President of
the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, on Tuesday gave an assurance that the upper chamber
will accord the Colleges of Education Amendment Bills speedy consideration.
Lawan gave this assurance
when chairmen of councils of Colleges of Education paid him a courtesy visit at
the National Assembly, Abuja.
The chairmen had appealed for
the intervention of the Senate for a speedy passage of the amendment of the
Colleges of Education Act of 1986 and a repeal of enabling law of the National
Commission for Colleges of Education.
“We are going to give very
expeditious consideration of these two bills,” Lawan said.
“We will work on that. Let me
assure you on behalf of my colleagues that the National Assembly is well
positioned. We are in this together to ensure that the Colleges of Education
perform optimally,” Lawan said.
The Senate President said the
bills would raise the bar in the quality of teachers produced yearly by
colleges of education across the country.
“The
Colleges of Education deserve the amendments to bring them at par with the
universities and polytechnics,” Lawan added.
According to him, the
Colleges of Education, as a sub-sector in tertiary education in the country,
occupy a very significant and important position in having to produce teachers
for basic and secondary levels of education.
Lawan, therefore, assured the
group of the willingness of the National Assembly to ensure that the Colleges
of Education Amendment Bills are passed when re-introduced.
Reacting on the issue of low
funding for colleges of education across the country, Lawan explained that the
problem was not peculiar to them and added that other sectors were also facing
similar problem of inadequate funding.
He, however, assured them
that the National Assembly is mindful of the needs of the colleges of
education, and will do “everything possible, particularly for the 2020
Appropriation year to get as much revenue as possible to fund the budget.”
“Let me also take this
opportunity to urge you as chairmen of councils of Colleges of Education to
continue to pursue those policies that will make the colleges more productive
and more functional.
“We are facing serious
challenges of shortage of qualified teachers. We need our colleges of education
to produce teachers that are qualified.
“We should work hard to
ensure that the products that come out are those that can help in building the
foundation of our education,” the Senate President added.
Earlier, the Leader of the
delegation of Chairmen of Councils of Colleges of Education, Alhaji Lawal
Bukar, said the purpose of the visit was to seek the intervention of the
National Assembly on the Colleges of Education amendment bills.
According to Bukar, the law
regulating colleges of education in Nigeria, which was enacted in 1986,
requires an amendment to address issues such as the age of retirement of the
staff of the colleges of education, the tenure of principal officers, and
tenure of council members.
“The amendment for Vice
Chancellors of Universities is five years. We demand that provosts should also
be five years instead of four years as it is now.
“The tenure of members of
council in the universities is four years, but that of the colleges of
education is three years.
“We want a Repeal of the Act
to have the National Commission for Colleges of Education. It is expected to be
a body that will supervise the academic standards of Colleges of Education.
“If it is repealed,
it will be called the National Commission for Teacher Education, so that all
the teachers can be under one umbrella,” Bukar said.
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