Education

Teacher Suspended For Defiling 14 Female Pupils In Niger State

The Niger State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has suspended a Grade Two teacher of the Central Primary School, Karabonde, in Borgu Local Government Area of the state, Alhaji Usman Galadima, for allegedly defiling 14 female pupils of the school.

Galadima was accused of sexually assaulting the pupils and threatening to kill them if they ever revealed the abuses to anyone, but some of the pupils reportedly mustered courage and narrated the incident to their school’s Head Mistress, Maimunat Tanko, who reported the matter to the Head Master, Mallam Abdullahi Toure, leading to an investigation into the cases.

The activities of the randy teacher were then reported to the social welfare department of Borgu LGA and an investigation was launched as ordered by the Education Secretary of the council.

The Education Secretary was said to have visited the school to ascertain the true position of the report and afterwards, set up a committee to investigate the matter, even as more girls opened up on being sexually assaulted by the same teacher.

It was gathered that Galadima appeared before the committee and confessed to the crime, during its meeting.

The Education Board through its Public Relations Officer, Idirs Kolo, who announced the suspension of Galadima on Wednesday, stated that the accuse has been handed over to the State Child Protection Agency for prosecution.

Kolo explained that before any further action would be taken against him, the teacher must be suspended first from work.

“The accused is presently with Child Right Protection Agency. We have to move him from Borgu to Minna to save his life from mob action by parents and families of the victims. They are all furious over what he did to their daughters.

“The management of SUBEB has suspended him because what he did cannot be swept under the carpet by anyone. The state Governor, Alh. Abubakar Sani Bello, is not happy with the development.”

The Director of the Niger State Child Right Protection Agency, Barrister Maryam Kolo, also confirmed the development, explaining that the Agency has facilitated the transfer of the case from Borgu LGA to Minna, so that it can be thoroughly investigated.

Also confirming incident, the State Poice spokesman, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, said the Commissioner of Police, CP Monday Bala Kuryas, has ordered for a thorough investigation into case.

“The social welfare unit of Borgu LGA reported an incident of defilement of 3 girls of central primary school, Karabonde to the police on 27th Aug, 2021. The Commissioner of Police, CP Monday Bala Kuryas has ordered a thorough investigation into the case and the suspect will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded,” Abiodun said.

Education

JAMB orders review of 2025 UTME

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has ordered an immediate review of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) following a wave of public complaints alleging technical glitches, incomplete questions, and unusually low scores even as thousands of candidates have threatened to sue the examination body.

The Board, in a statement issued by its Public Communication Advisor, Fabian Benjamin, acknowledged what it described as an “unusual volume of complaints” since the release of the UTME results last Friday.

It said the development had prompted it to fast-track its annual post-examination review process, which typically takes place months after the exercise.

“We are particularly concerned about the unusual complaints originating from a few states within the federation,” Fabian said. “We are currently scrutinising these complaints in detail to identify and rectify any potential technical issues.”.

The spokesperson explained that the annual review covers three stages of the UTME cycle—registration, examination, and result release.

He added that if any faults are found in the system, JAMB would not hesitate to implement “appropriate remedial measures.

“To assist in this process, we have engaged a number of experts, including members from the Computer Professionals Association of Nigeria, Chief External Examiners, who are heads of tertiary institutions, the Educational Assessment and Research Network in Africa, measurement experts, and Vice Chancellors from various institutions.”

The exam board noted that “If it is determined that there were indeed glitches, we will implement appropriate remedial measures promptly, as we do in the case of the examinations themselves.”

JAMB’s intervention comes amid reports that thousands of candidates are preparing to file a class-action lawsuit against the Board over the alleged irregularities.

Many claim they encountered technical malfunctions and inconsistent question displays during the examination.

The controversy reached a boiling point after JAMB revealed in its viral statistical data that over 1.5 million out of the 1.9 million candidates who sat for this year’s UTME scored below 200 out of a possible 400 marks

Education

Govt sanctions school for selling position of Head Prefect during election

The Anambra State Government has imposed a one-month sanction on Blossom Fount School, Awka, for allegedly selling the position of head prefect during a student election.

This was disclosed in a statement on Saturday by the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh.

According to the commissioner, the school reportedly demanded N5,000 from each pupil aspiring to become head prefect in the primary section.

Chuma-Udeh condemned the act, describing it as an attempt to “sell the psyche of the children to the highest bidder from the cradle.”

According to her, such practices are unacceptable under the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo.

She said that an investigation was ongoing to examine the school’s broader management practices, with the possibility of further actions based on the findings.

Education

JAMB releases 2025 UTME results

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, on Friday announced the release of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, results.

The board disclosed that it is withholding the results of 39,834 candidates over issues relating to examination irregularities.

Recall that over 1.9 million applicants participated in the just-concluded exercise.

JAMB also disclosed that 80 suspects across the country are currently under interrogation for examination fraud, with Anambra State leading the pack with 14 suspects.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, stated this on Friday while officially releasing the 2025 UTME.

He also disclosed that while 467 underage candidates met the prescribed minimum score, 50 were engaged in cheating scandal.