Riplington & Associates, an informative training, advocacy, research and policy organisation aims to use qualitative and quantitative data to aid their educative work in Nigeria (and the rest of Africa.) The organisation has developed policy guidance for schools, guidelines on boarding management, sex education communication booklet for parents and educators, raised awareness on child welfare issues in education and emphasised the critical role of parental involvement in raising student achievement/wellbeing. Riplington & Associates were invited by the Nigerian Communications Commission to serve on the Technical Committee on the Nigerian Child Online Protection charged with delivering the policy implementation and awareness for parents, educators, guardians and children on how to better protect Nigerian children online.
Riplington & Associates have also been contracted to undertake a research study in partnership with ESSPIN on “Teacher Career Paths”, focusing on issues related to the deployment of female teachers in Kwara State. We have also worked with UNICEF Nigeria to improve learning outcomes and girls transition rates in five northern states under the Girls Education Project (GEP 3). Riplington & Associates have secured continuous professional development partnerships with Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (UK) and Cambridge Education (UK) to provide quality teacher training programmes for educators in Nigeria. In addition, the organisation has worked extensively with leading private schools to raise operational and attainment levels.
- Policy, Research and Advocacy
- Teachers Training and Placements
- School Management & Improvement services
- Civic Education
Building Sustainable Schools requires setting high standards, understanding how students learn, focusing on learning outcomes, and providing schools with sufficient human resources and terial inputs to support student-centered, active, and participatory teaching and learning.
It is necessary to provide safe and appropriate facilities, relevant curriculum, high-quality teachers, and effective school leaders. Finally, bringing these models to scale requires sound planning, effective monitoring and evaluation, and competent system-wide management.
Riplington & Associates subscribes to the philosophy that Sustainable Schools is the most appropriate strategy for Africa in terms of renovating educational processes and achieving quality education. Many of our Learning Programmes are based on this premise with the sole purpose of creating Sustainable Solutions for a Sustainable Future.
Further reading
We provide consultancy in the following areas:
- Book Procurement – We can also source books from rare publishers, standards, manuals etc through from any publisher worldwide in a timely and efficient manner.
- Legal Literacy – Laws and Regulations governing working within an educational setting.
- Mass Teacher Registrations – Registration of qualified teachers at Teachers’ Registration Council for educational institutions.
- Pastoral Care and Student Well-Being (Assessment and Action Plans including Boarding Management).
- Educational Leadership and Management o Quality Improvement (Assessment and Action Plans for Improving Teaching and Learning).
- Safeguarding Students in African Educational Institutions (Policies and Procedures).
- School Staff Placements
Riplington & Associates have developed a range of Teacher Development Modules based on feedback from previous trainings. The development modules are also focused on developing teachers’ 21st century skills to provide better student outcomes.
Our facilitators are highly qualified and have many years experience of working in Nigeria, the UK and overseas delivering courses to schools, public and private organisations.
For more information, please contact the Education Specialist.
View and buy our wide range of publications, books and educational materials
Publications
Riplington & Associates have produced the following books, training materials, and resources for schools, educators and parents.
Look inside before you buy by clicking on the relevant titles.
Policy Guidance for Nigerian Schools: An Essential Guide for Nigerian Schools and Educators.
Introduction to Boarding Management: A Resource Guide for Boarding Schools and Educators.
For more information on the above resources or special procurement contact Schools Project Officer
This section covers past and present education-themed campaigns run by Riplington & Associates. It also provides information about various education campaigns across the world. This is separate from our research and policy section on schools.
Current Campaigns.
Riplington & Associates are currently campaigning for reform in the following TWO areas in Nigeria:
- Teacher training provision and delivery
- Child protection in schools
Archive of previous education campaigns by Riplington & Associates
Schools closure 2011 (Nigeria)
In January 2011, a few days before the start of the new academic term, the Federal Government forced all public and private primary and secondary schools to resume four weeks later for the voter registration exercise. After intital outrage trailed the forced closure, the Federal Government stated that schools will now open three weeks later. There were legal implications regarding the directive but many schools (especially private ones) complied out of intimidation or favour. What is clear is that there needs to be a forum where the school community ( public and private ) can effectively engage with the government at all levels with ONE voice.
Below are selected articles that questioned the Federal Government’s directive in a democratic country.
Mass Teacher Registrations: Nigeria
The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) an agency of the Federal Ministry of Education is the only body in Nigeria charged with the regulation and control of the teaching profession at all levels of the Nigerian educational system, in both public and private sectors. TCRN remit extends to qualified teachers (including non-Nigerians) who obtain their teaching qualifications abroad who then teach in Nigeria.
Qualified teachers (with teaching qualifications) and registration
By law, local and expatriate qualified teachers are required to register with the TCRN before they embark on teaching in any Nigerian educational institution.
Deadline for those who have not registered and lack teaching qualifications
Initial deadline was 2003 but TRCN extended it to 2006 for all schools to comply with the regulatory body in recognition that unqualified teachers needed time to be certified and registered.
What about unqualified teachers (those with teaching qualifications) post 2006?
Riplington & Associates advises that unqualified teachers should be supported by obtaining a teaching qualification and we can provide relevant information on national/international (long distance) part/full time certified teaching qualifications. However, Riplington & Associates must point out that by law it is illegal to employ unqualified and unregistered persons working as teachers in schools
Why does Riplington & Associates endorse teacher registration in Nigeria?
Riplington & Associates support this initiative as it is a database of registered qualified teachers and contributes to national plans to aid professional development by teachers undertaking qualifying exams each year. Further, educational institutions can contact the TCRN state co-ordinators– (one in every geo-political zone) to ascertain whether a person is a qualified teacher and verify if there has been a complaint lodged against this person. In Nigeria, this serves as a tool to implement some form of child protection. However, the service will only work if educational institutions adhere to this policy and report teachers to the TRCN via their teachers’ investigative panel – in every state (including the FCT) who then carry out an investigation which may result in that particular teacher being suspended, deregistered and exonerated etc. The outcome will however be recorded against their registration number.
Riplington & Associates Teacher Registration Service
Riplington & Associates are now offering educational institutions an express service (14 days) where they can register qualified teachers in their schools as a collective.
For more information please contact the Schools Project Officer.
**Schools may contact The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria directly to register their teachers themselves**
Further information on teacher standards organisations in Africa :
South African Council for Educators,The International Forum of Teacher Regulatory Authorities,Teachers Service Commission Kenya
Please note that Riplington & Associates are not responsible for the availability or content of these websites. We do not endorse these sites, but hope that you find them useful.
Education Governance is centred on the law that regulates educational bodies ( public and private schools and universities). Riplington & Associates’ focus on school law by building educators (including school administrators) legal knowledge on the legal rights, duties and responsibilities of the school authorities. In an increasingly litigious society, it is important that educators are aware of the laws that regulate their operations and conduct of their institutions such as:
- Forms of law
- Schools and the state
- School management
- School systems
- School authorities and those who are responsible for providing education to children
- Requirements that teachers and support staff must meet
- Teachers and the law
- Students and the law
- Legal relationships between employer, teachers, parents/guardians, students and visitors
- Negligence
- Contracts
School Governance
Riplington & Associates have also assisted educational institutions to build a governance culture thus contributing to the smooth and efficient running of the organisation. The governance structure and school board policies should be found in a policy manual that provides the parameters for school administration. It should provide for management based on the beliefs and philosophy of your school. These policies would help to establish guidelines for school administration and avoid grey areas and overlap of duties.
The importance of policies cannot be overemphasised. In addition to administrative direction, they prevent the loss, abuse or misuse of the school’s human, physical and financial resources. This will help the school to maximise its available resources.
The policy document would contain a set of principles which define the organization’s ownership, the board’s responsibility to the owners (or to itself in the event that the board also owns the school) and the board’s authority. These principles also specify that the board defines in writing what benefits if any should come to it, how the board should conduct itself, and how staff behaviour is to be defined. These principles also deal with the board’s delegation of authority and monitoring.
Other issues covered by the policy document will be the principals’ role, limits to the principals’ authority, interaction with staff, students and parents, education instruction and how to deal with the violation of school laws. Most importantly, this policy document also contains monitoring mechanisms to assess implementation of the policies; how the board has succeeded in achieving its goals, usually referred to as ‘ends policies’ and how the principal and staff are carrying out their duties commonly called the ‘means policies’.
The policy handbook serves as a reference point for successors and will remove ambiguities as to how the school ought to be run thus ensuring an enduring legacy of quality standards and all the objectives for which the school was established.
Landmark cases in Education Law (Africa)
Nigeria: ECOWAS Court Orders Nigeria To Provide Free And Compulsory Education To Every Child (19 November 2010)
It took a suit by the Registered Trustees of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to confirm that all “Nigerians are entitled to education as a legal and human right”. The Nigerian government, through the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) had stated that education is “a mere directive policy of the government and not a legal entitlement of the citizens”. The Court also ruled that UBEC had failed in discharging its legal responsibility regarding how the funds are spent and used by the various states. Further, the Nigerian government is bound by the judgement and should enforce the ruling to realise children’s right to education.
Further reading:
Academic research papers on education law can be accessed via our research section
If you have education law related concerns and think we could be of assistance, contact Us . It is however in your best interest to consult a lawyer who specialises in education law.
Abiola Sanusi is a Prince2 Certified Project Manager and the Education
Adviser at REI. She has a BA and MA in Politics, Development Studies and International Relations from the University of London and Warwick respectively. She also obtained a PGCE in Post Compulsory Education, from the Institute of Education, University of London. Her professional experience includes developing and implementing system reform in both the public and private sector. She has consulted for UNICEF Nigeria Girls Education Project (GEP 3) as a learning specialist focusing on head teacher effectiveness, Female Teacher Training Scholarship Scheme (FTTS) and Technical Working Group on Transition. In addition, she has worked as a development researcher (gender/youth/international relations) and rapporteur for the UN Economic Commission for Africa, BBC World Trust, Africans Unite Against Child Abuse, Alliances for Africa and Centre for African Policy and Peace Studies. Abiola taught as a Politics and Development lecturer at a Sixth Form
college in the UK and written a paper on food security for an academic text. She has a certificate from the Sphere Project: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response Online course.
Chijioke Kelechi Iwuamadi is a PhD Development and Civil Society Expert, Political and Social Scientist, Researcher and Data Analyst, and a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist. He has participated in numerous national and international conferences, scientific researches, special missions, and trainings. He holds a Doctorate of Philosophy from the Institute for Development Studies, Master’s Degree (M.Sc.) in Political Science with specialty in International Relations, B.Sc. (Hons) Political Science and a Diploma in Social Works and Community Development, all from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nigeria.
Yomi Oloko has over 20 years’ experience as a Behaviour Improvement
practitioner and conflict management / interpersonal skills trainer both in the UK and Nigeria with teenagers, staff groups and parents. He also recently led a team supporting parents of adolescents exhibiting high resistance and low motivation, providing one to one parenting work and running parenting workshops with groups of parents. Yomi has postgraduate level education in Interpersonal Conflict Resolution & Mediation Skills from University of London/ Institute of Family Therapy, UK.
He has numerous professional / practitioner level training qualifications including Emotional Literacy Development; Solution Focus Practice; Group Dynamics; DfES (UK) Anti Bullying Policy.
Training and induction. (2003)Supervising Staff; Therapeutic Core Skills; Life Development; Solution Focus Practice; Group Dynamics; Supervising Staff; Life Coaching Skills and Social Work.
Esther Jolomi is the Finance and Admin Officer. Esther has a BS.c in Accounting from Kogi State University at Anyigba. In addition, She has obtained Professional Certification in Financial Management in Development (FMD Pro), Certificate in Management and a Graduate Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered), Project Management Certification and Business Consultancy at the Association of Entrepreneurs of Nigeria (ASET). She has experience in the education sector by working on projects for clients such as the federal government, DfID/OSIWA, state governments and the private sector. Her current role of Finance and Admin Officer involves budget preparation, account reporting, account reconciliation, organizational planning and administration.
Blessing Tarfa is the Programme Officer. She is a graduate of Biochemistry from Ahmadu Bello University and Biotechnology from Nigerian Defence Academy. Blessing has experience with primary and secondary education as a teacher and sectional head. She volunteers for the Abuja Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. Blessing’s current role involves design and implementation of projects, project monitoring, evaluation and reporting writing.
