There is this colonial mentality among the first generation graduates in

Currently the reasons for mentoring in our career is on the increase as the operational environment is embedded with risk , change ,staff competition, unethical career practices , high uncertainty, unfavourable government policy implementation and ignorance of the role of mentors being in control of the weak site. It is grossly required for good mentoring to be in our educational system of rewards and promotion. The study therefore investigates mentoring and career development of academia in colleges of education in Cross River state, Nigeria. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study comprised all the 1075 Chief lecturers and young lecturers 'while multi choice sampling technique was used to sample 570 respondents. One research question and two research hypotheses guided the study. The researcher developed questionnaires tagged 'Mentoring and Career Development for Academia Questionnaire' (MCDAQ). Questionnaire containing 12 items was the instrument for data collection, which was validated by three experts from the University of Calabar, Calabar with total reliability coefficients of 0.82. Mean ratings and standard deviation were used in answering the research questions. While T test was used in testing the hypothesis. The major findings of the study revealed that mentoring is in practices in collages of education in Cross River state, Nigeria. That there is mentoring relationships among academic staff. The study also revealed that female face more challenges in course mentoring than the male academic

Every adult is aware that children enjoy playing. Even before a child is able to grasp an object, bright coloured toys are suspended in a crib or held for him to enjoy. Once the child is able to crawl, stand and walk, the opportunity to explore the environment and play are expanded. Through rich educational programmes young children can demonstrate effective learning and significant development. This even has been developed to explore ways to create an outstanding environment for children under three years. It will examine ways to achieve consistent high standards across education programmes through creating rich, varied and imaginative experiences for children. Outdoor play environment offers the children much needed exercise, sunshine and the opportunity to practice motor skills in a different setting. Through a supportive outdoor play environment, the children are exposed to best support for children's emotional, social, physical development and ways of acquiring communicative and language skills so that they are exceptionally well equipped for school and next steps in their learning. A combination of inspiring and motivated exciting environment provides the child with the grounds for learning through play and experience and a different type of freedom and confidence in exploration of nature and habitat.

Microteaching has been widely used in preservice teacher education programme to enhance prospective teachers' instructional experiences. In Early Childhood Education Programme, the use of microteaching offers valuable opportunities for trainee-teachers to develop effective strategies. Understanding the perceptions and concerns of female students teachers is crucial for promoting teacher education programmes' outcome. This study is aimed at investigating the responses of sixty-one female teacher trainees from the Early Childhood Education (ECE) programme in the School of Education, Federal College of Education, Obudu, Cross River State, Nigeria (FCECRS), regarding the microteaching component offered in two courses of ECE teaching methods. A combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques was employed for the purpose of collecting the data. A questionnaire and a focus group interview were used as the main tools for data collection. The findings show that prospective teachers described a variety of benefits they gained from microteaching experience. Recommendations were also drawn.

Education is a potent tool in the emancipation and empowerment of women. The greatest single factor which can incredibly improve the status of women in any society is education. It is indispensible that it enables women not only to gain more knowledge about the world but helps her to get status, positive self esteem and self confidence, necessary courage and inner strength to face challenges in life. Apparently it also facilitates them to procure a job and supplement the income of family and achieve social status. Educated women can play an equal role as men in nation building. Therefore, the is no denying fact that education empowers women. In spite of the forceful intervention by international women groups, feminist critics, constitutional guarantees, protecting laws and sincere efforts by the government at all levels through various schemes and programmes to uplift the plight of women, education and women empowerment is still an enigma for variation of reasons. The 2003 and 2005 UNESCO report indicates that literacy among women is only 54% and Nigeria is still at the risk of not achieving the Education For All (EFA) goals. The growth of women education in the rural areas is still very low. This obviously means that there is still a large number of women folk who are illiterate, weak, backward and exploited. Gender inequality is re-enforced in education which is proved by the high percentage of men who are educated compared to the percentage of their female counterparts. This paper views the reasons for gender inequality in educational system, recommend that women themselves should develop negotiative skills and rise to the challenges of assisting themselves in a competitive society and conclude that there is obvious inequality against the girl child in enrollment, attendance and completion rate in all levels of education in Nigeria especially the northern part due to variety of cultural and religious factors.