Nigeria will hold the fourth international conference on the Safe Schools Declaration in October, 2021.

The conference, the first in Africa with the theme: ‘Ensuring Safe Education for All: From Commitment to Practice’, is a hybrid event with participants attending in person at the ECOWAS Secretariat in Abuja, as well as attending virtually.

Addressing a briefing on the preparation towards the event in Abuja, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said Nigeria is ready to host the rest of the world.

A statement issued on the event stated that the event is to be hosted by Nigeria, together with the Governments of Argentina, Norway, Spain and the Global Coalition of Protect Education from Attack.

The statement read: “The Abuja conference is a biennial conference with the overarching aim of taking stock and reviewing progress in implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration (SSD), and the ‘Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict’, as well as encouraging commitment and action in protecting education from attack.

“The conference is a forum for states, and multilateral and civil society organisations to enhance experiences and learning, and to present their strategies, progress, as well as challenges in making the promise of safe education into a reality. The conference is also an opportunity for states to hold one another to account for advancing their commitment to implement the SSD.”

The statement further stated that the SSD has now been embraced by over half of all United Nations member states, adding that the central theme of the Abuja conference will be identifying good practice in implementing key commitments in the ‘Safe Schools Declaration; as well as highlighting how this good practice can be strengthened and adapted to different contexts.

The aim is to move beyond just endorsement and expression of commitment to encourage states to accelerate implementation of the SSD.

According to the statement, the overarching objective of the Abuja conference is to strengthen implementation of the SSD by achieving the specific objectives, which include: “Share good practice in implementing key commitments in the Declaration to inspire other states to adapt the practice within their own context.

India’s Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan says the fourth edition of engineering entrance exam JEE-main has been postponed to August 26-September 2 to give aspirants a four-week gap between two sessions of the crucial exam.

The fourth edition of Joint Entrance Examination-Main was earlier scheduled to be held from July 27 to August 2.

A total of 732,000 candidates have already registered for the fourth edition of the entrance exam.

The minister said registration for the JEE-Main session four is still in progress and would be extended up to July 20 with the number of cities increased from 232 to 334.

Senior Director of National Testing Agency, Sadhana Parashar said the number of examination centers in every shift will also be increased from 660 to 828.

The Ministry of Education had last week announced that the pending editions (third and fourth) of JEE-Main will be conducted from July 20-25 and July 27 to August 2 with candidates opposing the move saying there is only two days gap between the two editions.

JEE-Mains is being conducted four times this year from the coronavirus-hit current academic session to offer flexibility to students and a chance to improve their scores. The first phase was held in February and the second in March.

The JEE-Advanced exam, which is conducted for admission to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) was also postponed. The exam was scheduled to hold on July 3.

Twenty three candidates from Nyagatare juvenile prison are among 254,678 pupils sitting for Rwanda primary leaving examinations nationwide.

The candidates will do a total of five subjects, mathematics, social and religious studies, science and elementary technology, Kinyarwanda and English.

The spokesperson of Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS), Pelly Uwera Gakwaya, said the juvenile inmates were taken to their center and given all instructions before examination.

According to RCS, four other juvenile inmates are expected to sit for their ordinary level national examinations set to start next week from Tuesday, July 20 to July 27.

The number of delinquent candidates has increased from 19 in 2019 when 11 boys and 2 girls sat for primary leaving exams while six boys sat for ordinary level national exams.

While one inmate sat for the advanced level national exams in 2019, no inmate has registered for this year’s national exams.

Kwara state government has accessed seven billion naira grant from the Universal Basic Education Commission to finance massive infrastructural projects across 600 schools in the state.

Speaking at the flag off ceremony in Otte town of Asa local government area, the governor said the projects are a combination of the 2014 to 2019 Universal Basic Education Commission-SUBEB interventions that got stuck despite grants it received in 2013.

According to him, the projects include statewide wholesale remodeling of schools, construction of new classrooms, rehabilitation of existing ones, construction of water, sanitation and hygiene (wash) facilities, information and communication facilities, and training and retraining of teachers.

Abdulrazaq added that there will be construction of four new classrooms each across 61 locations, three new classrooms each in 64 locations, and two new classrooms each in 116 locations.

The SUBEB chairman, Shehu Adaramaja, who commended the governor for the huge investment in the education sector, announced that over 600 schools across the state would benefit from the interventions.

The academic staff union of polytechnics (ASUP) has accused the Federal Government of appointing five unqualified persons as rectors in newly established federal polytechnics, in violation of the subsisting act.

The ASUP national president, Anderson Ezeibe, who stated this at the 100th national executive council meeting of the union in Auchi, said that the federal government violated the federal polytechnics amendment act, 2019, in the appointment of the rectors.

He stated that the law allowed for only people within the cadre of chief lecturer, with a minimum of five years’ experience to be appointed.

The ASUP president urged the Edo state government to pay the five months’ salary arrears owed staff of the state polytechnic.

In his speech, the Deputy Governor of Edo Stat, Philips Shaibu said the state government was aware of the lingering labor issues at the state polytechnic and that adequate steps were being taken to address the issues.

The Deputy Governor who was represented by his deputy chief of staff, Jimoh Ijegbai, commended the union for its cooperation and patience with the government in the face of the crisis.

On his part, rector of Auchi polytechnic, Mustapha Zubair, expressed worry over the low ratings of polytechnics in the country, noting that the polytechnic act had well-established criteria which, those in charge of the sector should endeavor to uphold.

The rector urged ASUP to always adopt dialogue in seeking redress, saying dialogue is the best tool in making agitations.