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COVID-19: Nigeria Gets $15m Grant For Safe School
The Federal Ministry of Education says Nigeria has received a 15 million dollar response grant from the Global Partnership on Education (GPE) for COVID-19 safe school reopening across the country.
Hajia Binta Abdulkadir, Director, Basic and Secondary Education in the ministry, said this on Wednesday in Bauchi, at a Cluster Mobilisation and Sensitisation Meetings on COVID-19 Protocols, Surveillance and Safe School Reopening Readiness.
Abdulkadir was represented on the occasion by Mr Achede Owoicho, Deputy Director, Basic and Secondary Education and the Focal person for the GPE.
The workshop is initiated with the support of the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF).
Abdulkadir noted that through the grants, UNICEF had sent WASH and ICT materials to 16 states for preparation of digital lessons and online teaching.
She stated that the ministry had engaged with the GPE during the pandemic, and we were told to apply for a grant to support recovery in the education sector.
“At the end of our engagement with the GPE, a 15 million-dollar grant was given to Nigeria as part of the COVID-19 response grant for the country.
“UNICEF was chosen as the grant agent to receive the monies and disburse, since global players do not give their money directly to the government,’’ she said.
Abdulkadir noted that the ministry also ran a 100 million dollars Nigeria Partnership for Education project, also being funded by the GPE in Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Jigawa and Katsina.
She said the project was meant to improve access and quality of basic education in the five states with emphasis on girls’ education for five years (2016-2020).
“The target of the project was initially to bring 80,000 girls back to school via girls’ scholarship, but at the end, 417,200 girls were brought back to school in those five states.
“Also, over 43,000 schools got grants to make their schools conducive for learning while 15,000 teachers, who did not have teaching qualification of National Certificate in Education (NCE) were given scholarship.
“ It is on that premise that the GPE deemed it fit for Nigeria to apply for the 15 million dollars COVID-19 response grant, after using the 100 million dollars judiciously.’’
Abdulkadir stated that the ministry was presently sending its members of staff to the states for effective distribution and monitoring of the utilisation of the grant.
She, therefore, commended the GPE for approving Nigeria’s application for assistance for fund, to mitigate the loss of learning time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also, Mrs Mairama Dikwa, Education Specialist, UNICEF Bauchi Office, said it was the collective responsibility of all, especially the state government, to ensure strategies were put in place amidst emergency.
Dikwa called for the support of School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) on awareness of the dangers of not securing the schools, to make them safe for learning.
“There has been a negative impact on education as a result of COVID-19, thus disrupting learning.
“ Inspite of all these challenges, UNICEF with other stakeholders put in place measures to ensure learning continues, by working extensively on home-based programmes to ensure learning continues.
“In other words, to ensure safety in all our schools, it is the responsibility of all.
“The SBMC needs to support the government’s efforts to make sure safety in the school is enhanced,’’ she said.
Dikwa, however, highlighted UNICEF’s commitment to continued support to mobilise women in all states, to ensure safe school reopening.
NAN
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Upcoming 2024 Promotion examination exercise will be on Computer Based Test (CBT) -Prof. Olaopa
—-says wage and compensation dimension of meritocracy must be addressed in civil service
Joel Ajayi
In his effort to scale-up the ongoing reform in the Commission and the necessity to achieve his objectives in the Federal Civil Service; the Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Prof. Tunji Olaopa has said that the Commission’s 2024 Promotion examination exercise will be on Computer Based Test (CBT) in line with the modernization and digitization program in the Federal Civil Service. He also said that restoring competency based HR practice and merit system in civil service will be meaningless if the intended reforms fail to address the wage and compensation dimension of meritocracy.
Olaopa who stated this on Thursday at the maiden Federal Civil Service Commission’s Monthly-Seminar Series for officers on grade levels 14 and above; opined that his numerous engagements with the Chairman, National Income, Salary and Wages Commission whose insights were re-assuring and solution context was important in the Commission’s reform agenda.
The event which gave the Hon. Commissioners and Management Staff opportunities to express their view witnessed Commission’s Director of Promotion; Mr. Sani B. Torankawa presented a Seminar-paper tagged: “Institutional framework and procedures for the conduct of Directorate level Promotion Examination: Guaranteeing Integrity, Credibility Transparency and Accountability”.
Chairman in his opening speech disclosed that the objective of the maiden-monthly-seminar series was designed to institute a seminar-space and learning-lab for federal officers. He added that the seminar was one of avenues the Commission deepens the sharing and learning of key reform issues and benchmarking in Nigeria.
He said the Commission will transit through the upcoming 2024 Promotion examination exercise from analogue to Computer Based Test (CBT) in tandem with the modernization and digitization of Federal Civil Service core operations.
Reeling out how the digitization is going to be implemented, Olaopa said the Commission will roll out an online-recruitment portal that will be accessible to all Nigerians and which will allow eligible candidates to pre-fill recruitment form and update them from time to time in preparation for the placement of adverts for recruitment into the public service and to the Federal service and in preparation for assessment and interview.
The Chairman revealed that henceforth eligible candidate will undergo computer based test and oral interview with result collated and released real-time.
He further revealed that the Commission was going into out-sourcing contract with National Open University and by extension with Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) both as technical partners with a view to take advantage of their infrastructure, networks and experience for online-accreditations, computer based test and examination as well as promotion-interview for officers in the Federal Service starting with Directorate level officers.
Talking about the maiden seminar, he disclosed that the event was convened to critically examine some of the first level issues and risks associated with the planned transition from analogue to online-computer based assessment processes as they touch on promotion exercise for Federal civil servants.
“We are not just looking at digitizing our online processes, computer based processes; we are also going to listen to some of the stakeholders who have been in this service, who have observed the way promotion are conducted”.
According to him, a lot of technical conversation will follow going-forward where some experts including Ministers that are doing well in computerization of their services will be invited to critique what the Commission is doing as part of due diligence to make sure that the Commission is doing the right thing.
He asserts that social-media orientation will be carried out where sets of media-clip will be made available to all civil servant to enable them to know the process for computer based assessment. He added that civil servants will also be taking through some orientation sessions conducted by the Head of Service in form of mock-test to prepare officers for 2024 promotion examination scheduled to hold in the 3rd quarter of this year.
Citing COVID19 pandemic as a case in point, he pointed out that ICT were used to work remotely from office seamlessly; saying that Commission will not be distracted by voices that believes that the initiative will not work. He stressed that the Commission will continue to perfect the process as the program is being deployed. He said, “We are going to do it whether we score 50 per cent or whatever”.
He informed that apart from digitization and computerization program being contemplated by the organization, there were other phases to be unveiled in due course which will be geared towards Commission’s reform plans once the endorsement of the President Ahmed Bola Tinubu is secured.
He emphasized that the Commission’s staff capacity and institutional structure need to be upgraded to sustain the momentum that various reform will create. He noted that as all efforts are channel to strengthen the professionalism of the Federal bureaucracy, the establishment of professionalized and modernized Federal Civil Service in line with the Renew-Hope Agenda of the government cannot be overemphasized.
The high point of the event was panelists/speakers presentations delivered by Mr. Ataboh Ademu-Director (Learning & Development)-OHCSF represented by an Asst. Director-Dr. Mohammed Bashir; Prof. Olugbenga D. Ojo-Director (Examination & Assessment-NOUN); Dr. Ahmed Dunoma Umar-Permanent Secretary-Fed. Min. of Youth Development; Mr. Olu O. Ilesanmi-Rtd Fmr. Permanent Secretary, Fed. Ministry and Mr. Mato Yusuf Abdullahi Director (ICT)-FCSC. This was followed by Q & A session.
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