…needs 194,876 teachers, 1.1million classrooms in basic education
Experts in the education sector said Nigeria needs a holistic transformation to achieve sustainable development in the face of its declining economy, even as the country celebrates its 64th independence anniversary.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is unfortunately among the poorest countries on the continent. Food insecurity and inadequate access to education ravage its inhabitants.
The activities of terrorists, bandits, and other insecurity agents have drastically exacerbated the situation. For over five years the country has been grappling with repeated violent attacks across the various states of the federation.
Quality education which is the foundation upon which a strong future can be built is now a mirage, except the authorities can address the foundational issues bedeviling the sector, such as teachers’ welfare, quality, and infrastructural development, among others.
The fourth item on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG4) aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Speaking on the theme of the 2024 World Teachers’ Day, experts argue that the erosion of education quality is a huge threat to Nigeria’s economic development drive.
The theme for World Teacher’s Day 2024 is “Empowering Educators: Strengthening Resilience, Building Sustainability”. This year’s World Teachers’ Day theme is all about recognising and appreciating teachers’ voices and working towards a new social contract for education.
Isaiah Ogundele, vice-principal at Chrisland Schools said for the country to achieve sustainable development the teachers must be empowered holistically.
“Teachers can be empowered by sponsoring them for national and international training or workshops for them to collaborate with their colleagues in other nations of the world,” he said.
Besides, he advocates for the educators to be given soft loans to help them to meet their needs without too much stress, and welfare packages, among others.
“Good welfare educational packages like scholarships for their children both at the national and international level. Empower them through ICT training and giving them tools like laptops at subsidised rate.
Ogundele said that giving educators a good welfare package would boost their morals to do more even when they are tired.
Kingsley Moghalu, president of the Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation said the country needs an education system that focuses on skill development.
“Education must go beyond rote memorisation of facts to helping learners acquire various forms of skills that make them form a formidable human capital for the nation.
“Educated citizens must be skilled to be able to create individual livelihoods, community wealth, and national value chains and thus effectively contribute to the economic transformation and global competitiveness of the nation, especially in light of the 4th Industrial Revolution,” he said.
The World Bank and UNESCO reports show that a minimum of 20 per cent of teachers in Nigeria’s public basic education institutions lack the necessary qualifications.
Hamid Bobboyi, the executive secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), also lamented the acute shortage of qualified teachers in public primary schools, which he said is contributing to learning poverty in basic education.
Bobboyi decried the fact that Nigeria as of June required 694,078 teachers at the primary school level, 499,202 are available, leaving a gap of 194,876.
“As of 2022, 907,769 additional classrooms were required in primary schools, and 200,085 were required in junior secondary schools. All geo-political zones are above the standard ratios as specified by the National Policy on Education,” he noted.
Stanley Boroh, a lecturer at Federal University, Otuoke said that poor remuneration and lack of educators’ welfare are fueling the dearth of teachers because it makes the profession unattractive to people.
“There is erosion in the quality of education because we have unqualified persons in the profession, and this can be attributed to several factors such as poor remuneration of teachers as such people that are qualified loss interest,” he said.
Experts say one of the most effective ways to enhance teacher quality is to implement comprehensive training programmes for educators. These programmes should focus on providing teachers with the skills and knowledge they need to excel in the classroom.
“The government should train and retrain teachers, and provide a good enabling environment for teachers to work in as well as increase their remuneration.
Incentives play a crucial role in attracting and retaining high-quality teachers in schools.
Offering competitive salaries, benefits, and professional development opportunities can help motivate teachers to perform at their best,” they say.
