Education

Social mobility tsar wants campaign against toddlers having mobile phones

The government’s new social mobility commissioner has told MPs she wants to launch a nationwide campaign telling parents not to give their toddlers a mobile phone to play with because it will make reading harder for them later on.

Katharine Birbalsingh told MPs there was “a lack of knowledge out there” and that she would like to use her role to get information to parents across the country to help them better support their children and thus improve their social mobility.

She also played down the significance of the digital divide in learning, saying laptops were not the answer to educational disadvantage. The best way to tackle educational disparities between rich and poor children, she said, was to improve teaching in schools, ensuring good discipline and high standards for all.

Birbalsingh, the head teacher of a secondary school described as the strictest, in Britain, was giving evidence to the women and equalities committee on Wednesday at a pre-appointment scrutiny hearing before she takes up her role as chair of the Social Mobility Commission.

A critic of “woke culture” and a favourite of many Conservative ministers, Birbalsingh was quizzed about her view of the term white privilege, which she has previously said undermines black children.

She said she did not deny the existence of racism or sexism, but warned that if you keep telling children the establishment is against them, they are likely to give up. “I’ve always worked in the inner city. Many of the children in my schools have been ethnic minority kids.

“If it’s the case that you are telling them all the time, ‘You can’t get this job because you are black’, or ‘You can’t do this because you are brown’, it’s very hard for a child to be able to see above that. That does not mean we should bury our heads.”

The Institute of Race Relations criticised her appointment, saying it showed the government was ignoring the evidence on inequality and “hardwired racism” in the education system.

Birbalsingh is well known in the education sector as the head teacher of Michaela Community School, a secondary school in Wembley, north London, which has a “no excuses” behaviour policy and has been judged outstanding by Ofsted.

Asked about her plans for her new role, she said: “My initial thoughts are that I would like national campaigns on things like phones and not giving them to your toddler. I would love it if we could get to a point where [the issue is considered] in the same way that we know that you should eat four or five fruit vegetables in a day, or drink eight glasses of water a day.”

She agreed that the pandemic had been “a disaster” for disadvantaged children and she understood why the government had distributed laptops, but questioned the assumption that the more digital access you have as a family, the better off you are in terms of accessing education. “I think there’s a lot more to accessing education and I don’t think the solution is providing more laptops for families,” she said.

Education

Delta govt suspends head teacher over extortion of pupils

Determined to stop extortion in schools, the Delta State government has suspended the Head Teacher of New Era Primary School, Okpanam in the Oshimili North local government area of the state.

The headteacher was involved in the illegal collection of N2,000 from pupils for primary six results.

The Executive Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, Samuel Mariere who announced the suspension while addressing public primary education stakeholders in Oshimili north at Akwukwu-Igbo, headquarters of the local government council, said the board had warned against such collections as directed by the state Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori.

Mariere said the present administration in the state had made it clear that education at the primary level is free and warned Head Teachers against extortion from parents and wards.

He expressed disappointment that some unrepentant head teachers had refused to desist from illegal collections, noting that the act is one of the reasons why some of them will continue to resist transfer because of the fortune they made over time as heads of schools.

The SUBEB Boss stressed that the state government seriously frowned at any form of extortion in the guise of printing examination question papers and collection of results, saying that public primary education is completely free of charge in Delta state.

Mariere warned Head Teachers who are still in the business of illegal collections in their schools to repent or face dismissal from service when caught.

He called on stakeholders in public primary education to help monitor and supervise teachers in their localities and to report to the board anyone found doing the wrong things, particularly in the areas of poor commitment to work, absenteeism and extortions.

He appealed to the local government councils in the state to pay the 10% total emoluments of teachers and local education authority staff as required by the UBEC law to run the day-to-day activities of the schools while thanking Obi Azuka of Akwukwu-Igbo kingdom for his support on reforms in public primary education.

Chairman, Oshimili North, Innocent Esewezie, represented by the Head of Personnel Management, Mrs Stella Ofunne, welcomed the ongoing reforms and pledged the council’s support to revamp public primary schools.

Education Secretary, Oshimili North, Elder Austin Odogwu, said his office would enforce discipline in schools to ensure quality service delivery, even as he thanked the state government for the recent recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff.

Education

Students Loan: NELFUND receives another N2m refund

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, has announced the receipt of two million Naira, through a bank draft from a former beneficiary of student loan, Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN.

This is contained in a statement by Monalisa Dike, from the Corporate Communications Department of the fund on Friday in Abuja.

Dike said that Awomolo benefitted from the loan during his undergraduate studies at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) between 1975 and 1977.

According to her, the senior lawyer demonstrated his unwavering commitment to the nation by repaying the loan in full.

“The loan, which at the time amounted to a total of N1,000 for two sessions, was instrumental in helping him complete his law degree.

“Despite several previous attempts, over the years, to refund the loan, Awomolo was unable to fulfill the repayment until now.

“In his letter to the Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, Awomolo expressed his gratitude to the Nigerian government for the opportunity that the student loan provided him,” she said.

She further said that Awomolo acknowledged the transparency and accountability that NELFUND had demonstrated in its current management of student loans.

Dike reiterated that Awomolo’s repayment came as a testament to the lasting impact of President Bola Tinubu’s initiative and the ongoing relevance of NELFUND in supporting Nigerian students.

She, however, said that the funds would be used to fund the education of students who need the loan now.

Education

No plan to stop under 18 students from writing WASSCE, NECO – Minister

The Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu has clarified that the Federal Ministry of Education has not stopped students who are not up to 18 years old from writing the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) exams.

Sununu said this while fielding questions from journalists at an event to mark the 2024 International Literacy Day (ILD) on Friday.

According to him, public misconception and misinterpretation of what was said by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, was highly disappointing.

He said that the minister was actually speaking on the 18 years entry age into the tertiary institutions as was practiced in the 6:3:3:4 system of education.

“We have agreed that we are going to consider it as a work-in-progress. The National Assembly is working and we are also working.

“It was shocking to say that a university in this country gave admission to children at ages 10, 11 and 12 years. This is totally wrong.

“We are not saying that there are no exceptions, we know we can have talented students that have the IQ of an adult even at age 6 and 7, but these are very few.

“There must be a rule, and the ministry is looking at developing a guideline on how to identify a talented child, so that parents don’t say we are blocking their children’s chances.

“Nobody said no child will write WAEC, NECO or any other examination unless at age 18. This is a misconception and misrepresentation of what we have said,” he said.

Speaking on the International Literacy Day, Sununu underscored the critical role of literacy in fostering mutual understanding, peace and socio-economic development.

He reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to addressing literacy challenges through the Education for Renewed Hope roadmap (2024-2027).

He highlighted youth and adult literacy as key components, while emphasising the importance of using learners’ mother tongues as a medium of instruction.

“We must focus on the role of a learner’s first language in becoming literate, which will foster mutual understanding and peace,” he added.

He also emphasised the need for well-trained educators who should be equipped to teach in local languages, as well as the development of follow-up reading materials in these languages.

On his part, the Executive Secretary, National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education (NMEC), Prof. Simon Akpama, reaffirmed the Commission’s dedication to integrating multilingual education into schools’ literacy programmes.

“In an increasingly interconnected world, multilingual education is not just a necessity, it is a tool for fostering peace and cultural respect,” he said.

Meanwhile, UNESCO’s Country Representative, Mr Diallo Abdourahamane, re-echoed that literacy remained a fundamental human right, hence the need to create a just, peaceful and sustainable society.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ILD which is celebrated annually on Sept. 8, is aimed at highlighting the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Promoting Multilingual Education: Literacy for Mutual Understanding and Peace.”
(NAN)