Visiting college where lectures hold under trees

Weekly Trust gathered that the school has for quite a long time suffered inadequate lecture halls and staff offices. This situation has led to students not having venues for their lectures. A number of students who spoke on condition of anonymity told our reporter that lecture venues are not included in their lecture timetables; therefore, […]

Weekly Trust gathered that the school has for quite a long time suffered inadequate lecture halls and staff offices. This situation has led to students not having venues for their lectures. A number of students who spoke on condition of anonymity told our reporter that lecture venues are not included in their lecture timetables; therefore, they have to come to school earlier than the scheduled time because they have to roam around the school premises in search of a venue for the lecture.

“We have to be in the school earlier than necessary because no one is sure where the lectures are going to take place. Lecture periods have always been the most difficult periods for us as venues are always scarce. Unlike students of other schools of higher learning who know their lecture schedules alongside the venues where the lectures are to be held, students of this college can hardly think of walking straight to a definite lecture hall to receive lectures. It is a nightmare and this is because venues are not even included in the timetable because the lecture halls are scarce,” said one of the students who spoke to our reporter.  

Another student also said, “We, as you can see, conduct lecture sessions under trees, and even at that, one will have to go round to identify under which tree one’s classmates are receiving their lecture”.

The students said there have been times when lectures were carried out inside the college’s mosque. They however admitted that the rate at which lectures are conducted in the open has reduced in recent times with few lecture halls being constructed in the college premises.

When Weekly Trust visited the college, it found that a number of students were hanging around the windows of the few lecture halls while lecture sessions were on. A physical health education student told our correspondent that the situation had improved compared to the recent past when lectures were held inside the college’s mosque. “The situation you are seeing is even a better one. The worst of it is that at times, lectures are being carried out inside the mosque. It is unfortunate that the incident is not taking place now; it would have served as evidence to what I am saying.

“However, the rate has dropped and this might not be unconnected to the construction of a few lecture halls in the school, which are still not sufficient. The capacity of the halls built cannot accommodate even a whole class and that is why students hang around the windows to grasp what the lecturer is saying. So honestly, the situation is very bad. Ask around and you will be told that most of us have to take either Paracetamol or any other pain-killing drug after each day’s lecture”.

A lecturer of the college who also spoke on condition of anonymity said the lecturers are equally finding it difficult teaching in the college. He said they are faced with numerous challenges. “It is not only the students that are facing problems in the college, but even we the lecturers are not finding things easy, because we are faced with a lot of constraints.

“The least of it is that the number of staff supersedes the number of staff tables and chairs available. We don’t have specific offices and designated chairs and tables. The issue of inadequate lecture halls also hinder the smooth running of our affairs as lecturers. These I mentioned because they are the ones on the surface; there are numerous other problems we are facing”, he said.

He also said, “As a matter of fact, the situation is worrisome, as we the lecturers and the students are subjected to unnecessary hardship. We all operate in a very unfriendly atmosphere. For a lecturer to cover the syllabus for a course, he/she will have to conduct his lectures under the shade of trees and sometimes in the mosque. The lecturers are also facing the problem of shortage of offices and other basic amenities as I said earlier”.

An NCE graduate of the college, Shehu Hotoro, who graduated some years back while speaking to our reporter on the issue said, the problem has been a peculiar phenomenon with the college for years. He admitted that there are improvements in the college now, as new lecture halls are being constructed. He also said that the college’s problem is known to all and that the public is even aware of the problems.

He went further to say that does not accord the college a positive image in the society. That it was the reason why graduates of the college find it very difficult to gain employment in private schools, because the college’s certificate lacks credibility, adding that only public schools deem it fit to absorb graduates of the college. He also said that because of the college’s problems, the public has grown to believe that it only produces unqualified teachers.

“Just imagine, future school teachers receiving lectures in unfavourable venues. What do you expect? The public knows this and that is why the products of the college find it very difficult to get employment with private schools, because the conditions under which the teachers were trained are regarded as unprofessional. And as such, the qualification obtained from the school lacks credibility. This is simply because it is widely believed that the college produces quantitative teachers and not qualitative ones.

“And I will like to confirm this to you, because I am recounting based on my experience as a product of the college. Go round private schools in the state where professionalism, efficiency and effectiveness are parameters for employment, you will no doubt  believe that products of the college are more or less not found in the sector. That is why most of us ended up teaching in public schools,” Shehu lamented.

Students and lecturers of the college called on the authorities concerned to come to their aid by making the college conducive for teaching and learning. All efforts to get the state’s Commissioner for Higher Education, his public relations officer or any other official of the ministry to talk were unsuccessful as they were not in their offices when our reporter visited the ministry. Several attempts to also get them to speak on telephone failed as the telephones of those whose numbers were made available remained switched off for days.