UNIONS SHUT DOWN KADUNA STATE UNIVERSITY

The Kaduna State University chapters of Senior Staff Association, Non-Academic Staff union and National Association of Technologists have joined the nationwide indefinite strike declared by unions on Monday.

Mr. Kantoma Bala, Chairman of the universities senior staff association, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Kaduna on Tuesday, that the three unions had formed a Joint Action Committee to monitor the strike.

“It is a national strike and the non-academic staff unions are part of the respective national bodies.

“We began the indefinite strike as directed by our respective national leadership over the failure of the Federal Government to implement the 2009 agreement with the union,” he said.

NAN reports that the agreement was supposed to address the problem of inadequate funding of public universities, poor governance, and administrative lapses.

Other issues that prompted the strike include poor infrastructure, abandoned projects, fragmentation of salary payments to staff, and lack of adequate teaching and learning facilities among others.



NAN

CAMEROON : 2017 GCE 'O' AND 'A' LEVELS - RESULT WITNESS SIGNIFICANT DROP

The Cameroon General Certificate of Education Board (CGCEB) has released the results of its 2017 examinations. While the Advanced Level General and Technical Education was announced in Buea 11 August, 2017, the Ordinary Level was released two days later on 14 August. 

The statistics indicate a 35.32% pass for Advanced Level down from 66.52% in 2016. The Advanced Level Technical scored 22.37% against 54.33% in 2016. For the General Education, 38.628 candidates registered for the examination and had 33.037 students who effectively sat for the examination. 3.591 absences were recorded while 11.670 were declared successful.

 For the Advanced Level Technical, 3.472 students entered their names as candidates. Of the number, 2.567 wrote while 905 students were absent and 574 candidates passed. Meanwhile the GCE Ordinary level General Education (O/L) results show a 25.29 percentage pass this year drastically dropping from 62.17 in 2016. Only 11.770 candidates pass out of the 46.532 who sat the exam in the various centres of Cameroon.

 The GCE Technical O/L registered a 28.49 percentage pass as against 40.12 last year. The Baccalaureat Technique and related exams shall be proclaimed after the on-going practical. Results of some candidates have been withheld for various suspected malpractices. The concerned candidates are requested to appear before the Examination Executive Council (EEC) ad hoc committee at the Board in Buea on 21 August, 2017, at 10 am. 

The CGCE Board is also withholding the results of candidates who wrote the 2017 examination without prior registration or registered after the April 15, 2017 deadline. The Board emphasized that it has to verify and ensure that the students are void of malpractices and meet the registration formalities. The results can be consulted on www.camgceb.org. This year's nose-dive in GCE results has been blamed by Officials on the socio-political climate that shoke Anglophone Cameroon with ghost schools from November 2016 grounding two of the three yearly terms of studies.

SCHOOLS RESUME IN DRC WITH EMPTY CLASSROOMS

The new school year has begun in the Democratic Republic of Congo - but many pupils and teachers are nowhere to be seen.

The teachers at schools run by the state are on strike as they demand higher pay and better working conditions.

The country's economic crisis also means increasing numbers of parents cannot afford private school fees.

UNILORIN TO SCREEN 64,000 UMTE APPLICATION

The University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), on Monday, commenced the University Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) screening for no fewer than 64,000 candidates seeking admissions there for the 2017/2018 academic session.

Deputy Director, Corporate Affairs Department of the University, Mr Kunle Akogun in Ilorin,the Kwara State capital, that 104,000 candidates applied for the screening.

He said that only 11,000 successful candidates would be admitted into the various programmes of the institution after the exercise based on its capacity.

Akogun said that the university’s cut-off mark had been pegged at 180 as the minimum.

He said that every department was expected to come up with its own cut-off mark.

According to him; the university is known for its stable academic calendar, making it the most sought after in the country.

He said that the administration of the Vice-Chancellor designate would continue to uphold the virtues and standards of the university. (NAN)

ASUU SILENT ON MEETING WITH FG

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has said it will not disclose when it will hold its meetings to consider the Federal Government’s offers, aimed at resolving the ongoing strike.

The ASUU President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, said this on Sunday while responding to correspondent’s inquiry as to when the union would meet to examine the Federal Government’s offers and resolve the strike.

The union and the Federal Government’s delegation held a 14-hour meeting on Thursday, after which they issued a communiqué, in which ASUU was asked to revert to the government within one week.

The ASUU President had on Friday said in an interview that he could not determine when the union would call off its strike until its members met to decide the next course of action.

FEDERAL UNIVERSITY GUSAU SETS 170 AS CUT OFF MARK FOR ADMISSION

The Federal University Gusau has announced 170 as minimum mark for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board cut-off marks for admission into the University for the 2017/2018 academic session.

The Information Officer of the University, Malam Umar Usman, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Gusau on Saturday.

Usman said the university management had arrived at the decision to set 170 as minimum cut-off mark after getting statistics on the candidates who applied for admission into the institution.

The Information Officer added that the 170 was arrived at after getting a statistic that most of the candidates who applied for admission into the University scored 120 and above in their JAMB exams.

UGANDA : A SENIOR 4 STUDENT KILLED IN SCHOOL STRIKE, 13 ARRESTED

A senior four student of Rwera Secondary School in Ntungamo District has been found dead near the school compound following a strike.

The body of Patience Nayebare, 18 was on Monday found in the school compound following the strike which happened on Sunday night and saw all students in the boarding section escape.

She allegedly fell down as students were running and was stepped on by other students in a stampede.

Nayebare's father, Mr Joram Katabazi of Nyarutuntu village in Ntungamo Sub-county said she had a heart problem.