Covid-19: Remote Work, Remote Education
The Los Angeles Times has called the novel coronavirus outbreak “an education crisis with no parallel in recent history.” as more than 390 million children in 29 countries have been affected by school closures
At the end of last week, Nine African countries have confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with Togo and Cameroon the latest entrants on the list. Schools were closed down in Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan and South Africa with Morocco also following suit this morning.
In Kenya, Secondary School Daily Nation reported that a University has directed its lecturers to develop online teaching modules for all courses and we expect that similar calls be made for Primary and Secondary Schools.
Jail Term for parents of school dropouts in Zimbabwe
While schools in other neighbouring countries are being shut down, Parents in Zimbabwe can be jailed for up to two years if they do not send their children to school according to a newly published law. Read more
Covid-19 FG warns Nigerian Schools
Last week, The Permanent Secretary of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Education Sonnie Ochono, reiterated that Nigeria will not join other African countries like Rwanda, Kenya and South-Africa in shutting down schools as the situation is still being monitored. However, he warned that “School proprietors, headmasters and headmistresses must ensure that students have access to clean water and soap at all times while on the school premises” Read more
Nigerian Senate wants education to become more digital
If your school isn’t using a digital tool like Gradely, Nigerian senate president Ahmad Lawan has a words for you. Here are his exact words according to Vanguard “Recently we created a Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. That digital economy alone is enough to dominate our economy if we get it right. “We need to have digital education permeating all strata of our education system.”
In a similar development, Tribune reported that the Federal House of Representatives wants to prove the use of over N2trn allocated for the education sector In 10 Years.
If you are trying to connect the dots between governance and education, Osun state is a perfect example as Governor Gboyega Oyetola has reversed some educational policies, including the use of single uniform by pupils and renaming of public schools introduced by his immediate predecessor, Rauf Aregbesola.
The Guardian also reported that the state has also reverted to the National Education Policy of 6-3-3-4 system as against the 4-5-3-4 system practised by the previous administration.
ASUU Strikes again
Academic activities in government-owned higher institutions in Nigeria came to a temporary halt last week and it was not because of the coronavirus. The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and the The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) are currently having a face-off over the former’s insistence on paying salaries to only lecturers that have enrolled into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information (IPPIS) platform.
The drama is simple, FGN claims it is doing this in a bid to sanitise the education system as the IPPIS platform will detect lecturers earning salaries from multiple universities simultaneously; ASUU has insisted this move is against the law establishing the nation’s universities. Read more here
Canadian Government Lures More Nigerian Students
It will now take Nigerian international students willing to study in Canada only 20 days to process their applications and secure their permits as against the typical 8 weeks as the Canadian government seeks to lure more Nigerians through its new 3,900 Express Entry policy. Read more here.
Lagos explosion
At Gradely, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of staff and students of Bethlehem Girls College, Abule Ado, Lagos. who were victims of the explosion that claimed several lives on Sunday, March 15. Legit writes more about the incidence and possible occurrence.
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