10th July, 2015
By Rasak Musbau
According to 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, “One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen, can change the world”. Across the world, enrolment in primary schools is rising rapidly, as a result of population rise and efforts to ensure more children receive primary education in line with millennium development goal of universal primary education. However, the quality of education is being compromised in many countries as they can’t get enough teachers into classrooms. This global teacher shortage is a setback for all development efforts.
Though in Nigeria our curriculum is rated high, teachers’ quality and number remains very low. Also, physical infrastructure in most primary and secondary schools is generally below standard and grossly insufficient across the nation. Plainly put, it is from the foundation stage of primary education that the trend of what we generally lament as half-baked graduates originates. It is, therefore, irrefutable that there is no theory of change that could really help us if we don’t take care of our education from primary and secondary schools levels.
Evidence shows that for teachers, their professional knowledge and skills are the most important factor for quality education. If this is unquestionable they must be treated as such. This requires stronger training upfront and continual professional development and support, to enhance performance and learning outcomes. In Nigeria, we know this and yet, far too often, teachers remain under-qualified and poorly paid, with low status, and excluded from education policy matters and decisions that concern and affect them.
Teachers hold the key to a better future for all. They inspire, challenge and empower innovative and responsible global citizens. They get children into school, keep them there and help them learn. Every day, they help to build the inclusive knowledge societies we need for tomorrow and the century ahead. In truth, nothing can replace a good teacher. And there are far too few of them today. At the global level, some 5.24 million teachers need to be recruited in order to reach the goal of universal primary education by 2015 –1.58 million new recruits and 3.66 million to replace those leaving the profession. The challenge goes beyond numbers – more teachers must mean better quality learning, through appropriate training and support.
What no one can controvert is that a country cannot develop without a solid foundation for children in formal education. But the question now is who and where are the teachers to lay the solid foundation? Here is a country where the majority in the teaching service became teachers by accident and where both the Nigerian leaders, and society at large, no longer appreciate teachers as nation builders. Here it is no longer news that policy inconsistency, dearth of qualified teachers, poor and inadequate infrastructure, inadequate funding, exorbitant tuition fee, among others, have conspired to reduce the education system to a laughing stock in the comity of nations.
Without a doubt, shortage of qualified teachers and few qualified teachers not being well paid poses dangers to development. It is embarrassing that 54 years after independence, a section of the country will still be having as much as 80 per cent of unqualified teachers engaged in its schools. Truth be told, our governments are complacent as regard adequately investing in teachers despite yearly lamenting poor performance in various national examinations.
When we lament about falling standard of education and poor performance in examinations, what we fail to address is that learning is not possible without professional, well trained, well supported, accountable and valued teachers. It amounts to wanting to harvest vegetable when onion is planted if we expect quality education under a situation when teachers are poorly trained and poorly supported – often disconnected from the policy decisions that affect them.
The unstable condition of teaching staff in Nigerian primary and secondary schools has crippled the system, because the condition of service does not encourage them to stay in the profession. Another major concern of teachers is salary. Not only is payment often incomplete, but the salaries are poor. Salaries are set by the local, state, and federal governments, depending on which level controls the institution.
The major teacher organization representing primary and secondary school teachers is the Nigeria Union of Teachers. Although it is very active, NUT has been unable to change the unsatisfactory conditions under which teachers work. UNESCO reports that 34.4 percent of the teachers had neither the pupils’ textbook nor the teachers’ guide for any of the school subjects.
The country must avoid a system in which, for instance, half of the teachers in a state are as ignorant as the pupils, especially at the primary level, or one in which for the past 20 years many have never attended any programme to scale up knowledge!
Private schools do not fare much better. In fact, they are worse in some cases as school proprietorship has virtually become an all-comers affair for commercial reasons. This phenomenal growth can be discouraged throughout the country if the states invest maximum attention and resources in public schools. In the same way, the Federal Government has to make a bold statement of unwavering commitment to the education of Nigeria’s children by investing more money in teacher training.
One area that needs critical look is teachers’ recruitment. We have always had situations where politicians use their position to force unqualified teachers on the system, thus sacrificing merit for mediocrity. What should be done? It seems logical, therefore, that any effort at reversing the problems in our educational sector must focus on scheme that embraces and encourages massive recruitment of competent teachers. We are also in a period when quality of who will manage our education sector at both state and federal levels must not be compromised.
Our attitude to education must change all over the country, by governments and citizens alike, if a meaningful and rewarding future for Nigeria would ever be laid. Of course, a rigorous staff training and re-training programme should begin in earnest to make the best out of the situation now within the shortest possible time.
Another area government should invest in is housing scheme for all teachers. This is an appropriate motivation for teachers to strive for excellence. There can never be too much of such investment to make the desired impact. Providing teachers with the means to have their voices and concerns heard should also be a priority. Avenues should be created where teachers, especially principals will have opportunity to have inputs in policy development and decision-making within our education system.
School principals are vital to shaping and strengthening the traditions and ethos of schools. They should lead and inspire teachers, and work with parents and the community to provide students with the opportunities to discover their strengths and follow their passion.
In sum, there is no stronger foundation for lasting peace and sustainable development than quality education provided by well trained, valued, supported and motivated teachers. The education of future generations hangs in the balance unless we can rise to the challenge of putting the best possible teacher in every classroom.
—Musbau is of the Features Unit, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa.