Nigerian Govt urged to give priority to teachers’ development

Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (SCACEFA), an NGO, has called on the Federal Government to give urgent attention to teachers’ development in the country.

Mrs Chioma Osuji, the Policy Adviser of the coalition made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.

Osuji attributed the poor learning outcomes of children in schools to the quality of teachers, adding that the quality of teachers especially at the basic level of education needed attention.

She said that candidates with low grades in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) were pushed into the colleges of education as their last resort.

According to her, the teaching profession is being politicised to the extent that it is used as compensation for political loyalist and has not done well.

“Little wonder why those with low grades in JAMB are pushed to colleges of education and we want to get the best from the system and compete with top world economics.

“Our teachers are also poorly paid with low motivation, in some states like Kogi, teachers are owned salaries as long as 15 months.

“How do you expect to get the best from a teacher when they are poorly treated?

“No wonder there have been rise in proliferation of private schools thereby reducing access to schooling for children,’’ she said.

She stressed the need for the government at all levels to show commitments toward tackling the challenges of education in the country.

Osuji noted that for effective development in the sector, education should not continue to be in the concurrent list.

She, however, appealed to the state governments to see basic education as its sole responsibility, adding that such would promote quality education to the citizens.

“We are signatory to various laws and declarations that promotes education as a right and it is the duty of the government to ensure that children in schools have a secured and quality education.

“ It is right and not a privilege. Education is a human right and a right investment any nation can make.’’

She also said that education was the only veritable sustainable investment that government could make to guarantee a secured future.

She, however, called for more funding on the education sector, adding that it would go a long way to improve the Nigerian society.