure are just enormous due to decade of neglect.</div>
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However, the trend could be reverse with short and long term investment in infrastructure, in this way, massive jobs and job opportunities would be created, exactly the feat of every administration. Myriad of direct and indirect jobs would be created in building and construction industries, furniture, laboratory equipment, electronics, automobile and printing industries among others. Such investment holds great promises in tackling unemployment. <br /> </div>
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Through this efforts, several industries tied to education, in particular, the publishing houses would be revitalized, thereby creating more jobs and indirectly solving the nagging unemployment problem. <br />
While this essay has so far focus on the economic gains and job opportunities inherent in investment in education sector, several other gains abide. Asides massively creating jobs, investment in education also serves the complimentary role of improving education standard towards achieving the goals and objectives of the National Policy on Education. In addition, high literacy in the population is achieved and the prospect of a national development through education gets plausible. <br /> </div>
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Graduates recruitment as teachers in schools as described above have been selectively used by some states governments to tackle unemployment albeit wrongly. Thousands of youths are recruited into the teaching profession in various states as a strategy of both solving the problem of unemployment and inadequate teaching staff in schools. However, the pitfall to this approach is corruption. In Niger State for instance, the government yearly recruit thousands of graduates into its schools - in a popular scheme called " Talba Program "- and most recruits are deployed to the rural areas where teachers are in bad supply.</div>
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But due to poor motivation, incentives and salary, most teachers have devise a means to beat the authority and system by simply collecting the monthly salary without ever visiting class or knowing their students. For most people, the scheme is simply a state benefit and support for the unemployed. Thus, if this pitfall is addressed and corrected, the number of youths out of job or actively seeking employment in the labour market would be drastically reduced. <br /> </div>
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In summary, the education sector is a promising platform on which both state and federal government could directly and indirectly create jobs for its teeming unemployed youths. This would not only compliment other government's efforts at reducing unemployment but also raise the standard of education in the country. However, stringent regulation and monitoring mechanisms has to be put in place to prevent such effort becoming a state benefit scheme for the unemployed. <br /> </div>
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In conclusion, anyone reading this and thinking, why not investment in industries, health, roads, agriculture or mining, any of which would equally yield substantial jobs and job opportunities. Of course, investment in all these sectors would be good for the economy. However, its people who drives all these sectors and without quality education, all the investment would be a waste. In addition, its education that drives innovation and the development of any nation in today's world is a measure of its investment in education. <br /> </div>
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According to G.K Chesterson "education is simply the soul of a society ..." and in fact, only education brings true development and progress. </div>
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EDUCATION SECTOR : SOLVING THE UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM (FIRST PART)

Unemployment is a big issue in Nigeria, the country has the largest human population on the African continent with an estimated population...

FREE RICE : FREE EDUCATION

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<b>Freerice.com</b> is an ambitious fund raising effort of the United Nation 's World Food Programme that aims to raise fund to achieve the dual goal of providing free education and an end to world hunger by providing rice to (needing) people. </div>
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The site is ad supported, it thus require online traffic like all ad displaying site. To turn in traffic, the site has a free-to-play online game that keeps players engaged while ads are displayed. The game allow players to select a subject from which to answer multi-choice questions. For every question answered correctly, the player is able to donate 10grains of rice that goes to feed someone. </div>
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There is no limit to how much rice an individual can donate, you can even create a group where you can invite friends, classmates, families and an entire community to join or simply join an existing group to increase how much rice is donated. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.ggpht.com/-CQxqg4iDEwU/UvftJdRbocI/AAAAAAAAAEY/-yQ01Wo2bys/s640/shot_000005-1-1-picsay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="UN free rice charity education" border="0" height="235" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-CQxqg4iDEwU/UvftJdRbocI/AAAAAAAAAEY/-yQ01Wo2bys/s640/shot_000005-1-1-picsay.jpg" title="free rice" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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Available subjects include, humanities, science, math, english, geography, languages, SAT and chemistry. I have been playing chemistry and have proudly raised over a thousand grains in under 24 hours : see pics below. </div>
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Join the noble cause, challenge yourself, feed and educate someone today ! Visit <a href="http://www.freerice.com/">freerice.com</a> to get started </div>
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FREE RICE : FREE EDUCATION

Freerice.com is an ambitious fund raising effort of the United Nation 's World Food Programme that aims to raise fund to achieve the ...

OSUN STATE EDUCATION CRISIS : CHRISTIANS ON PROTEST AGAIN

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Christians attending faith based schools such as Baptist High School in Osun State have again put up a show of resistance to the state's new education reform. It would be recalled that last year, academic activities in some schools were grounded by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.akomst.blogspot.com/2013/10/christians-protest-merger-of-schools-by.html?">Christian activists and parents who were protesting against the new de-segregated school policy implemented by the state government.</a> </div>
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As schools were opening for the new term, returning students to Baptist High school - the focus of resistance to the new policy - turn out in mixed dresses rather than the state wide approved school uniform. The Christians opted for white garment while the Muslims wore insignia. The pagan students were also reportedly wearing  masquerade costumes. Not only this, the school's regular assembly session has always been rowdy as students are divided over school anthem. </div>
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Effort by teachers to enforce the new reform have been met with stiff resistance by students, in fact, teachers were reportedly injured by students in an attempt to stop students-in-fighting and enforce the new education policy of the state. </div>
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So far, academic activities are in disarray in some affected schools. </div>
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OSUN STATE EDUCATION CRISIS : CHRISTIANS ON PROTEST AGAIN

Christians attending faith based schools such as Baptist High School in Osun State have again put up a show of resistance to the state'...

CORPORAL PUNISHMENTS IN NIGERIAN SCHOOLS : WHAT ALTERNATIVES ?

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After an earlier post on <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.akomst.blogspot.com/2014/01/corporal-punishment-in-nigerian-schools.html?m=1">corporal punishment in Nigerian schools</a>, where its widespread use, factors encouraging its use and its effect on individuals were highlighted, i thought it wise to also write on feasible alternatives to this method of behavior control and discipline. <br />
The ideas offered in this post, far from being original, are based on principles of psychology. Educational psychology offers a great deal of effective methods for teachers in the way of handling and dealing with indiscipline or antisocial behaviors. And with the increasing campaign against the use of corporal punishment in homes and schools, the urgent need for teachers to start implementing some basics of educational psychology now become paramount. The following are some of the alternatives to corporal punishments : </div>
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<b>Guidance and Counseling </b><br />
It's a know fact that lot of schools operated both by government and private owners in Nigeria rarely have a guidance and counselling unit or department. And in cases where there is one, nearly no impact is made on the students in shaping their behavior. Personally, i was "privileged" to have attended a secondary school which has a guidance and counseling department, but majority of us (students) never knew or appreciate its services. <br />
Guidance and counseling is one of the major application of educational psychology in practical sense, it has the potential of not only to shape students behavior in the present, but also in the future. It's the greatest tool in behavior control and discipline. <br />
Thus, in schools where no department is dedicated to the services of guidance and counseling, the bulk of the job therefore falls collectively and individually on the teachers of the school. One-on-one and group counseling should routinely be done in relation to new or existing behavioral challenges posed by students. If for instance, a student has the habit of arriving late to school, rather than using corporal punishment to address the problem, the proper way would be to investigate into the problem, identify reasons for the students habitual lateness to school and offer an appropriate guidance and counseling. Sometimes, the problem may be traced back to the child's home, thus, the parents should sometimes be involved in the planned solutions. <br />
Also, the adolescents are one of the most difficult group of students to help, nonetheless, teachers should exhibit the highest level of professionalism in handling and correcting their behaviors. The understanding of their stage in human development is very crucial in any attempt of guidance and counseling, also, possible factors that may be influencing any noticed antisocial behavior should first be investigated prior to counseling. Students at this stage in development tend to exhibit an increase level of violence, disobedience, sexual awareness and some other antisocial behaviors. Guidance and counseling is certainly the best method and not canning to address these problem, but most importantly, for the method to be successful, several factors that may be influencing the behavioral changes such as movies, games, abusive use of the internet and peer pressure should be well taking into consideration in attempts of guidance and counseling. In most serious cases, the support of the parents should be sought in monitoring the child's activities at home such as his/her exposure to internet contents, certain types of video games, satellite television contents and member of his/her friends. <br />
With the right knowledge, guidance and counseling is indisputably a tool for all teachers both to correct students behavior and as a means to discipline. </div>
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<b>Positive Reinforcement/Praises </b><br />
This is one alternative to corporal punishment that teachers have mostly under used. The power of praises and reward for correct actions or behavior have been proven beyond doubt to be effective in shaping or modifying a subject/learner's behavior. It has been proven in classical experiments with animals and human subjects that reward and praises can positively reinforce a desired behavior and the lack of those (reward and praises), in cases of wrong action or behavior would discourage such actions. So, if method well used and applied as early as tender ages, the result can be amazing and students may no longer require canning as animals. Praises and rewards also has the potential of creating a healthy competition among students. If for instance, a student is praised and rewarded in the presence of his/her mates for good behaviours such as always being punctual to school and keeping a healthy appearance, other students could become motivated to emulate similar behaviour in return for similar rewards and praises. <br />
Praises could be in utterance of positive words on the student or in writing, by passing positive comments about the student on the school notice board, report cards and in exercise note books.  Rewards may be in the form of presentation of customized materials like exercise notebooks, writing materials or textbooks and in the act of award of position of responsibility as school prefect. If the criteria for the award of a position of responsibility is well announced in advance to potential candidates, the probability of a healthy competition and rivalry for a desired behavior increases - in which case, the students behavior would have been wittinly changed. <br />
Thus, both reward and praises can change or shape the students behavior and the need for canning or other corporal punishment would no longer be require for discipline. As opposed to popular thinking, not much would be required in material and cash to implement these alternative methods, the most needed resources is the commitment of both teachers and school management to the principle of praises and reward. </div>
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<b>Suspension </b><br />
Though, this is one of the most extreme method of discipline, but if correctly used, particularly in most serious cases of indiscipline and social vices, it could make the job of behavior control a much easy task. The common mistakes of many school management has often been the use of suspension after every use corporal punishment have failed to change the student's behavior. In this case, corporal punishment itself had failed to produce the desired result and the school management uses the tool of suspension in an act of desperation and not as part of a planned regime of correction and rehabilitation for the student. One way to correctly use this method would be to precede its use by several sessions of counseling and to have a planned regime of rehabilitation for the student post suspension. <br />
In the course of our discussion on a totally different matter, a student once said to me that suspension from school for one week was the worst punishment he had ever received for his act of indiscipline, disobedience and "stubbornness", worse than all corporal punishments he has ever served for similar offenses. And according to him, it was the only punishment that changed him from his past behaviors. What made the punishment worse was watching his classmates and friends leaving and returning from school while he is sent on errands around the village or to work in the farm. <br />
The school was a rural farming community school with no formal guidance and counseling department and to the new principal posted to the school, suspension in his opinion is a better method of discipline than corporal punishment and in this case, even from the student's testimony, the method worked ! <br />
So if suspension is carefully used, most importantly, with the cooperation of the parents and with a post suspension rehabilitation follow up on the student, the desired behavior from the student could be achieved. <br />
In conclusion, not a single method among the ones described above and others is an exact alternative to corporal punishment, rather, a combination of it. Teachers must not relent in shaping their student's behavior, values and orientation to the overall desire of the larger society. If all teachers should do their job in this regard, the prospect of a sane society - free of mob/jungle justice, drug abuse, domestic violence, rape and other antisocial behaviors - gets realistic.   </div>
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CORPORAL PUNISHMENTS IN NIGERIAN SCHOOLS : WHAT ALTERNATIVES ?

After an earlier post on corporal punishment in Nigerian schools , where its widespread use, factors encouraging its use and its effect on...

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN NIGERIAN SCHOOLS

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According a to  dictionary definition, corporal punishment " is a form a punishment achieved by inflicting blow to the offender's body ". The United Nation Committee on Right of the Child (UNCRC) defines corporal punishment as "any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort however light".<br />
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Corporal punishment in schools is a form of punishment inflicted on students body by teachers, administrators, or even fellow students for various offenses. Corporal punishment in Nigerian schools is as old as its education system. From the Traditional education system in the south to the Almajiri/Islamic education system in the north, corporal punishment particularly canning was a common practice. Since the advent of Western education, corporal punishment had been introduced in schools as a means of correction and discipline. The practice has largely gone unchanged in schools contrary to scientific findings of educational psychology that such method of corrections does more damage than it hopes to correct in children. <br />
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The punishment is quite rampant at all levels of basic education in Nigeria. Public schools are most notorious for the practice, its use in the private school sector is often limited or totally disproved. Some public schools (as the rural school where i served as a youth corp member) employs staff for the purpose of discipline and they use whips at the discharge of their service. In addition, student's leader like head prefects are given powers to discipline fellow students and enforce school rules and regulation. Things are much more worse in boarding schools, whereby, any one called senior can use corporal punishment at free will even for the pleasure of it. Ex-students of boarding schools like myself cannot in a life time forget the cruel use of some kind of punishment as a tool to effect "positive" change and orientation in students. In most cases, bullying is preferably used to describe the actions of teachers and fellow students, but all these are mostly done in the name of discipline and corporal punishments are certainly the "best" means of discipline. <br />
Despite condemnation of its use by concerned groups, there are several factors that encourages the use of corporal punishment in schools. <br />
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There is the legal aspect, there are laws that does not expressly prohibit but also implicitly encourages the use of corporal punishment in schools. Article 295(4) of the criminal code that govern Southern Nigeria states that "a schoolmaster or a person acting as a schoolmaster has the authority for correction including the power to determine in what cases correction ought to be inflicted". While article 55 of Northern penal code states that "nothing is an offense which does not amount to the infliction of grievous hurt upon any person and which is done by a schoolmaster for the purpose of correcting a child under eighteen years entrusted to his charge".<br />
So its no surprise that, in two private schools where i have taught, proprietors had stated in staff meetings that they do not allow teachers to use corporal punishment to discipline any child, they alone (the proprietors) hold the exclusive right to use the punishment, thus any case of indiscipline that would require corporal punishment should be referred to them. <br />
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Though, it should be stated that there is also the Child Right Act passed by the Nigeria's National Assembly that protect children from abuses and corporal punishment but not all states of the federation has adopt the act nor repeal legislation encouraging the use of corporal punishment in schools. <br />
But the most important factor that influences the use of corporal punishment isn't the law but the effect that it produces. Most teachers that uses corporal punishment tend to derive satisfaction from the changes it most often produce. Sometimes, its effect is immediate, producing an immediate desired change in the student, thus, corporal punishments are more appealing than other methods of correction for disobedience, anti-social behaviors or habits. Corporal punishments, particularly canning has the characteristic of inciting fear in children and thus serves as an effective means to force a desired change, making it appealing to lots of teachers and administrator. <br />
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Also, parents and the public mostly do not see anything wrong in the use of corporal punishment, in fact some parent openly support its use, sometimes quoting biblical verses "spare the rod and spoil the child" or to mention that, they equally went through similar discipline method and to the best of their knowledge, it worked well giving the right intention for its use.<br />
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At the school where i taught, a parent once request from teachers to use cane on her son if he desist from arriving to school late. According to her, the student often leave home to school early, but he plays a lot on his way, thereby arriving late to school, so she would prefer if canning was applied often as punishment for his perpetual lateness to school. That's just an instance of a parent approving of corporal punishment but there are much more of such concessions from parents. <br />
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So much ink has already been spilled on the short and long term effect of corporal punishment on individuals, so their is no intention to discuss the details here. Some effects are well established facts while others are simply debatable. Nonetheless, there are negative effects associated with corporal punishments, some effects are more pronounced in the larger society than in the school where the individual was corporally punished.</div>
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Often cited effects in literature are that corporal punishment could lead to delinquency, anti-social behaviors, fear, depression, anger, anxiety, feelings of humiliation, impaired cognitive development, tendency to cheat, lie and bully others. Asides these, corporal punishment could also damage the teacher-student relationship which could negatively affect a child's learning. <br />
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Without doubt, corporal punishments in Nigerian schools will continue to be used as a tool of discipline as there is little or no awareness and sensitization of teachers and school administrators on alternative to and effect of corporal punishments. Making laws alone won't be enough without enforcing it and encouraging in the long term the education of teachers on implementing alternative tools of discipline.</div>
</div>

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN NIGERIAN SCHOOLS

According a to dictionary definition, corporal punishment " is a form a punishment achieved by inflicting blow to the offender'...

TOEFL ETS RESUMES TEST IN NIGERIA

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In what would be a relieve to many, TOEFL has announced on its <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.ets.org/gre/important_update/nigeria">website</a> that testing would resume in Nigeria at some selected centres in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt. The first testing at these centres would be on 25th of January but registrations would be open to candidates on the 13th.<br /> </div>
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TOEFL is an English-language test often taken as a test of proficiency and use of English mostly in countries where English language is used as a second language or not spoken. For many institutions, TOEFL score is used to satisfy admission and visa requirements, which is why this decision would be a relief to Nigerians seeking scholarship or admission into universities abroad such as in UK, Australia and USA. <br />
Last year, the body suspended its services in Nigeria citing insecurity as its reason. </div>
</div>

TOEFL ETS RESUMES TEST IN NIGERIA

In what would be a relieve to many, TOEFL has announced on its website that testing would resume in Nigeria at some selected centres in A...

EXAMINATION SUCCESS TIPS

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Let me start this post with a popular saying among students that " school is fun but exams spoilt the fun of it". <br />
Really examinations could as well be fun, more especially if the candidate was well prepared for it. Examinations are an evaluation tool, a means to assess how much of an objective has been achieved. Every subject or course has its own objectives - the changes that its expected to produce in the learner or student - and examination is one of the tools used to evaluate an extent to which the learner has acquire the behavioural changes expected from learning the subject. <br /><br />
The key to success in any examination is its preparation for it. Preparation is a key ingredient to succeeding in any examinations, in fact, failure to prepare spells examination disaster. Morals are abound in comprehension passages we read during our primary school days. In a popular one that most people might remember : "Agbo failed to prepare for his examination, instead, he consulted a witch doctor who gave him a magical ring to wear and that with some incantation, the ring would aid him to perform well in his examinations, but when the ring failed as promised, Agbo became angry and sad that he eventually threw the ring into a river ". <br /><br />
Today's scenario might be students dependent on pen or other writing materials. A lot of students still hold superstitious belief on one or more writing material to aid them in examination rather than prepare well for it. <br />
So, how will a student prepare for examinations ?<br />
The following are tips that can aid students performance in any examination...<br />
<br />
1. Studying<br />
Studying is the key preparation for any examination, but the manner in which to successfully study is what often elude students. Below are some study tips <br />
(A). Choose a study location : choose an appropriate location for your study, preferably, a quite and serene environment. The environment in which you study strongly affect how much value you get out of your study time. Personally, in my undergraduate days, i simply prefer studying at home, in contrast to my room mate who prefer going to the class to be in company of course mates for his study. So its all about individual choice. <br />
(B). Study time : the best study time for examinations are days to the commencement of each paper. Most students make the mistake of reading for examinations, a day or hours to the paper. In actual sense, revisions ought to be done during these periods. The best practice is to make a study schedule or time table a week or two to the commencement of examinations such that the eve or hours to the examination would be devoted to revisions or simply for relaxation. <br />
(C). Group study : engage in small size group study with course mates as often as you might require. Note however, that, there is no alternative to spending quality studying time alone preparing for examinations. A lot of students make the mistake of moving from one study group or tutorial class to another during examination season, hardly taking the break to study personally. This would be a poor way to prepare for exams. <br />
(D). Avoid cramming : as much as you could, avoid cramming when preparing for any examination. Most people who cram often get disappointed by their memory and what follows in the examination hall is confusion, loss of confidence and anger. <br />
(E). Practice past questions : most examination questions are often drawn from past questions. So, when preparing for any examination, its always advisable to attempt past questions both in personal and in group study. <br />
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(2). Staying stress free<br />
For most students, the mention of "exam" sends fear and tension through their nerves. Unfortunately, tension alone could cause failure even for the most prepared student. So, its most important to be stress and tension free before going into an examination hall. As was earlier mentioned, examinations are a tool of evaluation and not a means to spoil fun. <br />
Here are a few tips to stay stress free before an examination. <br />
(A). Get quality sleep : if you must spend parts of the night reading, then, it will be a good idea to go to bed early. Its not uncommon to see students feeling tensed, uncomfortable and even sleeping in the examination hall for the lack of quality sleeping time before the examination. So don't over work your self on the eve or hours to the examination. <br />
(B). Be in company of friends : be in company of friends and as much as possible, play games and crack jokes - isolation is a bad alternative. <br />
(C). Relaxation : put yourself in a relaxation mood and free your mind ! Rather than worry, just put up self confidence and hope for the very best. <br />
(3). Examination ethics<br />
There are some proper ways to go about conducting yourself in the examination hall if you must maximize your potential for success in the examination. <br />
(A). Choosing a seat : in examination centres where seats are not officially allocated to candidates, then, its most important to use your free will to choose a suitable seat most preferably far from friends and dependents. You can easily be carried away by calls from friends or get disappointed by those on whom you had depend. So always make up your mind to be independent and your seat location should indicate that. <br />
(B). Answering questions : "PLEASE ALWAYS READ AND COMPREHEND INSTRUCTIONS IN ANY EXAMINATION". <br /><br />
Instructions are part of examination, so don't ignore them, read them ! When answering objective questions, don't waste much time on any question, move to the next as soon as possible. In essay questions, take some time to read through all options or questions before selecting the ones to answer. If you ever get stucked in any part of a question, waste no time, just move on to the next. In cases where questions are marks tagged, always consider the mark allocated to each question as a guide to how indepth or time you should spend answering the question. <br />
Lastly, use the allocated time wisely, always reserve time for proof reading and corrections before submiting your answers booklet.<br />
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Though these tips are not exhaustive, they can however aid your chances of success if they are followed. So am wishing the very best in your exams. <br />
Good luck ! </div>

EXAMINATION SUCCESS TIPS

Let me start this post with a popular saying among students that " school is fun but exams spoilt the fun of it". Really examina...

LESSON PLAN

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In order for teaching and learning not to be erratic, a teacher has to plan his/her lesson. Planning a lesson is important for the effective implementation of the curriculum, infact it is the only way to correctly implement the curriculum. Lesson plan is a step-by-step or systematic way of arranging, organizing and delivering of instruction.<br />
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Lesson plan is a teacher's compass in the classroom and according to an educationist "lesson plan is the teacher's visa to the classroom". It's thus important for a teacher to plan his/her lesson prior to entering the classroom to deliver his/her instruction in order to avoid failure and achieve success in teaching and learning. <br />
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A good lesson plan is centred around the objectives of the instruction - feasible objectives that will be achieved within a time frame or period. In developing a lesson plan, the teacher has to consider and answer the following questions :<br />
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*what do I want to teach?<br />
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*how do I teach it and for how long?<br />
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*what instructional material and resources do I need?<br />
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*and how do I evaluate the teaching and learning process at the end of the lesson?<br />
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The following steps may be more helpful in planning or devising a lesson plan.<br />
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1. Topic : identify the topic to be taught, usually from the scheme of work or unit plan.<br />
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2. Duration : make a schedule for the lesson including the time frame to teach the topic. <br />
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3. Previous knowledge : identify the learners previous knowledge in relation to the topic. <br />
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4. Instructional material : identify and acquire materials to aid the teaching and learning of the topic. <br />
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5. Teaching method : identify a suitable or combinations of suitable method of teaching the topic. <br />
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6. Presentation : map-out a step by step ways to deliver the content of the topic and achieve the stated<br />
 objectives - stating activities of both the teacher and learner at intervals. <br />
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7. Evaluation : lastly, device a means to evaluate wether the objectives of the lesson been achieved or not. Evaluations can be in form of a question or performing a task. <br />
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As a format, below is a lesson plan I once wrote for a topic in chemistry, it may be helpful but by no means perfect and it's important for every teacher to develop his or her own lesson plan. <br />
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<b>School : </b>****<br />
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<b>Class  : </b>SSS 1<br />
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<b>Subject :</b> Chemistry <br />
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<b>Topic   :</b> Introduction to chemistry <br />
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<b>Duration : </b>45 minutes <br />
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<b>Behavioural Objectives :</b> At the end of the lesson, students should be able to : <br />
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     (1) define chemistry <br />
     (2) list career prospect in chemistry and<br />
     (3) explain adverse effect of chemicals <br />
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<b>Instructional Material :</b> chart/poster showing various industries and adverse effect of chemicals/drugs<b>.</b><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<b>Previous Knowledge : </b>students are familiar with different household chemicals and some adverse effect of chemicals as acids. <br />
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<b>Method of Teaching : </b>verbal instruction and discussion method.<br />
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<b>Presentation : </b>the teacher presents the lesson in the following ways : <br />
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<b>Step I :</b> <br />
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<strong>Teacher's Activity</strong> :<b> </b>the teacher defines chemistry and explain the application of knowledge of chemistry to industries as well as identify useful products from chemical industries. <br />
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<strong>Student's Activity</strong> :<b> </b>the students listen attentively and also identify products of chemical industries around the school. <br />
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<b>Step II </b><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Teacher's Activity</strong> : the teacher list and explain various career prospects in chemistry as well as identify industries tied to each career. <br />
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<strong>Student's Activity</strong> : the students pay attention. <br />
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<b>Step III</b><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Teacher's Activity</strong> : the teacher initiate a discussion with students to identify a potential career for themselves in chemistry and give reasons for their choice.<br />
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<strong>Student's Activity</strong> : students respond with their career choice and possible reasons for the choice they've made. <br />
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<b>Step IV </b><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Teacher's Activity</strong> : Using chart and postals, the teacher initiates discussion on some application and adverse effects of chemicals and chemical industries on human, animals and the environment.<br />
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<strong>Student's Activity</strong> : students in discussion weigh the application and adverse effect of chemicals and chemical industries. <br />
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<b>Evaluation </b><br />
Teacher's Activity : the teacher ask students to answer the following oral questions :<br />
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   *Define chemistry <br />
   *Identify five (5) industries that apply the knowledge of chemistry.<br />
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Students Activity : the students answer the questions above. <br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Conclusion </b><br />
<strong></strong><br />
The teacher conclude the lesson by giving assignment to students :<br />
Assignments<br />
(1)List five (5) career linked to chemistry. <br />
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(2)State three (3) applications and three (3) adverse effect of chemicals.<br />
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(3)Identify ten (10) common products of chemical industries used in everyday life. </div>

LESSON PLAN

In order for teaching and learning not to be erratic, a teacher has to plan his/her lesson. Planning a lesson is important for the effectiv...

2013 REVIEW : EDUCATION OR WHAT ?

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The year 2013 could qualify for the worst year in the Nigeria education sector in recent times judging by incidence that bewildered the sector, including loose of life on a scale never seen before. Far from violence, strike actions, controversial reforms, politics and corruption, mishaps among others, the education sector made relatively less gain in the last 12 months calendar. In this review, the events of last year are group under five (5) headings, these are: </div>
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Strike actions </div>
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Violence, deaths and destructions</div>
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Reforms, policies and politics</div>
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Initiatives and gains</div>
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Challenges</div>
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Strike actions</h3>
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The year 2013 would be on record as the year of strike in the Nigeria education sector. Throughout the year, major unions at all levels of education had one or multiple cause to threaten and or embark on strike actions to draw attention to their struggles. Highly publishes of these strikes was the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) and Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) strikes. </div>
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The ASUP strike is still ongoing while the ASUU strike that lasted for six (6) months was suspended just two days to Christmas. The demand of the union (ASUU) was simple - Federal Government of Nigeria should implement the 2009 agreement it entered into with the union. For a summary of the 2009 agreement click <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.akomst.blogspot.com/2013/10/highlights-of-fgasuu-2009-agreement.html?m=1">here</a>. Several failed negotiations were held to resolve the crises, but the breakthrough came only when the Nigeria president personally intervene in the matter and the crisis was resolved within weeks with the signing of an MoU. </div>
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The ASUP strike was equally called to address the many issues affecting the public polytechnics including the welfare of the teachers, but so far, the crisis has dragged into 2014 without and in sight. <br />
Also in 2013, the threat of solidarity strike by the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in support of the ASUU "struggle", though was never carried out, there were however, several strike actions by many state chapters of the union for different reasons. Among others, there were strikes in Sokoto, Benue, Bauchi, Taraba and Edo states which grounded academic activities for a lengthy period of time. </div>
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And as if not wanting the year to end without being mentioned in the "book of 2013 strikes", the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) declared - just few days to end of 2013- an indefinite strike to commence in the new year(2014). Their demand was equally simple - the FG should implement the 2010 FG-COEASU agreement to address challenges in the public schools. <br />
In a nut shell, ASUU was on strike, ASUP is still on strike, NUT was on strike and COEASU has declared an indefinite strike and the overall effect was that academic activities at all levels of education did not run as it should - more or less in stagnation.<b> </b></div>
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Violence, deaths and destruction</h3>
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So much for strikes in 2013, last year equally witness an unprecedented level of barbaric acts of violence which disrupt academic activities to a great length. Though much of the violence were largely localized to the Northeast region of the country, but its effect  rippled across the nation. The terrorist group Boko Haram which is opposed to Western education claimed responsibility for most of the violence.</div>
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In an hallmark of barbarism, the group, armed with rifles and petrol bombs made a pre-dawn attack on a boarding school in Yobe State killing 29 students and a teacher, some of the victims were burnt alive and some other were shot at close range as they attempt to escape. The incidence led to closure of public schools in the state for months. But barely two week after the schools were reopened, the terrorist again laid siege on the College of Agriculture in the state, killing several students most of whom were asleep in their dormitories when the attack began. Several buildings were also set ablaze. The school was thereafter shut down for no less than 10 weeks. There were other "smaller" attacks on schools, teachers and students in other states in the region. </div>
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Another tragic event was the road accident of June 13 that took the life of five students. The students were executive members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) who were on their way to Uyo to negotiate peace between the students and management of the University of Uyo following a riot that erupted in the school. Bad road was attributed to the cause of the accident. <br />
The nation also lost an education activist and academician in another road accident- Prof. Iyayi. He was killed in a motor accident involving his car and the convoy of the Kogi State governor. The literary icon was on his way to attend an ASUU executive meeting at Kano State when the unfortunate accident occurred. </div>
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Though much of the last year violence and death are largely associated with the greater insecurity in the country, but no doubt, the education sector took a fair hit. Students, teachers and examiners were attacked or killed, classes, offices, dormitories and other infrastructures were equally destroyed. In one of numerous reactions, the examination body WAEC, did not conduct examinations in several centres fearing for the security of its personnel and unless security is improved, exams may not hold in many more centres. </div>
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Reforms, Policies and Politics</h3>
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2013 for the education sector was also a year of controversial reforms and policies. Most controversial was the Osun State education reform or reclassification, the Lagos state ban on hijabs in public schools and the new Basic Education policy. Unfortunately, the controversies over these reforms or policies centred on religious ground. </div>
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The Osun state government in its policy of improving its education system introduced a reclassification of its education system which entails the re-grouping and merging of schools in the state. Most controversial of the policy was the merging of schools. The policy was to see to the merging of some public schools in the state, some of which are faith-based schools. Such as merging of a Christian faith-base schools as Baptist Schools with non-faith based schools that might include hijab wearing Muslim pupils attending the school. </div>
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As soon as the policy was being implemented, some Christians in the state under the leadership of the state's chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) embark on a protest. The <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.akomst.blogspot.com/2013/10/christians-protest-merger-of-schools-by.html?m=1">Christians protest</a> was against coeducation with Muslims and wearing of hijab in their faith based (public) schools. As such some schools were temporarily closed down due to the agitation and protest by the Christians. <br />
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Another controversial policy was the Lagos state ban on hijabs in public schools. Announcing the ban, the state's commissioner of education state that " the state has ban the use of hijab in public schools, the students can only wear hijab during salat...". <br />
The policy caused dissatisfaction among Muslims in the state and a series of protests by students and Muslim groups were held to challenge the new policy. In its condemnation, one group NACOMYO states that " it is not only condemnable but also unacceptable by the Muslims in the state". <br />
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In a different scope, the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) also condemned the new Basic Education Policy proposed and approved by the National Education Research and Development Council (NERDC). Contentious in the policy was the merging of both Christian and Islamic subjects with other subjects, effectively reducing the importance of both subjects. <br />
</div>
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In politics, in-fighting in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cost the former Minister of Education her job. She lost the portfolio along some other ministers in a cabinet reshuffle by the president. The sacked ministers were allies of "rebel governors" opposed to the leadership style of the president in the PDP. Unfortunately, the cabinet reshuffle came as negotiations were ongoing to resolve the ASUU strike crises that had crippled academic activities in public universities across the nation. <br />
Prior to being sacked, Prof. Rukayyat had secure an executive approval for a controversial examination malpractices punishment for offenders. Under the new act, examination malpractice wil fetch offenders five years jail term or an option of 200,000 Naira fees. Considering the standard of education and infrastructures in the country, many commentators describe the new act as being insensitive to the challenges faced by teachers and students alike - which are the root cause of exam malpractices. </div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
Initiatives and Gains</h3>
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Asides controversies, violence and strike actions, the education sector did witness pockets of gains. One initiative that gained international attention and award was the<a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.akomst.blogspot.com/2013/10/opon-imo-tablet-of-knowledge-e-learning.html?m=1"> </a><i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.akomst.blogspot.com/2013/10/opon-imo-tablet-of-knowledge-e-learning.html?m=1">Opon Imo</a></i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.akomst.blogspot.com/2013/10/opon-imo-tablet-of-knowledge-e-learning.html?m=1"> - tablet of knowledge-</a> initiative introduced by the Osun state government. The Osun state government took home a<a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.akomst.blogspot.com/2013/10/opon-imo-wins-un-award-in-estonia.html?m=1"> UN educational initiative award</a> for the project and was widely commended for introducing mass electronic base learning in the country. </div>
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The federal government of Nigeria also spend billions of naira in establishing Almajiri schools nationwide, particularly in the Northern states. The schools which will blend the traditional form of Islamic education with Western education is hoped will cater for the millions of children who are out of school or are engaged in only Islamic education. </div>
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Challenges  </h3>
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Some other challenges faced in 2013 weren't peculiar to the year, they includes, poor infrastructures, examination malpractice, mass failure in national examination as well as unemployment. Like in previous years, there were disturbing headlines of mass failure of national exams in the nation's dailies. It has become a trend that no longer surprise readers. The problem is just a glaring picture of the many challenges facing our education system. </div>
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And lastly, the problem of unemployment persist. Our education system has produced and continues to turn out "un-employable graduates". Many remain jobless either for reasons of the course they studied -for which there are limited space in the job market - or by the virtue of what employers termed "half baked graduates". Its thus not uncommon to see potential employer seeking years of experience from a graduate. </div>
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In conclusion, 2013 was certainly a turbulent year for the education sector and unless the agitations of teachers are addressed, there may be a repeat of the likes of the 2013 strikes in 2014 as well.</div>
</div>

2013 REVIEW : EDUCATION OR WHAT ?

The year 2013 could qualify for the worst year in the Nigeria education sector in recent times judging by incidence that bewildered the se...

BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS RETURN (WAEC) CERTIFICATE IN A CASE OF RESTITUTION FOR SIN

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In accordance with their faith, no less than 15 persons have voluntarily returned their Senior Secondary School Certificate to the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) as restitute for their involvement in exam malpractices. These individuals, were among numerous persons that had approach WAEC through letters seeking restitution after confessing to their crime as at the time they sat for the exams.<br />
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The returned certificates were void by the Nigeria Examination Council (NEC) at its 53rd meeting following a request by WAEC for the certificate to be void in accordance with the council's act.</div>
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The returned certificates by the Born Again Christians were both for the May/June (internal/school candidate) and November/December (external/private candidate) West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). A breakdown of the returned certificates were shown to span nearly three (3) decades, the oldest of the certificate was obtained in 1983, while the earliest of the certificate was as recent as 2010. </div>
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Christian doctrine encourages faithful to confess to their sins, seek restitution and forgiveness. In a bible verse, it was stated that: </div>
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 </div>
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"When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the Lord, and that person realizes his guilt, he shall confess the sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong." </div>
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This could have been the motivation for born again who returned their certificate. In Nigeria, examination malpractice is an offence that carries a long jail time and or a heavy fine for the offender. </div>
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BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS RETURN (WAEC) CERTIFICATE IN A CASE OF RESTITUTION FOR SIN

In accordance with their faith, no less than 15 persons have voluntarily returned their Senior Secondary School Certificate to the West Af...

EDUCATION: A MIRROR OF THE SOCIETY