By Mohammed Baba Busu
Niger Government has introduced skills acquisition programmes in all Junior and Secondary Schools in the state.
The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Dr Hadiza Muhammad, disclosed this during the post-State Executive Council news conference at the Government House, Minna.
The commissioner explained that the skills acquisition, done every Friday, would commence from the next term.
She said this became necessary because not every one of the students would earn a living through a white-collar job.
Muhammad said, “Monday to Thursday are for academic work; we are going to use Friday as a skills acquisition day because we need to catch these children when they are young and they will be trained in their preferred skills.”
The commissioner enumerated some other measures the ministry took to revamp the education sector, especially basic and senior education in line with the federal government’s education policy.
Muhammad said the education system would now start from the Early Child Care Development Education (ECCDE) at age three, thereby cancelling direct admission into primary one.
The commissioner explained that after the ECCDE level, the child would progress to nursery, primary and then to Junior Secondary School (JSS) one to three.
She added that after the JSS 3, the Basic School Leaving Certificate would be given to the child in place of the Primary School Certificate that was hitherto given after primary school.
She further explained that a one-year special class would be introduced as a bridge for the children who were not aware of the development, before moving them into the appropriate classes.
She said lots of advocacy would be carried out on the issue.
The commissioner said that the teachers would be trained to handle the ECCDE level and that only at the Basic Education level that National Certificate of Education (NCE) holders would be allowed to teach.
Muhammad added that the minimum requirement for Senior Secondary School teachers would be a first-degree certificate.
The commissioner said the repositioning of Basic and Secondary Education led the Federal Ministry of Education to collapse the Secondary School Board as well as the Science and Technical Board into the Senior Secondary School Board.
Muhammad also disclosed that the ministry was looking into community-based posting of teachers to post teachers to schools around their residing communities for effective and efficient service delivery.
The commissioner said that the ministry would also develop criteria for outstanding students to enjoy free sponsorship for WAEC, NECO and NABTECH by the state government.
She pointed out that the Federal Science and Technical College Kuta, had given the state government 750 admission slots and the government offered to sponsor their education.
Muhammad said that another measure to be taken to revive the education sector was to ensure that professionals were involved in the task of recruiting teachers and not solely the Civil Service Commission. (NAN)
