36 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013
BY DAYO ADESULU & ADEKUNLE ALIYU
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ONDON Metropolitan University has announced that it has regained its licence to sponsor Tier 4 visas for international students which was revoked in August 2012. The university declared that staff of the school worked with the the UK Home Office to ensure that the university got the appropriate processes for recruiting and monitoring international students. Professor Malcolm Gillies,
Vice-Chancellor of the university said; “This is excellent news for our students and our university, which looks forward to welcoming students from around the world who want to study at one of London’s most diverse academic institutions." Speaking at a media parley in Lagos, the Director of International Office, Nigeria said one of the functions London Metro performs is to ensure that students who enroll through them don’t miss their class as 98.6 per cent lecture attendance in class is compul-
sory for all students. The director who said studying abroad is part of internal exposure said that with his assessment of Nigerian students over the years, they are good at virtually any course of study. “London Met has a long history of providing education to international students and we can now continue this long-term commitment to offer them quality education. Students can have total confidence that our processes are stronger than ever.”
*From left: ‘Opon Imo’ Project Coordinator, Mr. Oluwasun Ngonnase; Permanent Secretary, Osun State Ministry of Education, Mr. Femi Fawole; Deputy Governor & Commissioner for Education, Osun State, Mrs. Grace Laoye-Tomori and member, Opon Imo Project Committee, Mr. Bola Ilori at the presentation of the state’s innovation, ‘Opon Imo’ – Tablet of Knowledge to the media, in Lagos.
Plateau partners NTI on PTTP Teachers Training
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LATEAU State Government has joined the Federal Government to raise the standard of teachers in the country by way of improving the human capacity of its teachers. The state government which sent an high powered delegation to open discussion with the National Teachers Institute (NTI), Kaduna, led by the state Commissioner for Education, Hon. Nanle Dashen, and the Permanent Secretary, Plateau State Ministry of Education, Mrs. Ruth Biaugten, has the mandate of developing a comprehensive teacher development programme in collaboration with the institute under the scheme, Pivotal Teacher Training Programme (PTTP). Speaking at the institute’s headquarters in Kaduna recently, the Mrs. Dashen stressed the need to train and retrain teachers for optimum performance and improvement of students who study under their guidance and instructions. “It is only when young people with genuine interest in teaching as a career are selected for the pivotal teachers’ training programme, that we can guarantee the outcome of
our students who are the direct beneficiaries of the training programme. This can only be achieved if we improve on the knowledge base of the teachers.” Responding, the Chief Executive of NTI, Dr. Aminu
Ladan Shehu, assured the team of maximum cooperation in the area of teacher training, noting that the institute has kept fate with the mandate of training and retraining of teachers for effective teaching techniques.
Stakeholders urge FG to implement workable policies in education sector By OLAYINKA LATONA
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HE Federal Government and various stakehold ers in the Education sector have been called upon to articulate and implement policies that will elevate the standard of education in the country particularly implementing existing education policies, provision of adequate infrastructure for teachers, manpower and teaching aids which would facilitate proper teaching and learning. This statement was made by Dr. Celine Ogah, an educationist and Director of Religious Education, Department,
Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Rev. Sr. Judith Madueke during the second annual teacher ’s summit of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos under the church's Religious Education Department which was held in Lagos recently. Presenting a paper entitled; Christian Educators-Coping in educationally challenging society, Celine Ogah called on the Federal Government to collaborate with state governments to review the country’s education policy and overhaul the educational system with greater attention to technical and vocational training.
Is life a game or a battle? T
HE most common definition of life is that life is a battle. The big question is does battle explain the concept of life accurately? Or could there be a better definition that could paint the picture of what life is all about? Examining the concept of battle and game in relation to successful living, we can discover remarkable differences. Battles are not based on principles or rules but rather, they are based on strategies. The reverse is evident in games; games are not ruled or governed by strategies but principles or rules. In actuality, if your strategies for attaining success are not based on the foundation of correct principles, it will lead to an outright failure. Invariably, principles are superior to strategies and they govern life. Battles which are governed by strategies is situational specific rather than universally applicable; different battles involve different strategies depending on the environmental factors; the strength of the opposition and the type of weapons used in the fight. In contrast, life is governed by principles and these principles are universal, timeless and selfevident. Therefore, irrespective of your location or environment; or the age you live in, or the situation, you can apply these principles and it will yield the desired result. So the rules or principles governing a particular game apply no matter the place, time or any other factor. For instance, the rules or principles governing basketball will always be effective everywhere and anywhere in the world. Battles can be lost because even the most effective strategies can fail; it cannot be guaranteed to always succeed. Inversely, when correct principles are accurately applied to life, it definitely will
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UK varsity regains licence, restores hope for Nigerian students
The game of life is a game of giving and receiving; whatever you give out in your thoughts, words and deeds comes back into your life as a boomerang
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produce guaranteed success. People who see life as a battle are always too serious about life; they never enjoy the journey. Battles are not designed to be enjoyed. In fact, battles are generally dreaded and not loved because if lost can ruin lives and keep the person in bondage or servitude under the opposition. On the other hand, when life is perceived as a game, it becomes fun, enjoyable and admirable and even if you lose because of not mastering the rules or principles, you can always bounce back, learn from the mistakes and get into the game again to play to win. Therefore, principles are superior to strategies. That is the reason why a man of principles always wins while a man of strategies may lose. To play the game of life to win, you must train your mind and your imagination so that it would work for you and not against you in the creative process. Your rewards in life are determined by your mental capacity to receive it. Your external affairs or condition has a mental correspondence. The game of life is a game of giving and receiving. Whatever you give out in your thoughts, words and deeds comes back into your life as a boomerang. The game of life is played and won on the platform of the principle of love; the kind of love that is unselfish and gives without demanding anything in return. No harm can come to the person whose life is governed by selfless love because this kind of love transforms the arrows of the enemy into a blessing. Selfless love sees beauty in all things and the divinity in everyone and therefore, is free from all hatred; criticism; unforgiveness; anger and all other negative mental attitudes. Therefore, to play to win in the game of life; watch your thoughts; imagination and words which culminates into action or inaction and create the condition of your life. Let your thoughts; imagination and words be governed by fearless faith; pure and unselfish love; enlarging vision and be guided by Divine lead (intuition). The more these principles become ingrained in your nature, the more you are bound to emerge a star in the game of life.