Oduduwa News

…This Open Process is First of Its Kind – N.U.T

Oyo State government has disclosed that 441 first-class graduates from different fields applied to write the computer-based test (CBT) that commenced in Ibadan on Tuesday.

The Chairman, Oyo State Teaching Service Commission, Pastor Akinade Alamu stated this while inspecting the exercise which held at the University of Ibadan CBT hall.

The exercise which was to run through the week till Saturday attracted applicants from all the zones of the State.

Pastor Alamu said the interest of the said best candidates in teaching service portended significant turnaround for the education sector in the State, as the present administration under the leadership of Governor Seyi Makinde has ensured all other inputs to achieve success have been provided.

“We are happy to have the best applicants, especially the first-class graduates taking part in this exercise, the government of Oyo State is desirous of lifting education to a higher level so that we will have as much as the best among our applicants.

“We want to bring back the pride attached to teaching in the old, it is the best profession and if we have the best hands joining, it is a good omen.

“The scores at the interview level will place applicants higher, we have a mark for NCE, we have different mark for graduates and there is a higher mark for first class, this shows that the whole thing will be based on merit.

“The present government is concerned with the upliftment of education in the State, this is why we decided that before we appoint anybody as teacher, such a person must be qualified, competent and ready to work in line with the passion of the governor for education, I believe this will raise the standard of education in the State and will catapult the performance rating of our State to the first three.”

Pastor Akinade said the inputs earlier made available to the education sector by the present administration like distribution of compendium of past questions of a subjects, the intervention classes, distribution of books among others were indications of a State that always planned.

He saluted the comportment of all applicants that wrote the test on Tuesday and reiterated the stand of the government to pick the best among the applicants.

The State Chairman, Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Adedoyin Samson while commenting on the exercise, said the CBT test was the first of its kind, as it depicted love for probity and professionalism in public service.

He maintained that the system would allow for the recruitment of the best among the candidates against the allotment of candidates to political office holders that used to hold sway before now.

At the exercise was the Permanent Secretary, TESCOM, Mrs Grace Oderinde, members of staff of the commission and officials of the University of Ibadan CBT hall.

The governor of Ekiti State has suspended Principal of a secondary school who failed to receive the Governor of the State, Governor Kayode Fayemi on a tour to access level of compliance to COVID-19 safety guidelines by schools in the State.

In a letter signed by the Assistant Director (Information), Kunle Adeniyi, the letter directs the Principal to hand over the management of the school to the most senior vice-principal in the school pending the conclusion of appropriate disciplinary action by the Teaching Service Commission.”

A public service announcement signed by the Assistant Director (Information), Kunle Adeniyi, on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, stated, “At Methodist Girls High School, Ifaki Ekiti, the principal was not available to receive the governor and his entourage and making the monitoring exercise impossible in the school despite the notice from the Ministry of Education.”

The statement quoted Fayemi as saying that schools must ensure that the sitting arrangement of students was made to conform with COVID-19 protocol for physical distancing and to allow teachers’ unhindered movement around the classrooms.

JAMB says varsities, polytechnics, others can start Post-UTME test Sept. 7

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has shifted the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (post-UTME) screening for the 2020 admission processes till Sept.7 in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in the country.

The board said the shift in the date of the admission process from the earlier announced Aug. 21 was to accommodate candidates who would be taking part in this year’s school-based Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE).

Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, the Board Registrar, made this known on Monday, after a consultative virtual meeting with Vice Chancellors, Rectors, and Provosts of tertiary institutions.
According to him, the view of JAMB is that while we go on consulting at a point when it becomes necessary for decision, we should all come together and take decisions.

“Presently as you are aware, WAEC starts the Senior School Certificate Examination on Aug. 17, it will go on till Sept. 7.

“Similarly, on Sept. 2 or thereabout, NABTEB will commence its own examination that will go on till Oct. 15, and immediately after that, NECO starts from the 5th to Nov.18.
“Rather than making candidates run, particularly, when they will have to write their school certificate exam in different towns and rush to universities elsewhere for post-UTME, like somebody rushing from Sokoto to Ibadan for post-UTME, we believe as a custodian of the highest sector of the education system, we should avoid that,” Oloyede said.

The JAMB boss said institutions whose post-UTME screening was mandatory for candidates would have to spread such exercise in two phases.

“For those institutions who want to take post-UTME, that cannot be earlier than the 7th of September and it will be held twice – from 7th September to 4th of October, and then it will be held for the second time on the 18th of November to mop up those who are taking their school certificate examination,” he said.

Oloyede, who commended the various submissions of heads of tertiary institutions during the meeting, said institutions that conducted admissions without the administration of any-post UTME screening, should also ensure candidates whose SSCE results would be released toward the end of the year were not denied participation in the admission exercise.

He said that the board had withheld results of candidates that sat for the 2020 UTME at Correctional Service Centres (prisons) over suspected infractions.

“There are candidates who took exams in the correctional centres that we know are not prisoners, so we wrote to the correctional centres to explain how that happens, because we did not want non-prisoners to take advantage of the concessions we give to inmates,” Oloyede said.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the virtual meeting attracted 488 participants from across all states in the country.

It was attended by JAMB’s Director of Administration, Aliyu Muhammed; Director of Finance, Muktar Bello; Director of Information Communication Technology, Fabian Okoro,; Director of Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin, among others. (NAN)