Dennis Naku
8 November 2009
Yenagoa — More than 2,500 teaching and non teaching staff of the Bayelsa State-owned College of Arts and Science have been redeployed to the state College of Education, Okpoma in Brass Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
This is as the premises of the institution may be taken over by the Nigeria Law School, South-South campus which is expected to commence academic activities early next year.
Acting Provost of the College of Education, Raphael Meindinyo, who stated this while briefing newsmen on Thursday said the institution had been up-graded to a College of Education (COE) now to be sited at Okpoma in Brass LGA.
"The BYCAS premises have been given out as a campus of the Nigerian Law School from the Federal Government. They are eager to start construction and renovation for the Law School to start perhaps next year.
"We are hoping that by December, 2009, we will vacate this (BYCAS) premises. By early next year, January to be precise, we will be able to start skeletal activities for the COE, Okpoma, to take-off.
"Government has set up a wind-up committee headed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Higher Education, Princewill Igbagara, to facilitate activities outstanding at BYCAS before it goes extinct. One of such activities is the convocation ceremony which holds early December if funds are available. There is also a take-off committee for the COE".
On the status of BYCAS, he said: "The state government said it will upgrade BYCAS and not scrapping it. And we were thinking of the kind of upgrading; whether it is a full-fledged polytechnic or a college of education. But a letter from the state Ministry of Education last year indicated that it would be a college of education.
"So, BYCAS staff will form the nucleus of staff of the COE, Okpoma. Almost all BYCAS staff will relocate there. No staff felt otherwise. It's not a matter of scrapping. We have finished with the backlog of students we had before government decided on COE", he said.
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