NIEPA Boss Tasks JSS Principals, Head Teachers, Others On Innovative, Strategic Leadership
BY ADEYEMI AKANJI, GOMBE – Principals of Junior Secondary Schools, Head Teachers, and Education Officers from Gombe and Taraba States have been tasked with being seasoned, innovative, and strategic leaders in handling their teaching responsibilities.
This is aimed at meeting the global demand for formal education and technological advancement with the traditional transmission of information from teachers to students slowly giving way to active and challenging integration of technology in teaching.
Acting Director General and Chief Executive of the National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), Dr Shofoyeke David Adebiyi threw the challenge at a five-day Capacity-building workshop on “Effective School Management in the 21st Century” held at the Community Education Resource Center (CERC) in Gombe state.
Adebiyi, represented by NIEPA’s Head of Training and Research, Dr. Oyeromi Samson, said that stakeholders in the education sector must embrace technology which provides dynamic and interactive tools that engage students in ways traditional methods cannot.
According to him, operators in the sector cannot be lagging in an era where interactive whiteboards, educational apps, and multimedia resources among others are aiding various learning styles and making lessons more accessible, engaging, and effective among students.
He said the workshop learning contents include; Effective School Management in the 21st Century: Roles of Principals in the 21st Century; School Culture: Instructional Leadership in Schools; Safe and Violence-free School; Climate Change in Schools; Team Building and Collaborative Problem Solving: Records and Record management among others.
Oyeromi Samson disclosed that the workshop is taking place in three zones in the North comprising Gombe and Taraba States; Zamfara and Kano States; as well as Kogi and Nasaraws states.
While declaring the workshop opened, the Secretary of Gombe State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Hajiya Yawoji Ahmed Bala, appreciated the State Governor, Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya for prioritising the education sector and also ensuring peaceful coexistence in the state.
She noted that the development has tremendously improved the learning performances of both students and learners in the state, even as she also appreciated the collaborative efforts of UBEC and NIEPA towards ensuring a good educational system in the state.
Represented by the Director of Planning and Research, Mr. Jonathan John Khul, the SUBEB Scribe urged participants to make good use of the workshop and be good managers in showcasing quality leadership in effective school Management.
The Resource person’s representative, Dr. Mrs Ope Oyekan, who described the training as unique in driving the process through facilitation and experience sharing among the participants, encouraged participants to be actively involved in all the sessions to derive full benefits from the workshop.
A statement by Judith Abishai Kutus, Information Officer, Gombe SUBEB said the event was organized by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in collaboration with NIEPA, for Head Teachers of Primary Schools and Junior Secondary school principals in Gombe and Taraba States.
Established in 1992 by the Federal Ministry of Education, in collaboration with UNESCO/IIEP Paris, as a sub-regional Staff College, NIEPA’s main operational mandate is developing critical mass education sector planners and managers for effective and efficient planning and management of the nation’s educational system.
This is undertaken through capacity building, continuous training, consulting, and action research of empowering education sector operators through the provision of specialized and relevant skills in planning administration and Management of education covering Nigeria and the West African sub-region at large.
