Industrial action embarked on by primary and secondary teachers in South Kordofan as they demand their full financial dues, has entered its fifth day.  

Head of the teacher’s union in South Kordofan, Bahloul, told Radio Dabanga that the primary and secondary teachers in various localities across South Kordofan, have been owed back-payments from as far back as 2020.

He also stated that a salary top-up which was meant to come in effect had also not been received, leaving the teachers in a state of complete financial insecurity.

Bahloul explained that their strike scheduled for next Thursday will turn into an open strike if they do not receive their full financial dues adding that all the governors in South Kordofan would be punished for not acknowledging their financial grievances.

Professors at the Sudan University of Science and Technology participated in an open strike on Wednesday, to protest the stubbornness of the authority and their refusal to implement the decision made by Sudan’s former Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, on their salary structure.

The preliminary committee for the professors at Sudan University of Science and Technology said that the committee of professors voted to strike by 71 per cent.

The committee stated that the disastrous financial impact for the university professors threatened the entire educational process.

The committee confirmed the continuation of the strike until their salary demands are met.

FIFA President, Gianni Infantino joined hundreds of school children to celebrate the launch of a new football development project in Dakar, Senegal.

The Lycee Lamine Gueye has a capacity of 3,000 students and the project is part of the FIFA Forward programme, following a Memorandum of Understanding with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the African Union in February 2019.

The project includes the construction of a new pitch, an outdoor futsal court and the renovation of changing rooms for boys and girls.

It will also allow the community to benefit from facilities as it hosts training sessions for clubs and schools in the Dakar-Plateau area, inter-school (UASSU) and inter-university competitions and pupils from surrounding colleges.

The Ghanaian government has asked its citizens in Ukraine to shelter themselves in their homes or go take shelter in government places of shelter.

This comes as the row between Russia and Ukraine took a different dimension today after Russia launched a full military attack on Ukraine earlier today.

Ghana’s foreign ministry has advised Ghanaian students in Ukraine to seek shelter in their homes or in designated government places of shelter, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to the ministry, over a thousand Ghanaian nationals are currently studying or working in Ukraine adding that it is “gravely concerned” for their safety.

However, Ghana’s national student union wants the government to go a step further and evacuate Ghanaian students from the conflict zone until calm is restored.

The National Examinations Councils, NECO, has released the 2021 Senior School Certificate Examination, SSCE external candidates’ results.

Announcing the results in Minna on Thursday, Registrar/Chief Executive of NECO, Prof. Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi, said the results were released just after sixty-four (64) days the last paper was written.

According to the NECO boss, “the Number of candidates that registered for the examination was 47, 916.

“The number of candidates that sat for the English Language was 45,821 out of which 36,116, representing 78.82% made Credit and above.

” 45,756 Candidates sat for Mathematics, out of which 35,706, representing 78.04percent made Credit and above.

“The number of candidates who got five (5) Credits and above, including English Language and Mathematics is 29,342, representing 62.59%.

“On the other hand, 37,991 candidates, representing 81.04%, got five (5) Credits and above, irrespective of English Language and Mathematics.

“The Number of Candidates booked for various forms of malpractice in 2021 is 4,454, as against 6,465 in 2020, which shows a significant decline in the number of malpractice cases.”

Speaking further, Prof. Dantani said candidates can access their results on the NECO website www.neco.gov.ng, using their examination registration numbers.

While saying the Council has embarked on various programmes to reposition the examination body to better performance, the Dantani commended President Muhammadu Buhari and the two ministers of education for their massive support.

“I thank the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for his support and assistance towards the execution of the Council’s mandate.

“My sincere appreciation also goes to the Honourable Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, and the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba for their support and guidance. The same goes to the Chairman and members of the Governing Board under the leadership of Dr. Abubakar Mohammed for their untiring support and guidance.

“I would also like to appreciate Members of the National Assembly who have continued to support the Council, through relevant oversight committees,” he added.

Relevant stakeholders in the education sector have thrown their weight behind two bills seeking the establishment of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Trust Fund and Youth Entrepreneurship Development Trust Fund.

At a public hearing on the bills organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Youth Development on Thursday, the stakeholders said establishing the trust fund will help curtail the rate of unemployment.

Titled “Bill for an Act to establish the National Youth Service Corps Trust Fund and a Bill for an Act to make provision for the establishment of Youth Entrepreneurship Development Trust Fund, both bills were sponsored by Hon. Samuel Akinfolarin and Hon. Farah Dagogo respectively.

In his presentation, the Director-General NYSC, Maj. Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim said the Trust Fund will make corp members self-reliant.

A former Governor of Edo State, Osunbor Oserheimen also supported the bill.

“This Bill is commendable and I support its passage by the National Assembly. Nevertheless, I urge this Committee to pay particular attention to the sourcing and utilisation of funds part of which I have addressed. This is to avoid the abuses that have been associated in recent times with Trust Funds by officials who see them as slush funds to feed their avarice. This calls for caution in order that the good intention behind this Bill is not defeated,” he said.

In his remarks, the Chairman House Committee on Youth Development, Yemi Adaramodu said the bills crystalize development in the youths.

Declaring the hearing open earlier, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila represented by the leader of the House said both bills sought to create opportunities for economic and social advancement for the youths.

He said “Both Bills, in their own way, seek to create opportunities for economic and social advancement for young people by offering skills acquisition opportunities and providing access to capital to actualise entrepreneurial ambitions. These are both laudable objectives. The NYSC trust fund Bill recognises that the NYSC is a significant cost centre for the Federal Government of Nigeria. And at a time of competing priorities dwindling resources, the Corps may not be sustainable in its present form.

“The Bill is an attempt to begin an essential and long-overdue conversation about the future of the National Youth Service Corps and the options for reforming the Corps so that in whatever form it continues to exist, it serves the best interests of our beloved country. I believe, and I have expressed this belief in different fora, that the most pressing public policy question of our time is how to ensure the economic, political, and social future of the teeming number of young people in the country.

“How do we build an economy that provides enough well-paying jobs and ensure that young people are adequately represented in the arena where political decisions are made? As legislators, we must continue to strive to find answers to these questions. But we must also be innovative in the proposals we make and the alternatives we consider for reform. Particularly, we must be circumspect in our consideration of proposals that impose a permanent obligation on limited public funds when we are borrowing heavily to meet the basic obligations of government”, he said.