From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) said it has commenced implementation of recommendations that would boost student enrollment into Colleges of Education (CoEs), in order to produce more teachers that would serve at basic education system.
A document highlighting milestone achievements of the Commission’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Paulinus Chijioke Okwelle, since he assumed office two years ago, indicated that implementation of some of the measures have begun to yield the desired fruits, and the impacts are being felt across the system.
The document which was released at the weekend by NCCE media unit made reference to last year’s national summit on the “future of Nigeria certificate in education” that was organized by NCCE where several stakeholders made suggestions on the way forward for Colleges of Education and National Certificate on Education (NCE).
“The summit was adjudged as a huge success, and recommendations from the summit have been looked into. While implementations are ongoing for some of the recommendations, actions are halted on some others pending action by the federal ministry of education, in line with its pledge to support NCCE in improving teaching profession in Nigeria.
“Nevertheless, key among the gains of the summit was that Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) expressed readiness to support enrolment into Colleges of Education, and the result is already being felt in practical terms, as all the six new federal colleges of education established in 2020 have fully commenced operation with appreciative number of students.
“In addition to that, a number of partnerships with international organizations in respect to teacher development and training have also been secured. MoU was equally signed with UNESCO, British Council, CEBAR, Jolly Phonics, Cambridge Education, UNICEF and Huawei, among others.”
NCCE said it has consistently made a case for the recruitment of only NCE holders at the basic level of education in both public and private sector which, directly or indirectly, increase enrolments into COEs.
The NCCE boss was, however, appreciated for his administrative capacity, particularly in managing human resources. “He prioritized issue of staff welfare, staff mutual working relationship and enabled working atmosphere by ensuring steady power supply, procurement of state-of-the-art medical equipment for NCCE Clinic and renovation of NCCE car park.
“He also ensured that all liabilities were cleared for effective productivity, in addition to prioritized staff training and re-training, and also ensured the review of new schemes and condition of service. “Crisis that may warrant to Industrial actions by College Unions were properly managed, resulting in uninterrupted academic calendar.
“COVID-19 lockdown exposed Nigeria’s vulnerability in e-learning. As a result, Prof. Okwelle mandated the training of staff on easy digital access to the activities of NCCE, specifically, on the implementation of Open Education Resource (OER) in NCCE and Colleges of Education, and that has been helpful,” the document noted.