Nigeria: Council Boss Gives Contractors Ultimatum - The chairman of the governing council of the Federal College of Education (FCE) Zaria has given an ultimatum to contractors handling construction work at the college.Alhaji MD Abubakar Bodinga gave the ultimatum when he led the college governing council and management team on an inspection tour of some ongoing projects in the school.According to Bodinga, the council and management of the college would no longer take it lightly with contractors who abandon projects. [AA Construction]

Nigeria: Kwara Begins Construction of Aviation College - The Kwara State Government has approved the commencement of construction work for the International Aviation College, Ilorin, scheduled to take off in February 2010 just as it revoked two road contracts in the state. [AA Construction]

Eritrea: Nuew Branch Constructing Women's Training Center in Keren - In line with endeavors being made to promote active women participation in all domains, a cornerstone has been laid for the construction of women's training center in Keren town through the collaboration of NUEW branch office in Italy. [AA Urbanisation]

Uganda: Contractors Decry Poor Quality of New Graduates - The Uganda National Association of Builder and Civil Engineering Contractors (Unabcec) have said the transformation of Kyambogo Polytechnic into a university has adversely affected the quality engineers joining the job market. [AA Construction]

Botswana: CITF Speeds Up Design of Skills Training Curriculum - The Construction Industry Trust Fund (CITF) is speeding up the establishment of a pool of a skilled labour force in the technical and education sectors geared towards economic diversification. [AA Construction]

6 July 2009

The Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) was established in April 2000 as a public institution in terms of the Skills Development Act, No. 97 of 1998. An entity of this nature is audited by the Auditor General on an annual basis. CETA is scheduled to table the 2008/9 financials to Parliament's labour portfolio committee on Tuesday, 7 July 2009.

CETA is responding to allegations that have been brought against it for lax internal controls that have contributed towards the organisation's purported financial problems.

These allegations come at a time when CETA has been working tirelessly to upgrade and maintain its internal controls for the benefit of the organisation and its stakeholders. CEO, Petrus Maoko vehemently states that, "Controls are now in place. They are being improved upon day-by-day."

South Africa: Crisis Hits Another Wits Department - The University of the Witwatersrand School of Construction Economics and Management is in a "state of extreme crisis", according to an internal review completed last year. [AA Construction]

With the re-introduction of the Urban Design Masters Degree with a new format and curriculum it is felt that an information session for all interested parties would be useful. The intention of the information session is to provide more detailed information on the intended nature of the course and to take questions in a discussion forum.

The Information Session will be held on the 27th May from 5pm to 7pm in the Architecture Seminar Room on the 1st floor of the John Moffat Building, East Campus, University of Witwatersrand.

Agenda
5 pm – 5.20 pm: Introduction and background – Prof. Alan Mabin
5.20 pm – 5.45pm : Presentation on the UD Course content – Neil Klug and Adjunct Prof. Lone Poulsen
5.45 pm – 6.30pm : Questions and Answer Session
6.30 pm – 7pm : Light snacks with informal discussions

Angola: Methodist Bishop Defends Construction of Ramps in Churches - The bishop of the United Methodist Church, Gaspar João Domingos, defended in Luanda the need for religious institutions to build ramps to ease the access of disabled people to churches. [AA Construction]

Nigeria: Rivers Give Model School Projects Contractors Ultimatum - CONTRACTORS handling model school projects for the Rivers State government have been giving marching orders to go back to site or risk revocation of their contracts. [AA Construction]

By Gabi Khumalo

Johannesburg - Education Minister Naledi Pandor visited the University of Witwatersrand on Thursday to check on whether the investments made by the department for infrastructure development were being properly utilised.

In September 2007/08 to 2009/10, the minister approved R350 million to remodel, extend and refurbish and existing building to provide additional teaching space.

R200 million was funded by government and R150 million from the private resources of the university.

The money is also being used to complete the fourth quadrant of an engineering building and upgrade existing science laboratories and provide additional space for science programmes.

"I'm excited that we are able to achieve the objectives we set out in improving the infrastructure and efficiency of the higher education system," Minister Pandor said.

Government funding of the public higher education system has risen sharply in recent years and is expected to continue to increase at rates above inflation. In 2007/08 the total income of the public higher education system from all sources was R33 billion.

Ghana: Anglogold Ashanti Builds Three-Classroom Block, Teacher Quarters - AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine has built a three unit classroom block and a teachers' quarters to serve the pupils of Wangarakrom and Badukrom Lower Primary School in the Mpohor Wassa West District. [AA Urbanisation]

Nigeria: Minister Lays Foundation Stone for Baze University - The first indigenous University in Abuja has commenced the development of its site as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Muhammed Adamu Aliero has laid the foundation stone for the institution. [AA Construction]

By Gabi Khumalo

Vlakfontein - Education Minister Naledi Pandor officially opened a R3 million administration block at the Inkululeko Primary School in Vlakfontein on Tuesday.

The building boasts a staffroom, general office, kitchen, bookroom, printing room, sick room, TV equipment and library books which will help close the gap between rich and poor schools in terms of resources.

The building was a result of a partnership between the Imperial Group and Ukhamba Community Development Trust, which contributes a total of R5 million towards upgrading the school since 2004.

However, the partnership has gone beyond the mere provision of physical faculties, which the minister said was encouraging, initiating various programmes in the school and ensuring they become self-reliant.

Educators have been trained, Grade R educators were assisted in completing their studies in early childhood development and learners were taken on educational tours to places where they were taught about their heritage and their past.

They have also instituted measures to motivate learners to improve the school's Maths literacy and pass rate.