Following the successful accreditation exercise conducted by the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) at the Federal College of Education (FCE), Zaria, the Governing Council and other stakeholders continued to shower praises on the Provost and his management team, Deans, HODs and staff in general for the success recorded.
A team from the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), comprising of imminent professionals in the education sector, was at Federal College of Education (FCE), Zaria to conduct accreditation of Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) programmes.
After a painstaking work for one week, the team recommended the granting of full accreditation for all the 30 courses run by the college. For many, this achievement was a great one considering the challenges of funds being faced by the institution.
This feat achieved by the Provost and his management team through the support of the Deans of various schools, Heads of different departments, lecturers of various courses and the general staff of the college, attracted the accolades of the Governing Council under, Dr. Bello Yusuf Lafiaji.
The Council at its extra ordinary meeting, held from 20th to 22nd of January, 2020, commended the Provost, Dr. Ango A. Ladan, and his team for what they called “excellent job”, which makes the college to maintain its place of pride among its peers.
The council said they were excited to receive the news of the full accreditation of the 30 NCE programmes, which reflects the unwavering commitment of the management and staff of the college in the achievement of academic excellence.
Dr. Lafiaji also relates the achievement to the desire of the college staff, under Dr. Ladan, to ensure that the college achieves its basic objectives of providing qualified teachers for the Nigerian schools.
The council chairman also commended the Deputy Provost, Dr. Suleiman Barabe, the Registrar, Dr. Jibrin Lawal, Librarian, Dr. Hadiza T. Mohammed, Bursar, Alhaji Sani Uwaisu, Director of Works, Hajiya Uwani Ibrahim Suleiman and Auditor, Alhaji Garba Dahiru, for their various roles in the accreditation exercise.
A report of the NCCE on the 2019 accreditation exercise signed by the Director, Academic Programme Department, V. I. Uji, shows that aside full institutional accreditation, programmes like Primary Education Studies and Early Childhood Care/Education also got full accreditation.
Others are Education, Adult and Non-Formal Education, Special Needs Education, Christian Religious Studies, Economics, Geography, Islamic Studies, Political Science, Social Studies, Arabic Language, English Language, French Language, Yoruba Language, Igbo and Hausa Languages.
The rest are Biology, Chemistry, Computer Education, Integrated Science, Mathematics, Physics, Physical and Health Education, Agricultural Education, Business Education, Cultural and Creative Arts, Fine and Applied Arts, Theatre Arts and Home Economics Education.
Similarly, the NCCE reports commended Dr. Ladan for the “passion he has in the college’s radio-broadcast station”, adding that “the state of the Quality Assurance Unit should be sustained and the Director, Dr. David A. Onu, should be commended by the college.”
However, the report observed that in order to improve on the quality of Administration and Management, there is need for the FCE, Zaria to provide functional resource room for the Political Science Department.
Again, plants in the Biological Garden should be labeled with Botanical names and should be given to students to groom them. Other area that the college needs to improve, according to the report, is engagement of qualified lecturers as external examiners, especially in Economics, ECCE and English Language Departments.
In his remarks, the Provost of the college said aside attaining the full accreditation for the 30 courses, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, the Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND, Professor Elias Bagoro, deserve the appreciation of the college for the role they played in improving the standard of the institution.
He said: “The minister of works, acting on the approval of Mr. President, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, has constructed 1.5 kilometers asphalt road network in the college. Similarly, the ES of NCCE, Professor Bappa Aliyu Muhammad, deserves our appreciation for the leadership and support he is providing for us. His appointment of Dr. Samuel Ugwuoti as the leader of the accreditation team has proven to be a wise choice, because of his vast knowledge in teacher-education. Same thing goes for the members of the accreditation team.
“Hajiya Jummai Fatima Suleiman, the Director, Personnel of the NCCE, has played a vital role in making the accreditation a successful one. The Deans of various Schools of the college and Heads of different departments are the foot soldiers that ensured that all that were required were put in place. They deserve our special appreciation as well as our hardworking teaching and non-teaching staff.”
Dr. Ladan said his management team and the Board of the NCCE also played a significant role in ensuring the success of the exercise and approving the accreditation report, respectively.
He identified with Quatar Charity Foundation, Kano for donating 50 digital Qur’an to be used by the blind students in the Department of Special Education of the college. He said the foundation has also donated 30 of the digital Qur’an to the Association of the Blind, Zaria and has promised to extend the same gesture to the deaf and other physically challenged persons.
Dr. Ladan said Total Petroleum is currently building a computer laboratory with mini lecture theatre in the college, a development that he described as a “vital assistance” that would aid the improvement of academic activities in the college.
He added: “The lists are many. However, we appreciate all and sundry that contributed in different ways for the achievement of this feat. The ES of TETFUND, Professor Bagoro, is one of these people, especially the fund’s contribution on projects development and encouraging research in the college as well as sponsoring the training of our staff locally and internationally.”
Basking on the euphoria of the result of the 2019 accreditation exercise, Dr. Ladan said he would continue to do his best to ensure that FCE, Zaria is moved to the “next level”, saying that he is aware of the different challenges ahead. He appealed to staff to continue to be patient with him as effort is on to settle all their outstanding entitlements. He also appealed to the Federal Government, through the ministry of education, to pay more attention to teacher-training institutions, because of their role in nation building, saying that the institutions would perform better if more funds are made available to them.
