The United Nations revealed in a report this year that there is dearth of qualified teachers. The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) underscored the problem again this week. The council bemoaned the shrinking number of teachers available to impact knowledge within Nigeria and globally, Assistant Editor Bola Olajuwon examines the issue.
When the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), a specialised agency of the United Nations with the aim of promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture, presented a report recently that the world urgently needs 44 million teachers by 2030 to make the Sustainable Development Goals a reality, many did not take the warning so contained seriously. An estimated 15 million new teachers are needed by 2030 in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The case of primary education, which deals with the education given to children aged six to 12 years, is pathetic since early learning is key to the success or failure of the whole system. In Nigeria, teachers unions had raised the alarm for years. Despite COVID-19 global pandemic that caused unprecedented disruption to education everywhere driving home the gravity of the situation and requiring prompt real action, Federal and state governments took the dire consequences with levity.
This week, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) underscored the problem again, bemoaning the shrinking number of teachers available to impact knowledge within Nigeria and by extension the global community.
The Acting Registrar, TRCN, Dr. Stella-Maria Nwokeocha, who disclosed this during a news conference in Abuja, corroborated that a high-level panel on the teaching profession, set up by the United Nations also revealed this in its report released this year.
She said this shortage of teachers necessitated the 4th Annual Online Conference of Registered Teachers in Nigeria holding this week. According to her, the situation remained worse as a result of teachers leaving Nigeria en masse for greener pastures abroad, due to dwindling fortunes in the profession. She added that the conference was directly linked to international concerns and expected to deal with strategies for quality teaching and lifelong learning.
Dr. Nwokeocha said the conference would also look at national and international best practices in continuous professional up-skilling of teachers, especially with respect to knowledge, skills, attitudes, conduct and orientation of teachers.
In Nigeria, the TRCN said only 2.4 million teachers had been certified to be professional teachers, as captured in the council’s database. Its director in charge of Planning, Research and Statistics, Ugo-Ali Lawrence, said the council had institutionalised the teaching licence and without it, one is not a qualified teacher.
As UNESCO and TRCN lamented the shortage of teachers, stakeholders have been calling for tackling endemic issues affecting education in the country, especially teachers’ welfare and remunerations to invite qualified professional teachers into the sector.
Unfulfilled promises
It would be recalled that on October 5, 2020, during the celebration of World Teachers’ Day, former President Muhammadu Buhari announced special packages for teachers aimed at improving their welfare and the education sector.
Notable commitments he made included: Special Salary Scale for Teachers, an increase in years of service, Special Teacher Pension Scheme, a housing scheme, special allowances for rural posting, free tuition and automatic admission for teachers’ children and scholarship opportunities for teachers, who wish to pursue higher education.
Others were fast-tracking of promotions, provision of training and retraining, enhanced education management system, automatic employment for graduates, and reduction of teaching qualification requirements, building and renovation of schools. But, most of these special packages have not seen the light of the day.
Resigning teachers take up contract jobs
With the dire situation, many schools in Nigeria, particularly in the cities, are reportedly losing teachers in many key subjects. Such teachers now prefer to go on contract to accepting full-time employment. They move from school to school, rendering their services and collecting bigger pay than what fulltime engagement would fetch them.
Many of the teachers, especially those teaching critical subjects like Mathematics, Music, Physical Education and Computer Science, among others, have found out that they were more productive at home, so they continued to work remotely.
To the teachers, who are mostly young, the traditional teaching practice no longer look attractive because the COVID-19 pandemic had taught them better strategies of engagement outside the usually school hours.
Divergent news from states
Despite the calls for recruitment of more qualified teachers, some states are disengaging those on contracts.
One of such cases is the Zamfara State Teachers Service Board, which explained that the recent disengagement of the 109 contract teachers by the state government was not based on ethnic, tribal or religious reasons. The board noted that the 109 contracted teachers were sacked over failure to abide by the government’s contract policy.
The board said that some of the teachers had abandoned their contracts and they were teaching at private schools while still collecting salaries from the government.
Also, the Oyo State Post-Primary School Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) said 62,000 applicants scaled the application exercise to take part in the computer-based test for 10,500 available teaching positions.
Oyo State Chairman of TESCOM, Pastor Akinade Alamu, stated that 12,000 applicants applied for non-teaching service, while 50,000 applicants applied for teaching service under TESCOM.
He said that the commission was executing the recruitment exercise in conjunction with relevant agencies such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Establishment; Office of the Head of Service and Ministry of Finance.
Pastor Alamu reiterated the commission’s commitment to a credible exercise, adding that, “No applicant should rely on hearsay.”
However, the Lagos State Government, through the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), has pledged to continue to equip teachers with the requisite training, qualifications and improved working conditions.
The state (TESCOM), this year, inducted 1,000 newly-recruited teachers with a message to them to be passionate about their profession.
The event, with the theme: “Empowering Educators for Outstanding Learners Performances”, took place at the LCCI House Alausa, Ikeja and was facilitated by the Nurture House Consulting.
Permanent Secretary of TESCOM, Mrs. Iyabo Seriki-Bello, urged the new teachers as professionals to understand their roles, impact knowledge and ideas into students, which will positively translate to their “conducts, personal lives and by extension, the society at large”.
The Osun State Executive Council also directed the Ministry of Education to conduct interviews for applicants within the cut-off range adopted after the recruitment test for teachers’ recruitment exercise.
The council presided over by Governor Ademola Adeleke, this year, gave the directive after receiving updated reports from the Commissioner for Education, Mr. Adedipo Eluwole, who briefed the council on the activities leading to the final stage of the exercise.
The council, while emphasising the need for a meritorious outcome further directed the Ministry of Education to issue a detailed official notice on the interview exercise, listing the dates and venue of the interview exercise. The council noted that the delay in the conclusion of the exercise was due in part to the protracted negotiations on the new minimum wage which has now been concluded and for which the state government has set up an implementation committee for commencement.
Even with the recruitments by the states, more needs to be done to retain qualified teachers in schools.
NUT, ANCOPPS weigh in
The Nigeria Union of Teachers and All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Public Schools have called on the government to provide infrastructure, learning materials for basic and secondary schools across the country. They insisted that despite the numerous challenges they face in the profession, they remain committed to celebrating their resilience and perseverance in working under difficult conditions.
NUT National President, Comrade Titus Amba, called on the government not to backtrack on promises made to teachers.
“Four years ago, during a similar occasion, the Federal Government announced various welfare schemes for teachers and student teachers. Unfortunately, most of these promises remain unfulfilled. Even the new retirement age and extended length of service have not been implemented by many states,” Amba said.
“Teachers are part of society and are equally affected by the current economic challenges. A happy teacher will teach happily, but a hungry teacher cannot give hisbest,” he added, urging the government to act swiftly on these issues.
UNESCO recommendations
The UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession had announced a new set of recommendations to safeguard future learning for all. Addressing the panel, UN chief António Guterres said in his video message emphasised that quality education for learning societies is essential.
“Now, more than ever, we need to move towards learning societies. People everywhere need high-quality skills, knowledge and education. Above all, they need the best teachers possible,” he said.
The UNESCO pointed out that seven out of 10 teachers at the secondary level will need to be replaced by 2030, along with over half of all existing teachers who will have left the profession by the decade’s end.
Although it’s a global issue, the teacher shortage is impacting sub-Saharan Africa the most, where an estimated 15 million new teachers are needed by 2030. The panel noted that effect of a worldwide teacher shortage is profound, creating larger class sizes, overburdened educators, educational disparities and financial strain on school systems, impacting educational quality and access.
On support to educators, the Secretary-General said: “Just as teachers support us all, it’s time to support teachers. Let’s make sure they have the support, recognition and resources they need to provide quality, relevant education and skills for all,” advocating for the wide implementation of the guidelines produced by the education experts.
The panel called for cultivating an environment where teachers can drive educational change, foster critical thinking and promote modern learning skills. It advocated for teachers as collaborative partners rather than mere purveyors of knowledge. According to the panel, adequate funding for education systems and technology integration are key, with a focus on supporting the use of digital learning and other technology.
On financing the future, it claimed that financing additional teachers will cost $12.8 billion for universal primary education and $106.8 billion for universal secondary education. In total, the annual additional financing needed to cover salaries at primary and secondary levels by 2030 is estimated at $120 billion, if Sustainable Development Goal 4 is to be reached, envisaging “inclusive and equitable quality education” and the promotion of “lifelong learning opportunities for all”.
“Getting there means investing in teacher training, establishing professional teaching standards, reflecting teachers’ voices in policy decisions and creating national commissions to tackle teacher shortages,” Guterres said.
