The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has urged the Federal Government to improve the economic situation in the country, as well as the education and health sectors.

Prof. Ayoola Akinwole, the Chairman, University of Ibadan chapter of ASUU, said until the nation’s economic situation is improved democracy will not prosper.

He said the only antidote to this is to have a large percentage of the middle class sufficient to support democracy.

The ASUU chieftain called on government to build public institutions instead of giving money to people adding that no amount of money freely given will ever eradicate poverty in Nigeria.

Commenting on celebration of the nation’s Democracy Day, he urged the ruling elites “to shun corruption, greed and primitive accumulation as well as desist from fanning embers and cinders of disunity and violence.

He advised governments at all levels to provide basic social infrastructure as well as provide employment opportunities in order to reduce poverty and crimes.

Also, Professor Babatunde Oyedeji of the Department of Politics and International Relations at the Lead City University, Ibadan and Stephen Lafenwa, a political scientist at the University of Ibadan, said there was a need to strengthen and consolidate on the gains of 23 years of uninterrupted democracy.

Oyedeji said that there were so many problems affecting people directly, for instance, infrastructure and the economy, electricity and unemployment, and insecurity but that “Nigerians have to thank God that we are still a nation.”

Also, Dr Stephen Lafenwa, a Political Scientist, University of Ibadan, said that Nigeria’s  democracy should be such that it would be inclusive; so that those with good ideas and are qualified should be given the chance to develop the country.

He said that strengthening the institutions and making political offices less attractive would improve the practice of democracy in Nigeria.

The Modibbo Adama University (MAU), Yola, Adamawa State, has demoted three professors in what the university described as renewed efforts to instill discipline.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the university in charge of Administration, Professor Muhammed Ja’afaru, who made the announcement, said the demotion was part of steps the MAU has taken to protect the university community against individuals stepping out of bounds.

Ja’afaru who said the three affected professors were demoted for misconduct, did not specify their misdeeds, nor did he mention their names, but he stressed that their offences had nothing to do with sexual exploitation.

In an interview with newsmen, Professor Ja’afaru explained, “We’ve not been getting issue of sexual assault around the university, no, the professors were not punished for that.”

He disclosed however that part of Professor Abdullahi Tukur’s legacies as VC had been the formulation of a sexual exploitation policy to guide the university should any case come up, especially as it tends to be common in many other institutions of higher learning.

The Federal Government of Nigeria and World Bank are working in synergy to promote innovation development in schools as well as encourage youths to participate effectively in skills acquisition programmes in Nigeria.

Director, Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Ben. Bem Goong, said the full implementation of the project entitled, “Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills,” also known as (IDEAS) project, was underway.

To this end, Goong said a national workshop for Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) project, was organised by the Federal Ministry of Education and the World Bank to kick-start the implementation of the project in Gombe, the Gombe State capital.

He noted that the five- day workshop was intended to discuss the financial management of the project, procurement processes, project workplan as well as monitoring and evaluation mechanisms among other things.

Gombe State Governor, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, who addressed the participants at the opening ceremony of the workshop designed to facilitate the implementation of the project, urged stakeholders to take the project very seriously, maintaining that the window of opportunity being offered, especially for the teeming youths in the country must be utilised optimally.

Yahaya, who was represented by the Commissioner for Education, Dauda Batari Maji, emphasised that skills acquisition was key to national development and could salvage youth restiveness.

He promised that Gombe State would take a lead in facilitating skills acquisition in the same way it is leading  in business amidst states in the country.

He urged stakeholders to approach the implementation of the project with every sense of urgency in order to achieve maximum results, adding that “time is of essence”.

In his welcome address, the project coordinator for Gombe State, Hassan Burga Likka told participants that the future of the Nigerian youth and the coming generations would be positively impacted by the IDEAS project, saying that “we cannot afford to fail as the consequences of failure will be disastrous to the country”.

Likka maintained that at the end of the workshop, the country would emerge stronger and ready to surmount whatever challenges that may come in the way of implantation of the project.

In line with the country’s economic transformation, China is ramping up efforts to promote the development of its vocational education system, aiming to expand the nation’s employment channels while cultivating more targeted talent for emerging high-tech industries.

The country has established the world’s largest vocational education system, this was revealed by an official from the Ministry of Education, Chen Ziji.

Data from the ministry showes that China currently has a total of 11,300 vocational education schools with more than 30 million students. 

The number of candidates taking the vocational college entrance examination and higher vocational school candidates has been growing in 2022.

The latest support measures from the government came as Central China’s Hubei provincial government released an implementation opinion on June 10 to promote high-quality development of local vocational education, which proposed to deepen and integrate the vocational educational system with industries and different types of educational systems while enhancing support for relevant schools and institutions in financing. 

State media, Xinhua News Agency reported that the revised Vocational Education Law came into force on May 1, which clearly defines that the vocational education in China is equally important as general education and states that China encourages the development of a variety of forms of vocational education.

The revised version also stressed the significance of establishing a sound vocational education system, continuously deepening and integrating the education system with different industries, strengthen cooperation between schools and enterprises, and improve the system and measures to protect vocational education.

China has so far formed more than 1,500 vocational education groups and alliances covering more than 45,000 member units, including enterprises, schools, and industry and research institutions to conduct studies.

Domestic vocational schools have built 24,900 internship training bases with enterprises, supported with loans, land and tax reduction, with an average annual increase of 8.6 percent.

Vocational schools and institutions across the country have also strengthened support for vocational education. 

As multiple industries in China have been going through a crucial transformation and upgrading phase, vocational education has become an indispensable resource for cultivating more professionals, while market demand for the talent is increasing. 

However, analysts have stressed the importance of continually improving standards and quality for vocational education, adding that enterprises meanwhile should also take professional skills into consideration on top of academic qualifications.  

Indian students going to the United Kingdom for higher education almost doubled with 1,08,000 study visas being issued in the year ending March 2022.

According to Nigel Adams, Minister of State in the Cabinet Office, UK this is a 93% increase compared to the previous year, showcasing that education is one of the mainstays of the ‘Living Bridge’ between the UK and India.

The UK is a world leader in education, housing four of the top 10 universities in the world, eight in the top 50, and 17 in the top-100 figuring on the QS World University Ranking 2022.

In a chat with journalists, Adam’s said Indians continue to be the top nationality in the skilled worker category, accounting for over two-fifths (44%) of UK work visas granted globally.

He said over 80,000 skilled work visas were granted to Indian professionals in the year ending March 2022, thus showcasing the strong ties between the two countries.

Adam said Telangana has an important role to play in growing economic relations between India and UK given its potential in education and life sciences adding that there is greater scope for cooperation in defence and health sectors with Hyderabad being home to top hosptials in the country.

In the roadmap as envisaged by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in their meeting as well, Telangana has a huge role to play in defence and security, health, climate change and clean energy.

British Deputy High Commissioner to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Andrew Fleming was also present at the meeting.