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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed for second reading a bill seeking to upgrade the College of Education, Kastina-Ala, in Benue State into a university of education.
The sponsor of the bill, Richard Gbande, in his lead debate, said the proposed legislation, if passed into law, will give impetus to the federal government desire to enhance the quality of education in the country.
Gbande noted that the College of Education, which was established in 1984, currently offers National Certificate of Education (NCE), with specialisation in various subject. The lawmaker added that the institute also offers Bachelor of Education(B.Ed) and Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in affiliation with the University of Calabar and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, respectively.
He stated that if the college is upgraded to a Federal University of Education, more students will have the opportunity to benefit from the institution’s postgraduate programmes.
According to him, ‘the need for the upgrade of this specialized institution of higher learning is also predicated on the mass failure of students in WAEC and NECO examination, which is largely due to the absence of good qualified and well trained teachers in Nigeria. Nigeria require about 2 million primary and secondary school teachers (UNESCO,2018) .
‘The university will serve as a catchment area to our teeming students and youths from Cross River, Taraba, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Kogi and FCT, Abuja, among others.’
Gbande added that the college, if upgraded to a university, will ‘provide a platform for training of skilled workers to boost industrialization and technological development.’
