By Iliya Kure
There are indications that Kaduna State College of Education, located in Gidan Waya, Southern Kaduna fails to secure accreditation owing to huge infrastructural gap and inadequate lecturers.
Most of the college buildings are dilapidated, leading to shortage of office accommodation for academic and other staff.
The development has led to high migration of senior lecturers to other schools with better facilities.
Administrator of the College, Prof Emmanuel Chom, gave the indication Thursday, at the inauguration of renovated Staff School of the institution at Kafanchan.
“Most of the equipment and machines especially in vocational and technical education programmes were obsolete. Laboratories of the science programmes were inadequate and the little we have are not well equipped.
“More so, we do not have enough Chief Lecturers to meet the National Commission for Colleges of Education minimum standard, “he said.
He called on the government to urgently address these issues to enable the college meet its mandate of developing manpower for the education sector.
Also lamenting the situation, Chairman of College of Education All-Staff Union (COEASU), COE Gidan Waya Chapter, Noah Danlami, noted that some secondary schools were better equipped than the college in terms of infrastructure.
“We, therefore, appealed to the state government to meet up with strategic and critical needs of the college, especially infrastructure, manpower and other facilities.
“This must be addressed within the shortest possible time especially considering that the NCCE accreditation team would soon visit the college, “Danlami said.
He appealed for the immediate reopening of the college, stressing that peace has returned to the area.
Also speaking, the Emir of Jema’a, Alhaji Isa Mohammed Isa II, called in the government to reopen all schools in southern part of the state that were closed in 2016 for security reasons.
According to him, there is now peace in the area, and as such, the schools should be reopened in the interest of the students future.
Responding, Kaduna State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Andrew Nok said issues affecting the college would soon be addressed to facilitate the accreditation of programmes and provide serene environment for learning.
He challenged the college lecturers on academic research to attract research grants to the college.
The commissioner promised that the college, the Kafanchan Campus of the Kaduna State University and College of Nursing Kafanchan, would be reopened soon.
