COEASU hails Niger Assembly for passing bill granting College of Education Minna dual mandate to award NCE, Degree
The College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Niger State college of education Minna chapter has described as a welcome development the passage of a bill by the Niger State House Assembly, granting the state owned college of education a dual mandate of awarding both Nations Certificate in Education (NCE) certificate and the Bachelor’s degree in education.
The COEASU in a statement in Minna on Tuesday by it Chairman, Dr. Ibrahim Hassan Mohammed said the passage of the bill by the house of is a significant milestone achievement by the institution as it will now join the league of other colleges of educations in the country that have been granted similar status.
It could be recalled that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in June 2023, signed into law and has equally been gazetted, the Act of the National Assembly which gave the dual mandate for federal colleges of education in the country to offer both NCE and Degree in education related courses.
To this end, the National Universities Commission (NUC) and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) have already worked out modalities for the operation of the dual mandate, including the review of the NCE curriculum to streamline courses that will produce graduates at both NCE and degree leves.
However the state House of Assembly while passing the bill on the floor of house at it plenary, said that federal College of Education in the country are undergoing transformation into Operating a dual mandate , running of 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 was sequel to the presentation of a report by the House Committee on Education, Science and Technology by it’s Chairman, Hon. Muhammad Sani Idris, Member Representing Tafa Constituency before the House.
Presenting the report of the committee which was set up by the assembly, the Chairman informed the House that in carrying out it assignment, the Committee invite principal Stakeholders, including those in the education sector in the state to obtain their input before arriving at it 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.
He argued that the upgrading of the Federal Colleges of Education to award degree would no doubt support bridging the gap in the demand for University Education and would help 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 university like Ahmodu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and Usman Danfodio University (UDU), Sokoto which shows that it already has the capacity to run degrees on its own, adding that “the dual mandate initiative will also address the current dearth of trained teachers in trade subjects”.
He stated further that the dual mandate is an Initiative that allows NCE Holders to easily upgrade their teaching qualifications to degree status in various specialized courses in trade and skills subject without enough qualified teacher both in primary and secondary school, among others.
COEASU while commending the assembly for the passage of the bill, awaiting the governor’s assent maintained that the dual mandate will come with no extra cost to the state government.
“The only cost will be the usual NCE course’s accreditation and the now added NUC accreditation for degree courses which in any case isn’t new too. We have always had and passed accreditations for the ABU and UDUS affiliated programmes”.
Dr. Ibrahim disclosed that Niger State College of Education, Minna already has the manpower with the right qualifications and the facilities to implement the dual mandate.
“Some colleges of education hitherto
[10/1, 6:08 PM] Nigeria Daily Post: Dr. Ibrahim disclosed that Niger State College of Education, Minna already has the manpower with the right qualifications and the facilities to implement the dual mandate.
“Some colleges of education hitherto converted into universities are undergoing a reconversion to the college status because of the dual mandate.
“Niger State College of Education cannot be an exception in taking advantage of this opportunity to uplift the standards of training for our primary and secondary school teachers in the state. This will surely help in bridging the manpower gaps of teachers for our schools”, he added.
