Vice chancellors disagree with ASUU on reopening of varsities – Newstrends
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Vice chancellors disagree with ASUU on reopening of varsities

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Vice-Chancellors of federal and state universities in Nigeria have expressed readiness to reopen schools.

But the Academic Staff Union of Universities insists that varsities are not ready for reopening as they have put measures in place to protect students, lecturers and other workers from contracting the new strain of COVID-19.

The VCs said they had planned to reopen their institutions as directed by the Federal Government.

Apart from the scare arising from the second wave of COVID-19, they said they planned to stagger the resumption.

The VC of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Prof. Felix Salako, said the varsity would resume academic activities on January 18, in compliance with the directive of the Federal Government.

He maintained that the university was ready to resume academic activities, saying that measures had been put in place, including COVID-19 protocols as stipulated by the Federal Government.

He said it was mischievous and political for any lecturer to go to the media to say that the university was not ready for academic activities.

Salako noted that the school had undergone fumigation more than 10 times since March 2020, just as there had been massive infrastructural rehabilitation.

He added that the management had been producing its own hand sanitisers, as well as procuring hand-washing basins and soaps needed to keep the students and members of staff safe from contracting the virus.

The vice-chancellor also said the university would be running what he described as “hybrid” teaching, a mix of physical and virtual learning, while no fewer than 150 solar panels had been installed in some of the buildings, to provide alternative sources of electricity and facilitate the planned hybrid system of learning delivery.

“The virtual learning will take care of large classes, like the part one students, but for fewer classes, we have large halls to accommodate the students,” Salako said.

Meanwhile, the University of Ilorin has started online lectures as scheduled.

The management of the University of Benin also announced that the institution would resume on January 30.

The Senate of Bayero University Kano, on Monday, approved the commencement of a new academic session on January 18, 2021, while the second semester would commence on May 3, 2021.

The Senate of Ekiti State University has also announced that the institution will resume online academic activities from January 18.

Deputy Director, Corporate Communications and Protocol of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Mr Adegbenro Adebayo, said academic activities will resume on January 18 for its students.

The Public Relations Officer of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Biodun Olarewaju, said the Senate of the institution would meet on January 19 to decide when its students would resume.

Subject to the decision of the Senate, the spokesperson said OAU would put in place all necessary arrangements in compliance with COVID-19 protocols to ensure safety in the university environment.

ASUU had on Sunday assessed COVID-19 protocols in the universities and said the institutions were not ready for safe reopening.

The National Universities Commission had said universities could resume on January 18 but must adhere to COVID-19 protocols in hostels and lecture halls.

ASUU said although its members were ready to start work, the government had not put measures in place for safe reopening of the schools.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, said on Monday that FG would review the January 18 earlier date fixed for resumption of schools across Nigeria.

It attributed the decision to the second wave of COVID-19 currently ravaging the country.

Adamu said, “It (January 18 date of school reopening) is not sacrosanct. When we decided on that date it was just a target towards what we were working on. Of course, we are keeping it in view and looking at what is happening in society and then it is supposed to be subject to constant review.”

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UniAbuja: ASUU declares indefinite strike over disagreement with varsity management

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UniAbuja: ASUU declares indefinite strike over disagreement with varsity management 

University of Abuja’s branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared an indefinite strike.

The union announced the decision on Thursday during a congress held at the permanent site of the institution.

A communique issued by the varsity’s branch of the union declared the “total and indefinite strike” over a lingering disagreement with the UniAbuja management.

The issues involve ASUU’s interest in a multi-stakeholder microfinance banking venture; promotion procedures in the absence of a governing council, election for faculty deanship, and alleged illegal appointments.

Abubakar Kari, the UniAbuja student affairs dean and ex-convener of ASUU’s national political committee, confirmed the development.

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UTME results not available in paper format – JAMB

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UTME results not available in paper format – JAMB

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has urged Nigerians to be wary of any candidate parading printed result slips as, currently, the results are not in any paper format.

The body also said that, unlike last year, the results cannot be found on the Board’s website at the moment.

JAMB made this known in a statement released by its spokesperson, Dr Fabian Benjamin, on Wednesday.

He stated that the information became necessary as some individuals were already circulating printed result slips on social media.

The statement read, “The Board, once again, wishes to state clearly that the only way to check the 2024 UTME result is to send UTMERESULT to 55019 or 66019 using the same phone used by the candidate in registering for the UTME exercise. Ensure that the SIM is not on any bundle.

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“This is different from what was obtained last year; hence, the results are not and cannot be found on the Board’s website at the moment.

“Candidates are urged to follow the method specified above to obtain their results. They need not visit any cybercafe or patronise any third-party entity to check their result.

“The public is also advised to be wary of any candidate parading printed result slip as currently; the result is not on any paper format as being circulated on social media by some individuals.

“A reasonable number of candidates have checked their results as seen on our monitoring dashboard but for the few still struggling, please follow the right channel.”

On Monday, the Board announced the release of the 2024 UTME results.

The Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, made this known during a press briefing in Bwari, Abuja.

Oloyede also noted that the results of 64,624 out of the 1,904,189 who sat the examination have been withheld by the Board and will be subject to investigation. The Board Registrar noted that though a total of 1,989,668 registered, a total of 80,810 candidates were absent.

UTME results not available in paper format – JAMB

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78% of 2024 UTME candidates scored below 200 – JAMB

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Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede

78% of 2024 UTME candidates scored below 200 – JAMB

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, on Monday, released the results of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, showing that 1,402,490 candidates out of  1,842,464 failed to score 200 out of 400 marks.

The number of candidates who failed to score half of the possible marks represents 78 per cent of the candidates whose results were released by JAMB.

Giving a breakdown of the results of the 1,842,464 candidates released, the board’s Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, noted that, “8,401 candidates scored 300 and above; 77,070 scored 250 and above; 439,974 scored 200 and above while 1,402,490 scored below 200.”

On naming the top scorers for the 2024 UTME, Oloyede said, “It is common knowledge that the board has, at various times restated its unwillingness to publish the names of its best-performing candidates, as it considers its UTME as only a ranking examination on account of the other parameters that would constitute what would later be considered the minimum admissible score for candidates seeking admission to tertiary institutions.

“Similarly, because of the different variables adopted by respective institutions, it might be downright impossible to arrive at a single or all-encompassing set of parameters for generating a list of candidates with the highest admissible score as gaining admission remains the ultimate goal. Hence, it might be unrealistic or presumptive to say a particular candidate is the highest scorer given the fact that such a candidate may, in the final analysis, not even be admitted.

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“However, owing to public demand and to avoid a repeat of the Mmesoma saga as well as provide a guide for those, who may want to award prizes to this set of high-performing candidates, the Board appeals to all concerned to always verify claims by candidates before offering such awards.”

Oloyede also noted that the results of 64,624 out of the 1,904,189, who sat the examination, were withheld by the board and would be subject to investigation.

He noted that though a total of 1,989,668 registered, a total of 80,810 candidates were absent.

“For the 2024 UTME, 1,989,668 candidates registered including those who registered at foreign centres. The Direct Entry registration is still ongoing.

“Out of a total of 1,989,668 registered candidates, 80,810 were absent. A total of 1,904,189 sat the UTME within the six days of the examination.

“The Board is today releasing the results of 1,842,464 candidates. 64,624 results are under investigation for verification, procedural investigation of candidates, Centre-based investigation and alleged examination misconduct.”

Oloyede also said the board, at the moment, conducts examination in nine foreign centres namely: Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Buea, Cameroon; Cotonou, Republic of Benin; London, United Kingdom; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and Johannesburg, South Africa.

“The essence of this foreign component of the examination is to market our institutions to the outside world as well as ensuring that our universities reflect the universality of academic traditions, among others. The Board is, currently, fine-tuning arrangements for the conduct of the 2024 UTME in these foreign centres,” he said.

78% of 2024 UTME candidates scored below 200 – JAMB

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