The Niger State College of Education Academic Staff Union, COEASU, Minna, has applauded the Niger State House of Assembly for passing a Bill to grant the institution a dual mandate to award both National Certificate in Education, NCE, and Bachelor’s Degree in Education, B. Ed.
In a statement issued by COEASU’s chairman, Dr. Ibrahim Hassan Mohammed, He described the passage of the bill as a significant milestone achievement by the institution.
According to Mohammed, “College of Education, Minna, will now join the league of other colleges of educations in the country that have been granted similar status.”
While passing the bill, the state House of Assembly said federal colleges of education in the country are undergoing transformation that will enable them to operate a dual mandate of running National Certificate in Education (NCE) and Bachelors Degree in Education (B.Ed) and therefore there is the need to domesticate the law in the state.
This followed the presentation of a report by the House Committee on Education, Science and Technology, by its chairman, Muhammad Sani Idris.
The chairman informed the House that in carrying out its assignment, the committee invited principal stakeholders, including those in the education sector in the state, to obtain their input before arriving at its recommendations.
The chairman pointed out that the integration of the dual mandate which is meant to address the challenges facing teachers education in the country is apt especially now that education is among the core priorities of the present administration.
Mohammed argued that the upgrading of the Federal Colleges of Education to award degrees would no doubt help to bridge the gap in the demand for university education and would also reduce the level of illiteracy and enhance quality of education.
He told the house that Niger State College of Education is already running degree programmes in affiliation with universities like Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria and Usman Danfodio University, UDU, Sokoto, which shows that it already has the capacity to run degrees on its own.
