South-west PGDE Results out Soon, Says NTI

Uchechukwu Nnaike in Lagos and Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

Following the outcry by thousands of ex-students of the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) in the South-West over the non-release of their Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) results after four years, the institute has assured them that the results will be released soon.

The students, who said they completed the programme in 2017, stated that the delayed release of the results had caused untold hardship, like losing their jobs and other opportunities to advance their careers.

The acting Director-General and Chief Executive of the institute, Bashir Mamman, gave the assurance while briefing journalists in Ibadan after a stakeholders’ meeting with its partners at UI and representatives of the students.

He said the institute had resolved the delay in releasing the results with the University of Ibadan. Mamman, represented by a deputy director in the institute, Dr Ibrahim Bala, noted that the NTI and UI are finally uploading the students’ data on the university’s portal.

He said the delay was as a result of the closure of universities due to COVID-19, ASUU strike, affiliation processes involving series of meetings, consultations and signing of MoU; time needed to process results; and uploading students’ data on the University of Ibadan’s portal.

The NTI, in a statement, said it ran its PGDE in affiliation with six universities and bachelor degree programmes with the University of Maiduguri and the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). The universities included the University of Port Harcourt, Usumanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, UI, University of Ilorin, UNIMAID, and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

According to the statement, the institute signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the affiliation agreement with five universities out of the six universities, while UI is in process. “It is worth noting that each university has unique ways of processing and issuance of results and certificates. Hence, duration or time required to release results may differ,” the institute explained.

The statement added: “The institute is committed to providing quality teachers for the country by training teachers while on their jobs. All the institute’s activities and programmes are made flexible and favourable to students. The delay in the release of the PGDE students’ results, particularly that of the South-West, is one of the institute’s hard times since its inception.”

Also speaking at the meeting, the Director, Directorate of Affiliation at UI, Prof. Wole Akinsola, confirmed the results would be released soon.

However, the ex-students doubted the institute’s sincerity. One of the affected ex-students who spoke with THISDAY on the condition of anonymity dismissed NTI’s explanation that COVID-19 was partly the cause of the delay. “The programme was 2017. COVID-19 was 2020. It’s the same old story for four years,” the ex-student stated. “These people are so inhuman and insensitive. The way they will even treat us with disdain when we go to their office to ask for the result is disgusting. I make bold to say that NTI is not sincere and sensitive to our agitation.”