Upgrade Of College Of Education, Agbor To University Of Education, Agbor : Residents Speak

Following the announcement few weeks ago by the Delta State Government that the College of Education, Agbor has been upgraded to a University of Education, Ika Mirror Newspaper reporter on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, visited the College of Education, Agbor, to get the personal views of some workers and residents of Boji Boji Metropolis on the positive development.

Here are the contributions of some of the respondents who bared their mind on the issue.Okokoyo Peter, A Chief Lecturer, with the College of Education, Agbor, said, “It is a gladden moment for all of us, gladden in the sense that the upgrade is already overdue because all the facilities are already in place, infrastructures are in place, the manpower are already in place, so I think it’s a welcome development and overdue for the upgrade.With the upgrade, my advise to members of the College Community is that all of us should adjust to the new system either to be operating in the NUC system now that it is a degree awarding system and there are lot of give and take in it. Professionally, I know that it will definitely occur, so we all will try to adjust to the new moment of the upgrade.

Odor Uchechukwu, A Staff of Staff Model Secondary School, Agbor, said “We are all elated for the development, it’s long overdue and we know that the College of Education is almost dying, NCE is almost phasing out, so we are all happy that the institution has been upgraded knowing that it will bring development to the town too.

However, my advise to the members of the College Community is that all has to be up and doing and upgrade ourselves too, to make the University standard because if we don’t do that, it will look as if we are still running the University as NCE or we will produce half baked graduates.

Ogunbor Godswill, Deputy Registrar Exams And Records, College of Education, Agbor, said “I want to express my sincere gratitude to God Almighty for making our dream come thru and to our amiable Governor His Excellency Senator Dr. Ifeanyichukwu Arthur Okowa, for his magnanimity to have granted us this University status, to him be the glory, we appreciate him, we have been expecting this to come and actually he has made our dream come through, we are grateful to him.My advise to members of the University Community haven attained this feat, is that the upgrading is a very lofty one, of which everybody must seat up, it is no longer College of Education, Agbor, but now a University status and we must also live to that standard of a University status in responsibilities above what we are operating on previously.

Darlington Okonma, A Staff of College of Education, Agbor, said, “The upgrade is good, it brings out development, it upgrades the society, it brings out good morals, it makes people and it also brings out good people from the society.

With the new status of a University, my advise to members of the College Community is that those that have not upgraded should use this opportunity to upgrade themselves especially the Non academic staffs and some of the Lecturers that have not gotten their doctorate degrees, so that they can meet up with international best practice.

Ugbebor Gilbert, A Lecturer, with the College of Education, Agbor, said “First and foremost we are grateful to God for using our state Governor to upgrade the College to a University level. Going by the structure, if you go through the College of Education, Agbor, you will see that we have structures on ground, there are some Universities who do not have the structures we have here, and I believe that the visitor who is the state Governor is aware of that. God is indeed helping Ika people, we are now seeing the light, we now know the importance of education, so I believe that God has touched the heart of the Governor to upgrade the institution. Again, if you look at the student population, it has reduced drastically, students are going to other places to seek for admission and they are not giving them. Moreover, if you look at the Lecturers here, in the whole of South South region, I think this school has the highest number of PhD holders, so upgrading the school, I believe is a good development for the Lecturers here and for those that have not gotten their PhD, it will make them to work harder to get their own PhD so that they can give out the best to their students. Also in terms of human resources, this school has what it takes to be a University, like I said earlier I do go to many schools, I have friends who are lecturers in other schools, we write together, we publish together, even some government and private universities don’t have the structures we have here, so I believe the Governor have done so well, I applaud him myself and I pray he will live long.

However, I strongly believe that the School, can do more than Education courses since we have the structure, going by the name, if you look at some Higher institutions, for instance in London, we have London School of Economics, there they study Law, so I believe that the University can do more than Education Courses and I pray that it will touch the heart of the state Governor to also recruit Lecturers in other field so that this institution can do more than educational courses, and apart from that when you look at the place where the school is located, it is the center of the state and Agbor people are very hospitable they welcome visitors.I believe that this school is going to develop the community, it’s going to develop our children, so what the Governor has done is a great thing for Ika Nation and I also believe that by the grace of God many students will come to this institution for their educational pursuit because of the suitable location.

Azikiwe Ehiedu Samuel, A Staff of the Consultancy Unit of the College of Education, Agbor, said “It’s a welcome development, we want to appreciate His Excellency Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, for even taking the bold step in making the school to be upgraded to a University status, because it has been long overdue and for that we really appreciate him.With the upgrade, I will like to encourage the students to see this as an opportunity to upgrade themselves especially the NCE students who more often than none do not continue their programme and end up in the NCE level, so I urge them to endeavour to advance further to the University level. For the Lecturers, some of them are still within the Masters degree level, so now that the school has been upgraded to a University level, let them equally upgrade themselves by going for their PhD programme, equally for the Non teaching staffs who came into the College with NCE, OND or First degree, they should as well upgrade their certificates to higher level, while those with Masters degree should go for their Doctorate degree, that’s the advise I have for all my colleagues that are here with me.

Edeme Benson, A Retired Government School Principal, said “The upgrade of the College of Education, Agbor to University of Education, is a welcome development that is highly appreciated, kudos to our proactive Governor Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, because of his pragmatic leadership acumen.

Having a University in Ika Land will further enhance the growth and development of the place with several students from all walks of life coming here for studies. Even the NCE graduates will use the opportunity to upgrade their certificates.

I will also advise the Lecturers in the College of Education, Agbor, who are still using the Masters degree certificates, to redouble their efforts and go for their Doctorate degree certificate before they will be shown the way out from the institution. For the Non academic staffs, I urge them to improve themselves and go for higher certificates in order to be fully accommodated in the upgraded citadel of learning”.
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Source: Ika News Agbor
Ika News: Upgrade Of College Of Education