The director-general and chief executive of the National Teachers’ Institute, Professor Garba Dahuwa Azare, has commended the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Vancouver, Canada for the support it has been extending to the institute over the years.
Azare made the commendation during the opening of the workshop on Gender Analysis organised by the institute in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning, under the Green Teacher programme, at the institute’s headquarters in Kaduna recently.
Represented by the institute’s Director of Examinations, Malam Bashir Mamman, said, “Only a fortnight ago, we organised a workshop on Problem-Based Learning (PBL) for core team members and field officers with the support of COL.
“Our staff are now fully equipped with all the necessary skills and knowledge of problem-based learning as a viable approach to providing solutions to emerging issues on the environment.”
He said the institute would continue to provide the enabling environment for the success of the workshop.
He also promised to hold the institute’s staff responsible for the dissemination of new ideas and knowledge they acquired from the workshops within and outside the country.
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Earlier, the workshop’s lead facilitator, Dr. Pamella Were Kogogo, who is a senior lecturer of Environmental Ecology, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, Bondo, Kenya, disclosed that the objective of the workshop was to expose participants to how pedagogical approaches are gender-responsive.
Meanwhile, the vice chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Professor Abdalla Adamu, has been conferred with the honorary fellowship of the Commonwealth of Learning (CoL).
He was presented with the award by the president and CEO of the Canada-based organisation, Professor Asha Kanwar, at the just-concluded fifth edition of Pan-Commonwealth conference held in Edinburg, Scotland.
He is one of two Africans among eight leaders in distance education who were conferred with the honour at the meeting.
The Director of Press and Public Affairs of NOUN, Mr Ibrahim Sheme, made this known in a statement made available to newsmen.
According to him, Professor Mandla Makhanya, the vice chancellor of the University of South Africa (UNISA), is the second African recipient of the fellowship.
While noting that CoL is dedicated to the attainment of human development goals through universal access, he added that Professor Adamu was recognised for the fellowship based on his outstanding contributions to distance education in areas of leadership and service, published works, lectures and presentations as well as mentorship, among others.
One of Adamu’s predecessors, Professor Olugbemiro Jegede, was also conferred with the fellowship back in 2013.