Government to reposition Unity Colleges

Government to reposition Unity Colleges
Godwin Ukaa, Abuja

Nigerian government is taking urgent steps to address the appalling state of the Federal Unity Colleges to ensure that they serve as models for other providers of secondary education as intended.

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Education, Olorogun Kenneth O. Gbagi, who stated this while receiving the Ministerial Assessment Committee Report on the 104 Federal Unity Colleges across Nigeria, said that the Report would enrich the policy direction of the government in repositioning the schools.

Repositioning of schools

While the Minister noted that lack of operational guidelines for the Principals have been the bane of poor administration of the schools, he pointed out that the Ministry had started addressing the challenges facing the schools. He assured the committee that its recommendations would serve as oasis for ideas and thoughts that will impact positively on repositioning of the schools.

Gbagi said that no efforts would be spared in the process of returning the institutions to their past glory.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education Professor Nicholas A. Damachi, said that the areas of needs identified in the Report such as inadequate staffing, insufficient teaching and learning instructional materials as well as the security of lives and properties in the colleges would be addressed timely.

In his remarks, the Director, Basic and Secondary Education, Alhaji Garba Y. Bello, explained that the Federal Government’s decision to set up the Assessment Committee at this time was indicative of the Government’s determination to reposition the Colleges.
He expressed optimism that the Report would provide the Ministry with the much needed information that will assist in the continuous re-engineering of the Colleges.

Fresh hands

The Chairman of the Committee and Kogi State Commissioner of Education, Chief Sylvester M. Onoja, while presenting the report remarked that there was urgent need for the recruitment of young fresh hands as most of the schools lack adequate teaching staff since the existing teaching staff disposition was top heavy with a large percentage near retirement age.

Recommendations

The Committee’s recommendations include provision of functional workshops and science laboratories and equipment; review of NABTEB curriculum to meet present day demand; continuous training and retraining of the teachers to keep them abreast of global trend of knowledge explosion; and establishment of the proposed National Quality Assurance Commission.

Iheanacho