Parents in Manitoba have expressed over the proposed changes to the province’s education system.

The Progressive Conservative government plans to eliminate all but one of Manitoba’s elected school boards, merge school divisions and set up a province-wide education authority.

Education Minister, Cliff Cullen said Monday changes to kindergarten to Grade 12 schooling are aimed at cutting $40 million in administration costs and redirecting the money to the classroom.

A bill before the legislature would replace elected school boards in 37 school divisions with the exception of those governing the French school division.

The government says that would make decisions more local and more centralized while community councils would be set up at every school to involve parents.

School teachers in Bulawayo have launched a new union claiming the existing ones were no longer serving the educators’ best interests.

The new union, Educators Union of Zimbabwe (EUZ) formed by some disgruntled teachers, is accusing colleagues within existing unions of abandoning their mandate and dabbling in national politics.

The new teachers’ group also accuses the unions of using the plight of suffering teachers to advance political ambitions.

They say that some union leaders have since left the profession but continued leading teachers.

EUZ Interim secretary general, Justin Murema said the new union was apolitical and solely formed to champion teachers’ issues.

Unlike existing teachers groups, Murema said, EUZ will not be advocating wage hikes but restoration of 2018 salaries.

The union has more than 2 000 members whose interests it seeks to serve.

The EUZ interim executive is headed by Interim President Tafadzwa Munodawafa, first Vice President Tapedza Zhou, second Vice President Molly Banda, National Vice Secretary General Thando Muba, among other members.

The new group comes after lengthy and repeated calls by teachers to have their working conditions reviewed with remuneration being the main bone of contention.

Zimbabwe State university staff has written to its employer informing the latter of its intention to go on strike in the next two weeks.

The workers, under the umbrella of Zimbabwe State Universities Joint Council (ZSUJC), said in their letter that they were earning poor wages and were incapacitated.

The council is made up of the Zimbabwe Universities and Allied Workers Union (ZUAWU) as well as the Zimbabwe State Universities Union of Academics (ZISUUA).

The letter was directed to chairpersons of Zimbabwe State Universities’ Councils and copied to Zimbabwe State Universities’ Vice Chancellors, Zimbabwe State Universities’ Registrars and the Public Service ministry.

It was co-signed by the presidents of the council, Readyforward Dube and Alois Muzvuwe on Tuesday.

In the letter, ZSUJC is giving the state a 14-day ultimatum to meet their demands for wage increase and improved working conditions shot of which they would go on strike.

The group wants salaries returned to the level of July 2018 by the employers while making simultaneous steps to ensure the attainment regional level salary scales as per the agreement of 2010.

The group also demanded urgent redress on a wage disparity created in October 2019 (NDI/DI).

In November, last year Zimbabwe State Universities Union members also vowed to down tools at all government-run universities citing poor working conditions and salaries.

Zimbabwe has 12 state universities countrywide which includes University of Zimbabwe, National University of Science and Technology, Midlands State University, Great Zimbabwe University, Gwanda State University, and Lupane State University.

A bill for the establishment of the Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences in Iyin, Ekiti State, has passed second reading on the floor of the Senate.

The proposed law for the establishment of the institution was sponsored by the Senator representing Ekiti Central, Opeyemi Bamidele.

Bamidele said the Ekiti State Government has already offered to release about 1,000 hectares of land for the take-off of the institution.

The Deputy Leader of the Senate, Senator Ajayi Boroffice, and Senator Ibrahim Gobir supported the establishment of the institution saying that it will support research.

They noted that the outbreak of the pandemic has exposed the poor state of medical facilities in the country due to lack of adequate manpower.

They also said the establishment of the teaching university would hasten medical research into vaccine production in the country.

The Senate through a voice vote unanimously agreed that the bill be passed for second reading and the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, referred it to the Committee on Health, to report back in four weeks.

The National Youth Service Corps has drawn the attention of security agencies to an ongoing online fraud perpetrated by some unscrupulous persons who have been extorting money from the public with a view to influencing the posting of corps members.

The organisation said the scammers carry out their fraudulent acts with advert placement on social media sites, requesting money for instant posting and relocation of corps members.

The Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier-General Ibrahim Shuaib, who raised the alarm, appealed to Nigerians not to give money to anybody, adding that posting and relocation of corps members was free.

He added that anybody caught will face the law.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have paraded two of its staff members who allegedly extorted money from Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates with the promise to help them secure university admission.

One of the affected staff members, Andy Okoro, a level 12 officer in Delta State JAMB office, said he collected N500,000 from four parents, out of which he paid N180,000 to a colleague, Gambo Ibrahim Abba, to help facilitate their university admission.

Trouble started when one of the parents in Delta State petitioned JAMB on Okoro’s activities, a move that prompted the Board to investigate deeply into the issue.

Okoro told journalists in Abuja that he engaged in the fraudulent act because of economic hardship.

A mild drama, ensued when his accomplice, Gambo, a level 8 officer at JAMB headquarters, said he was probably hypnotised by Okoro to engage in the shady deals.

The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who expressed surprise that the affected staff defied the Board’s zero tolerance for corruption, vowed to ensure they face the full wrath of the law.

Oloyede called on parents and candidates not to allow anyone collect money from them on the guise of helping them to secure admission to their choice institution, as the system is now fully automated.

The Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, has given automatic employment to the five best graduating students of the institution.

The announcement was made during the third convocation ceremony of ADSU which took place 12 years after the last convocation ceremony in 2009.

At the combined convocation ceremony, held at Mubi, the governor said a total of 11,650 graduands comprising of 10,771 undergraduates and 1,079 postgraduate, covering nine sets of graduands from 2009 to 2019, received the awards of their degrees.

Fintiri gifted the institution with a professorial chair for a proposed department of management, technology, entrepreneurship and innovation in addition to the award of N25 million annual grant for cutting edge research to be funded directly from state coffers to the institution over the next four years.

Recall that ADSU, is the only university in the country, that was sacked and completely over run by Boko Haram in 2014.

The governor also expressed happiness that the university was holding its convocation after 12 years, describing the occasion as gratifying not only to graduands but all citizens of the state.

Two students of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ayetoro Campus who were kidnapped on Sunday night have regained freedom.

The police Public Relations officer in the State, Abimbola Oyeyemi confirmed that Adeyemo Precious and Oyefule Abiola are currently with the Police, adding that they would be reunited with their families.

The two students were released on Tuesday night, however, it is not clear if any ransom was paid.

It will be recalled that the State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, had earlier directed the security agencies to fish out the perpetrators of the kidnapping of the two students and also ensure that the victims come out unhurt.