…commend Yari, urge govt to do more for better results
There’s no doubt that things have begun to look up for the various higher institutions of learning in Zamfara State.
The creation of the Zamfara State Ministry of Higher Education under the supervision of Prof. Kabiru Umar Jabaka early this year by the administration of Governor Abdul Aziz Yari Abubakar (Shattiman Zamfara), with the sole aim of totally overhauling all tertiary institutions in the state to make them conducive for both teaching and learning, is now bearing fruits.
This special ministry oversees the affairs of six higher educational institutions, which include the Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, Talata-Mafara; College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Bakura; College of Education, Maru; Zamfara College of Arts and Science, Gusau; School of Nursing and Midwifery, Gusau; and the College of Health Science and Technology, Tsafe.
An assessment tour of these state-owned higher institutions under the guidance of the ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Malam Nura Umar Gusau, revealed that a lot of progress had been recorded regarding the quality of tuition and the state of their physical infrastructure.
At the Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, Talata-Mafara, the Rector, Prof. Tukur, disclosed that all the remaining unaccredited programmes, including the National Diploma in Library Science and Information, National Diploma in Banking and Finance, National Diploma in Office Technology and Management, and National Diploma in Science Laboratory Technology, had now been accredited.
Also accredited, according to the rector are Higher National Diploma in Office Technology and Management, Higher National Diploma in Science Laboratory Technology, Micro Biology, Higher National Diploma in Science Laboratory Technology Biochemistry, Higher National Diploma in Civil Engineering, Higher National Diploma in Electrical and Electronic, Higher National Diploma in Computer Engineering and Mass Communication.
He added that before his appointment as the rector of the school, all the programmes offered in the institution were not approved. He disclosed but in March 2016, seven engineering programmes and other courses were given accreditation.
Prof. Tukur expressed satisfaction over government’s commitment towards the promotion of the institution’s staff and the prompt payment of their allowances.
According to him, his administration has succeeded in achieving a zero tolerance for cultism and drug abuse among students in the institution. He, therefore, advised the entire members of the school community not to engage themselves in any vice.
He also urged the state government to increase the salary of the staff of the institution to enable them to compete with their counterparts at all levels in the country.
The rector also commended the state government’s efforts at renovating the school’s staff quarters and students’ hostels, a gesture which he said was aimed at providing a conducive learning atmosphere.
He appealed to all well-to-do individuals in the state to assist the less privileged interested in acquiring education but financially handicapped, to realise their ambition through the institution.
The rector urged parents and guardians in the state to support their children interested in studying engineering to enable to them contribute their quota to the development of the state and country in general.
Through TETFUND intervention, the College of Education, Maru, constructed a modern e-library, which has the capacity to contain 80 million books in Science and different disciplines of learning.
The Deputy Provost of the college, Malam Muhammadu Saidu Tsafe, said the modern e-Library had over 100 computers with each of them containing over eight million books in the science and arts.
Sa’idu Tsafe further said that beside the analogue library existing in the school, the aims and objectives of establishing the modern e-library were to ease the challenges students face in the area of research.
The Deputy Provost stated that the college has a Center for Educational Technology, which has the capacity to accommodate 250 students and which can also be used for conducting the yearly Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examination of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.
He explained that the college which started with 500 students after its establishment in 2001, currently has over 7000 students offering various courses in education, adding that the school, in collaboration with the Education Trust Fund, had sponsored its lecturers to further their education. He noted that as a result of that, the school now has many lecturers who acquired master and doctorate degrees in different disciplines.
In his remarks, the Registrar of the College, Alhaji Lawal Sabon Garin Kurya, attributed the success so far recorded by the institution to the commitment of the school management and the determination of the staff.
Kurya also commended the state government for the prompt payment of staff salary, and advised the government to increase the salary with a view to retaining the staff. He stressed that an increase in the salary of staff would drastically reduce the incidence of brain drain currently affecting most of the tertiary institutions in the country.
At the School of Agriculture and Animal Science, Bakura, the state government has supplied and installed among others, Meteorological equipment for weather forecast and studying of environmental climate.
The Provost of the College, Malam Ishaka Labbo Zalla, who disclosed this, explained that the aims and objectives of supplying and installing the equipment to the school were to enable students to acquire practical knowledge in weather forecast.
The provost outlined some achievements so far recorded by the incumbent administration of Governor abdulAziz Yari Abubakar in the institution, including the construction of a veterinary clinic, construction of odourless pit-latrines, renovation of laboratories, and supply of laboratory chairs.
Others included the construction of classrooms, construction of students’ hostels, construction of fish pond, renovation of a multipurpose hall, students’ hostels and school mosque.
He stated that the government had supplied beds, mattresses and chairs for students’ use, and installed industrial training equipment and resuscitated the College orchard water supply.
At the School of Health Science and Technology Tsafe, it was observed that arrangements had reached an advanced stage for the full accreditation of some programmes by the relevant professional regulatory bodies.
The Deputy Provost of the School, Alhaji Yusuf Idris Maradun, listed the regulatory professional bodies that issued mandatory certificates to the Institution’s products to include the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, Dental Therapists Registration Board of Nigeria, and Community Health Practitioners Registration Board.
Other professional bodies, according to the Deputy Provost, include Health Record Officers Registration Board of Nigeria, West African Health Examination Board, Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria, and Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria.
He added that the school had succeeded in the provision of one thousand one hundred and fifty (1,050) chairs for the lecture rooms and three hundred and fifty (350) seats for the Auditorium.
The deputy provost added that the Institution had employed forty five (45) security men, promoted the activities of students’ union, constructed general toilets for management staff and students, and provided female laundry.
Maradun further stated that the school collaborated with Non-Governmental Organisations and philanthropists such as Woman for Health and Maternal New Born Child Health two (MNCH 2) and Dauda Lawal Dare, which had benefitted it with the supply of special drugs for the expanded clinic by the Women for Health.
Other achievements recorded include the provision of adequate water supply, Zinc roofing of Auditorium by W4 Health, migration from manual to electronic admission and continued supply of learning boards in classrooms.
He appealed to the government to come to their aid in the area of recruitment of security men and watchmen to carter for emergency.
The deputy provost suggested that there was the need to establish basket fund for supporting staff in the area of training and research as well as students accommodation in the school.
At the School of Nursing and Midwifery, the Executive Director of the institution, Alhaji Tukur Shehu, explained that the school had graduated about 200 qualified nurses and midwives since its establishment in 2007.
Shehu stated that the school was established in the year 2007 with a view to producing qualified nurses and midwives for the state and nation at large, adding that the training of the nurses and midwives include theoretical and practical aspects in the school and clinics within and outside the state.
According to him, the students of the school who sat for the Professional Examination of Nurses and Midwives programmes scored ninety eight percent (98%) in 2016, a hundred percent (100%) in 2017, and ninety seven point eighty seven percent (97.87) in 2018, respectively.
The executive director further stated that the school had secured full accreditation for its courses and had the mandate to admit one hundred students, instead of fifty.
He attributed the successes recorded by the school to staff determination and dedication to duty.
He, however, appealed to the state government to look into the possibility of expanding science laboratory and procure additional equipment, construct fencing wall for the school and ensure prompt payment of students’ allowances.
Also, at the Zamfara State College of Arts and Science, the Provost, Alhaji Sanusi Yakubu Gusau, said the institution had graduated twenty eight thousand seven hundred (28,700) Students from inception in the year 2000 to date, adding that some of the graduates of the institution had secured admissions into various institutions of learning within and outside the country, while some others were now working in prestigious government and private organisations.
Sanusi maintained that the aims and objectives of the establishment of the college were to train students lacking the minimum requirements for entry into universities and other institutions of higher learning.
Highlighting some of the achievements recorded by the college, the Provost said the they included the introduction of new pre-degree programmes, sub-degree programmes and various science and arts diploma courses.
