EDUCATION: A MIRROR OF THE SOCIETY : January 2014

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>
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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>
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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 />
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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 />
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<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 />
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<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 />
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<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 />
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<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 />
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<b>Conclusion </b><br />
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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 />
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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>
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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>
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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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"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