Teachers’ Union Awards N4m Grants To 6 Brilliant Students

The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has awarded N4 cardinal successful scholarships to six outstanding Nigerian Certificate successful Education (NCE) students drawn from the country’s six geopolitical zones.

The assistance came arsenic portion of the union’s activities marking the 2025 World Teachers’ Day successful Abuja yesterday.

This was disclosed during the valedictory code of the outgoing COEASU president, Dr Smart Odunayo Olugbeko, astatine the celebration, which besides featured the inauguration of the caller National Officers’ Council and an grant ceremony.

The lawsuit was organised nether the taxable “Teachers: Leading successful Crisis, Reimagining the Future.”

Dr Olugbeko, who delivered his farewell code titled “Legacy of a Collective Progress,” said the scholarships formed portion of COEASU’s National Scholarship Award for Outstanding NCE Students, introduced successful 2024 to beforehand merit and world excellence successful teacher education.

“Following a rigorous nationalist introspection conducted by the Union, we are pleased to honour the champion NCE students from each of the six geopolitical zones with a assistance of N500,000 each. And to the wide champion pupil successful Nigeria, we contiguous a assistance of B1 million, a awesome of nationalist pridefulness and world distinction,” helium said.

He besides announced the renaming of the nationalist champion pupil prize successful honour of the precocious Khalid Yunusa, a pupil of Jigawa State College of Education, Gumel, who tragically mislaid his beingness en way to the zonal signifier of the assistance introspection successful September.

“In honour of his representation and the ideals helium represented, the Union has resolved to rename the National Best NCE Student Award arsenic the Khalid Yunusa Best NCE Student Award successful Nigeria,” Olugbeko stated, noting that COEASU’s improvement partner, AFFIT, had besides pledged to immortalise the deceased pupil done a assistance for learners successful his community.

Dr Olugbeko, who served arsenic COEASU president from 2021 to 2025, utilized the juncture to recount cardinal milestones of his administration.

In his goodwill message, the curate of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, commended COEASU for maintaining constructive engagement with the authorities and contributing to reforms successful the teacher acquisition sub-sector.

“Teachers are the custodians of stableness and the architects of change. At the ministry, we are driving a wide docket to reposition the teaching profession, professionalising, empowering and rewarding teachers,” Dr Alausa said.

Represented by Dr Iyabo Ali, a manager from the ministry, the curate reaffirmed the national government’s committedness to the Dual Mandate Policy, which enables Colleges of Education to tally grade programmes alongside NCE programmes.

The curate lauded Dr Olugbeko’s enactment for fostering concern harmony wrong the strategy and urged the incoming enforcement to physique connected the achievements recorded betwixt 2021 and 2025.

The incoming president of the union, Dr Ahmed Lawan Bazza, said the mandate fixed to him was  to support the payment of members, beforehand the origin of teacher education, and physique a stronger, much agreed COEASU.

“We shall, therefore, proceed to prosecute the authorities and applicable agencies to guarantee the afloat implementation of the basal instrumentality with which these aspirations of ours tin beryllium achieved the FGN-COEASU 2010 Agreement.

“We shall besides guarantee that the rights and privileges of our members are honoured arsenic appropriate. We shall fortify our advocacy for the repositioning of Colleges of Education, ensuring capable funding, infrastructural development, and improved conditions for teaching signifier and objection schools,” Bazza stated.