Taraba College of Education stayed For 35 years without Convocation – Provost
By Andrew Ojih, Jalingo.
The Provost of the Taraba State College of Education Zing, Prof Ejika Sambo on Sunday lamented that graduated students of the college were Kept for thirty five years without convocation.
Prof Ejika Sambo
Ejika, who stated this during an exclusive interview with selected journalists in Jalingo disclosed that the College had its last convocation in 1989.
“Since 1989, graduating students of our college were kept without convocation, and as it is, if a graduate is not convocated, he or she is not yet a graduate.
The only way that a graduate can be recognised is when he or she is convocated, and that is why convocation is supposed to be yearly thing for higher institutions of learning” he said.
According to him, the success of the last year’s convocation after thirty five years was due to Governor Agbu Kefas’s efforts to transform educational sector in the state.
“Before I came to head the institution as provost, the college was having only few Phd holders, but in my bid to ensure that the school get qualified teachers, I decided to get the records of our teachers and I realised that most of our teachers were given money by TETFUND for further studies but they abandoned their programmes.
But one day, I called them for a meeting and told them that those on TETFUND scholarship must go back for their respective programmes and upon their return, they came back with their Phd” he hinted.
He highlighted that in 2023, fourteen teachers came with their Phd, and in 2024, over forty teachers came with their Phd.
He added that the college at the moment have over sixty Phd holders who are currently impacting on the students.
He informed that the Institution would soon exit teachers with lower certificates who are not willing to go for further studies.
The provost who stressed that the numbers of teachers with master degrees are uncountable, said before the expiration of his tenure, he will make the least qualification to teach in the institution to be a Phd.
Ejika who thanked Governor Kefas for his support to the institution, promised to continue to key into the Governor ‘s reform in the educational sector in the state.
