Sen. Isah wants KSCEO upgraded to degrees awarding institution
Senator representing Kogi East Senatorial District, Senator Jibrin Isah has called on the Federal Government to urgently establish Federal University of Education in order to take over the assets and liabilities, including staff of Kogi State College of Education, Ankpa.
Presenting a bill, Tuesday in the upper chamber, on the need to ‘Provide for the establishment of Federal University of Education, Ankpa, Kogi State, to provide for training and teaching instruction in every aspect of education and such other fields of applied learning relevant to the needs of the development of education in Nigeria, matter of administration and discipline of students and for related matters’, Sen. Isah, stressed that the proposed university will will replace by way of upgrade, Kogi State College of Education (KSCOE), Ankpa.
“The college has structure and facilities that will make the take-off of the university less cumbersome”, he stated.
Sen. Isah noted that KSCOEA has contributed greatly to the manpower development of Kogi State, and Nigeria in general especially in teachers education, adding that the college runs programs ranging from certificate, Pre-NCE, NCE (Regular) and NCE (Sandwich) among others.
He further noted that the college runs over forty subject combinations under different schools, including Arts and Social Sciences, Languages, Sciences, Vocational and Technical Education, Early Childhood Care and Primary Education, and General Education, with about 25 departments, 4000 students and over 600 academic staff strength.
“It is a common knowledge that education is bedrock of every society, ad it is a pillar of national development. The existence of a sound and robust educational system in any country is predicated on the availability of qualified and well-trained teachers to impact the required knowledge on the students. Thus, the need to have a strong system in our educational sector that shall continuously ensure well-trained teachers, as it is obtainable in other countries cannot be overemphasised.
“Teachers have a significant role to play in the preparation of young people for their effective participation in the society. Teachers education, therefore, becomes the foundation of quality and higher standard in the educational system.
“One of the key strategic actions a for the Actualization of education policy of the Universal Basic Education -‘Education for All, and related Sustainable Development Goal is the continued expansion of teachers training opportunities. It is against this backdrop that this bill seeks to establish the Federal University of Education, Ankpa, Kogi State.
“A study by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), provided data on the state of social welfare in the country, it discloses that inadequate teaching staff and poor quality of teaching and non-teaching staff are part of the challenges in the educational sector. This challenge is exemplified by the mass failure of students in West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and NECO examinations.
“The effectiveness of every educational system depends on the educational attainment of the teachers. It is obvious from recent events that there are many unqualified teachers in our schools. This shows the necessity of expanding teachers’ training infrastructure to address this lingering challenges”, he stated.
The lawmaker reiterated that the country needs a major improvement in both the numbers and quality of teachers. “Upgrading Kogi State College of Education to Federal University of Education will particularly address this problems”.
He, therefore, called for an urgent legislative action geared towards improving the quality of teachers and teaching in Nigerian schools.
