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News_Naija

Parents Seek FG Intervention Over 140% PTA Levy Increase

Some parents and members of the Parents and Teachers Association of the Federal Technical College, Yaba, Lagos State, have appealed to the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, to intervene in the 140 per cent increase in the PTA levy from N5,000 to N12,000. This is just as they asked the minister to intervene in the activities of the executives of the FTC, Yaba PTA which they claimed was shrouded in secrecy. They expressed their concerns in a letter addressed to the minister, a copy of which was obtained by PUNCH Metro on Tuesday. According to the parents, the increment contradicts their responsibilities as PTA members, which were mainly to support the efforts of the federal government. The letter, which was signed by more than 20 members of the association, highlighted that efforts to get the executive members to account for previous levies had proved abortive. It read, “We write to bring to your attention the content of the circular that emanated from the office of the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education (dated 18th and 19th of March of which the content is asked to be brought to Parents attention) stating that the Parent Teacher Association’s approved levy has now been revised to a maximum of N12,000 across all the Federal Unity Colleges. “This increment as stated, was necessitated by the requests for increment by some supposedly School’s Parent Teacher Association executives to enable them to meet up with their purported obligations. The role of the Parent Teacher Association has been identified as that of giving support/helping the school. “There was never a place in the guidelines that mandated the Parent Teacher Association to assume the role of the government/ carry out projects beyond its members’ capacity on behalf of the government (who are the primary owners with complete control/ownership of the school) but rather to assist voluntarily.” They also accuse executive members of allegedly failing to give accounts of financial transactions of the association “Particularly more intriguing is the fact that despite repeated complaints by Parents and their persistent call for the Parent Teacher Association executives to be made accountable to ensure that the funds being contributed by parents in most of these unity colleges towards ensuring the welfare of our children/ teachers are well supported are put into judicious use, the ministry has remained unperturbed by that pressing demand. “The continued call by members contributing the money for accountability and transparency on the amount they are paying at the moment has been met with stiff resistance which the ministry is well aware of. “Federal Technical College Yaba claims to have a staggering 108 part-time teachers under its payroll (which to date the executives haven’t given proof of). These are part of the reasons parents are now questioning how the decisions were arrived at for an over 130 per cent increment instead of calling for proper accountability and judicious use of the levy being collected and are therefore calling for an investigation into this by our ever-dynamic Education Minister.” They urged the Minister of Education to intervene in the abnormalities and the increment. “That is why we are pleading and calling the attention of the Federal government and the Honourable Minister of Education to this crucial matter at hand before it escalates into serious protest across all the schools. “We are pleading with the government to look into this Parent Teacher Association affairs, the illegal increment and proper regulation put in place or scrap it in its entirety as it is now looking more like a scam and an avenue for some executives to enrich themselves and remove their children from the school at the end of their tenure to avoid being probed.” Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, Folashade Omoboriowo, told our correspondent that the approved PTA levy is cut across all federal unity schools across the federation. She added that the N12,500 was the maximum fee that any PTA could levy on its members, and any PTA and the fee was not being enforced on any PTA. “We are not forcing any PTA to pay the amount, but it is the maximum that any PTA can charge its members. PTAs can charge below that based on their discretion,” Omoboriowo said. Efforts to get the reaction of the PTA Chairman, FTC, Yaba, Akeem Ibrahim, proved abortive as he did not respond to messages made to his line. Meanwhile, a member of the executive who pleaded anonymity, disclosed to our correspondent in a telephone conversation on Tuesday that the increase was part of efforts to cater for the new minimum wage of the 107 part-time lecturers of the school and also to augment the school management’s expenses on electricity. The source added that the new executive had barely spent six months in office and that the request by the aggrieved parents to explain the financial status of the association has been obliged because a copy of the association’s account has been made available to them. The source said, “These people have continued to blackmail the executive because they wanted to be in that position too, but they failed. We have about 107 part-time teachers whom the PTA is paying their salary, and because of the increase in the minimum wage, we set up a committee to review how we can also increase these part-time teachers’ salaries from N50,000 to N70,000, which was why we increased the levy. “We are barely six months in office and they are asking to audit us. The account statement they requested has been given to them. In the few months that we have spent as executives, we have renovated the school toilets from pit toilets to water closet, but everything we are doing is what they are not pleased with.”

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News_Naija

Real Reason Mum Chose Our Course, Got Into Heavy Debt UI First-class Twin Graduates

Twin brothers — Matthew Busoye and Matthias Busoye — share their stories with BIODUN BUSARI after emerging as the best-graduating students of the Faculty of Technology, University of Ibadan Why did you choose to study Electrical and Electronic Engineering? I sat the UTME in 2017 after leaving secondary school. I got admitted that same year. It was my first UTME, and I passed, but I was not admitted to UI that year because of the age restriction of 16. So, I had to defer admission to the next session. I resumed a year later. However, choosing Elect/Elect was a funny story. My mother chose it for me. There were many options, but my family knew I was going to be an engineer. It was just which engineering? So, we settled for electrical/electronic. The major reason was that my mum told us (me and my brother) that we needed to do something that in the worst-case scenario, we would have a backup plan. So, electrical-electronics seemed like the fit that we could open a shop and be self-employed. Didn’t you object to the idea? We did not. It wasn’t like she just decided. It was based on a conversation. In secondary school, we were good in Maths, Physics, and Chemistry. We knew it was going to be science or engineering for us. Engineering was the strong option. My elder brother did Mechanical Engineering from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in Ogbomoso. My twin brother and I opted for our course because we didn’t want to study Mechanical Engineering. What was your mum’s connection with science or engineering? She’s a trader; but she is educated. According to her, she was a science student in her senior secondary school days but she changed to commercial class. I think she did business. Growing up, we wanted to go to UI but we knew it was tough in terms of scoring high and knowing people. So, while we were younger, my father always talked about LAUTECH instead. His discussion of engineering pushed us. Did you plan to graduate with a first class? Everyone knew that getting a first class was a tough task but I didn’t believe the popular opinion. I just understood my lessons and read for exams. I didn’t nurse any fear of getting a first class. The goal was 4.0. We were optimistic. But in terms of the first class, I didn’t think about it. Were there special formulas for your reading? The main thing that I tried to do was prioritise understanding the concepts when I had much time. I tried to understand because it helped in the long run. Well, in terms of till-day-break (TDB) or morning-till-night reading in UI, I didn’t have those formulas. But I did a few TDBs in my final year. Formulas didn’t work for me. I’m a flexible reader. So, I read based on vibes and timing. I studied the time when I was in the mood to read. I did not have a fixed schedule. I tried to manage my time as much as possible to balance my activities. This helped me to multitask and read. So, those TDBs helped me in terms of balancing extra things and academics. I remember there were times that I would be on the road and possibly watching YouTube videos to try to understand something to save time. So, I did not really have a fixed pattern or a trick. What’s your final CGPA? I had a CGPA of 3.94 of 4.0. You talked about multitasking; what other things did you do apart from your studies? UI was a lot for me. I was the speaker of the student union. So, that was a lot in my final year. What was your campus politics experience? The goal was to finish with a 4.0. We also wanted to have fun and play around. But politics was not in it at all; maybe just football and some extra collaboration. But, when my GPA was not perfect, I decided to do other things. I told myself, ‘If 4.0 is not working, let me just try to do other things.’ Then, I joined Junior Chamber International in 200-level. Then the COVID came in 2020. Later, the faculty association elections came up. Then, people were not really interested. So, I saw the opportunity to go into it, and I went for the finance secretary of my Faculty Association. So, I went for that. That was in 200 level. I was also into the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers while doing some academic tutorials. Then, during the COVID pandemic as well, I did a bit of programming. I started doing embedded systems and AI. Around that time, I also started doing a remote internship for AI ML. So, it was research, and I was able to get a paper published. I think that was 300 level. In 400-level, I did not do much. What I did was I joined the Student Representative Council; then, I started loving the experience of the SRC. It was non-political. Then I left the house. I decided to go. The campaign was stressful, because I was doing it in Lagos. I had to campaign, coming to Ibadan most weekends. I tried to balance it, and I thank God I won. Then in 500 level, I became the speaker. I think the experience was a whole lot, and I enjoyed it. I was doing my tech skills, embedded systems, and AI Were there times challenges made you feel like giving up? I think my 400 and 500 levels were like that. I was a bit losing interest in academics. The economic situation affected me. This caused my major drop in 500-level. I went from 3.95 to 3.92 or something. So, I was not serious, and I tried to cover up in exams. My thesis project was burdensome. One of the major problems was in terms of giving as much time, not just in terms of work. I think I kept doing as much work as needed. Also, there were three protests early in the semester. That took a mental toll on me. I was down. I was sent home three times. I was sad about how the protest went. I could not read in that period. I just came back to school. I had to start. However, my major reason for not giving up was my motivation — my mother. She did a lot for us as a single parent. How many are you in your family, and did you all study engineering courses? We are four children; my elder brother, my elder sister, and then my twin brother and me. My sister studied Mass Communication. How do you feel after having this first class? I feel very excited, not just for me, but for my mother especially. It seemed like her effort was crowned. How did you share the news of your result with her? We told her via a WhatsApp message. It was much easier to tell her because initially, we were not sure if it was going to be two of us because the results dropped individually, not together. I had a B; so, I was not really joyful until I saw the result. When we saw it, Matthew just told me that he was a bit higher than me. She was thankful to God when she heard that we made it. Were there times you both read or discussed academics together? We didn’t study together. We helped each other with questions, but we didn’t read together. I mean, we were roommates, at least neighbours, for most of our five years in UI. But in terms of assignments and classwork, we discussed solutions to them. How do people differentiate between you and your twin brother? We didn’t like confusing people with our identities. Before, we liked wearing the same clothes but we just changed all of a sudden. Those who were very close to us would distinctly know the difference. I have a scar on my head, but it is not visible to anyone except when they come closer. It’s not really a distinguishing feature until you come close. What are your aspirations? My plan right now is to build, keep building, and keep learning. Right now, we are looking at doing an internship to try to build our embedded system. I’m interested in embedded AI engineering, the intersection between embedded systems, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. I’m also looking at possibly getting postgraduate study, research, and mainly focus on a PhD. In the future, after money is made, politics is something I will consider. How does it feel making a first class? Well, I would say the feeling is joyous. I’m grateful for the achievement and the completion of that stage of my life. There’s one thing I am quite grateful for and that is the fact that I was able to make my mum proud. I would love to dedicate the results to her because she’s the reason why I was able to get there. As part of my speech during the induction, I also said it (dedicating my results to her) because she stood by us since the demise of our father when we were 12. There was a time when she faced financial hardship on how to pay our school fees. The wisest thing would have been for uncles to take us, but she said no. She made a particular statement that if it was for her to suffer and eat garri for us to succeed, she would do it. She did everything in her capacity to fund our education. We stayed together through thick and thin. She was a constant loan collector to make ends meet. She tried for us. Did you plan it? I was not the most serious person. I just did what I had to do in terms of reading. But making my mother proud was not something I focused on in terms of making a first class. I knew that my mother did not care about the results I came out with. I remember I only told her my results once. She has never asked us about our results. So, that was not a criterion to make her proud or not. Meanwhile, the first-class thing was quite bad at first. We just did our best, and it turned out that our best was good for the first class. It was not like we were trying to achieve something in particular. It was just what we did best. What are the secrets of your success? I was an open-minded person in school. But my major strength was the fact that I knew myself. I knew what could work for me. I was involved in some things apart from academics. My course — Electrical Engineering — is built on foundation and understanding. I leveraged that. Every new concept is built on parallel knowledge.  So, one thing I tried to do when I read was to understand the concept as much as I could. In my 300 level, most of the things I understood were the things I was taught. Another thing was self-motivation. I could clearly remember in my first year, I was trying to balance my departmental students’ association presidency with academics. I wanted to give up. What sessions did you consider toughest and easiest? Let’s start with the easiest. The easiest by far would be 100-level. Though it was like my worst because it had my lowest GPA, the reason why it was my lowest was not because I didn’t know what I was doing. It was mostly not my fault because courses that I did not have more points were just advanced secondary school knowledge of the courses. I was grounded in the science subjects like Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. Going to my toughest; that would be 500-level. It was because I needed time to balance my academics and school politics. I was going for the position of the president of my department, and I faced a lot of opposition. The only way I would not win the presidency was if I could not contest. So, they tried to put the stakeholders of the department to make sure I did not go for the post of the president. I was mentally drained, which made me lose interest. That was the level I had a lot of courses to take. So you were involved in campus politics; what was the experience like? I was mostly involved in departmental politics. I started when I ran for assistant public relations officer. I won. Shortly after that, I was a public relations officer. After that, I became president. So, apart from my department, I was able to serve as a student representative member for my hostel. I was a representative member of the campus assembly. Also, for non-technical, I was the hardware lead for Globally Distributed Software Engineering, UI. Eventually, when I ran for the departmental presidency; I won over 80 per cent of the votes. Were you and your brother roommates? Luckily for us, we stayed together in the same hall of residence — Nnamdi Azikwe Hall — which I felt was a little bit of a coincidence. We were Zikites. We heard stories that most twins were usually separated on purpose. But for us, in 100-level, I stayed in his room throughout. We were given separate rooms but in the same hostel. However, I don’t think I ever slept in my room at all. I slept in his room throughout. In 200-level, I stayed with him throughout. That was during COVID-19. It was in the third year that we decided to stay separately, even though we were close to each other. Did you have reading formulas? I could read in uncomfortable places. So, I knew I could balance. I could be in a meeting and be reading. There was no reading formula for me to adhere to. What did you finish with? I had a CGPA of 3.94 out of 4.0. My brother and I were the best in our department and faculty. Did people have difficulty identifying both of you? There were a million times people mistook us for each other. Meanwhile, it can be said that there were people who were close to us and identified us. Numerous people were very close to us, but still couldn’t differentiate us. I know some of my classmates who never differentiated us. I’m not even sure if any of my lecturers differentiated us at all. What are your plans? My goals are summarised into two: I hope to continue my academics and maybe have a direct PhD in an embedded-related course. Hopefully, I will start working on that soon.

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Worldnews

Xi Arrives In Malaysia With A Message: Chinas A Better Partner Than Trump

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Malaysia is second stop in Southeast Asia amid Trump tariffs and US trade war. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – China’s President Xi Jinping has arrived in Malaysia as part of a Southeast Asian tour which is seen as delivering a personal message that Beijing is a more reliable trading partner than the United States amid a bruising trade war with Washington. Xi arrived in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, on Tuesday evening in what is his first visit to Malaysia since 2013. He flew in from Vietnam where he had signed dozens of trade cooperation agreements in Hanoi on everything from artificial intelligence to rail development. On touching down, Xi said that deepening “high-level strategic cooperation” was good for the common interests of both China and Malaysia, and good for peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world”, according to the official Malaysian news agency Bernama. Xi’s three-country tour and his “message” that Beijing is Southeast Asia’s better friend than the truculent administration of US President Donald Trump comes as many countries in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc are unhappy with their treatment after the US imposed huge tariffs on countries around the world. “This is a very significant visit. You can read many things into it,” said Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, a former Malaysian ambassador to the US and minister of legal affairs. “China is telling us they are a reliable trading partner, more than the US. We never had problems dealing with them,” Abdul Aziz told Al Jazeera. “Under PM Anwar, Malaysia is getting very much closer [to China]. It’s a good thing,” he added, noting that “in the long run”, Washington’s “influence will be reduced”. With China, however, trade relations and diplomatic ties are getting stronger and both countries are benefitting, the former ambassador said. “We are very focused on China. That’s our mentality,” he said. Washington hit Malaysia with a 24 percent trade tariff, accusing it of imposing a 47 percent tariff on US imports, a rate that Malaysian officials rejected. Trump has more recently brought in a 90-day moratorium on the highest US tariffs imposed on countries around the world. Instead, they face a 10 percent tariff on goods exported to the US. That is except for China, which has been hit with levies of 145 percent on its goods. Xi will be in Kuala Lumpur for three days, during which he will meet with Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim ibni Iskandar and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and attend state banquets before heading to Cambodia on Thursday. During his earlier visit to Vietnam, Xi urged Hanoi and China to “jointly oppose hegemonism, unilateralism and protectionism” and pushed for “economic globalisation that is more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all,” the official Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported. Trump was quoted by The Associated Press news agency as saying that China and Vietnam were trying “to figure out, how do we screw the United States of America?”. Xi’s visit to Malaysia is in part an effort to “reinforce” the view that China can “offer to bypass America”, said James Chin, professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania in Australia, via a different international order such as BRICS – the 10-country intergovernmental organisation comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China, among others. There is also the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement – arguably the largest in the world – of which all 10 ASEAN nations are members along with China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. “Basically, this is all architectured to build a new international order… Trump has given China the excuse to push harder amongst countries around the world, especially developing countries,” Chin said. “One of the things they [the Chinese] are trying to do is to set up a bilateral trading system where they can stop using US dollars. Any country that trades with China can do a currency swap [where] you pay in your own currency or swap with the [Chinese] renminbi,” he added. Of the three countries Xi chose to visit this week, analysts said Malaysia is deemed to be the most important for China, given its sizeable 32 million population, its developing high-tech base and its current chairmanship of ASEAN. China is also Malaysia’s largest trading partner since 2009, and in 2024, China-Malaysia trade reached $212bn. “China hopes to jack up trade with Malaysia, which will make up for the expected downgrading of exports to the US,” said Willy Wo-Lap Lam, a senior China analyst with the US-based Jamestown Foundation and author of the book, From Confucius to Xi Jinping. “Politically, Malaysia has a lot of influence among all 10 ASEAN states,” Lam said. “Including how countries that have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea should respond to Beijing’s aggressive tactics in bolstering its hold over.” Alfred Muluan Wu, associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, agreed, saying that Beijing also views Malaysia as being within its traditional sphere of influence, regionally. That includes economically in terms of Chinese investments and the “China Plus One” strategy, which involves Chinese companies diversifying their manufacturing bases and supply chains and setting up plants outside of China. Beijing sees the establishment of business enterprises in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries as a way “to spread” China’s influence, Wu said. Ei Sun Oh, principal adviser at the Pacific Research Center of Malaysia, a think tank, also believes that Xi’s visit is about encouraging Kuala Lumpur to look more towards Beijing and “not unduly take the US side”, which is something that may suit Malaysia, too. “Geopolitically, Malaysia might still toy with the idea of having a fling with China to deliberately antagonise the US over very remote issues such as the Middle Eastern conflict,” said Oh, referring to Muslim-majority Malaysia’s staunch support for the Palestinian cause. But, more fundamentally, Malaysia is more interested in doing good business and is “dying to get some more investments from China and gain greater market access to China”. Abdul Aziz, the former Malaysian ambassador to the US, agreed. “If we are coming closer to China, it is because we make money” with China, he said. Follow Al Jazeera English:...