By Amina Abdullahi
Education is the bedrock of any society, and it is crucial for the development of any nation.
However, in many developing countries, the education sector is faced with multifaceted challenges, such as inadequate funding, poor infrastructure, and shortage of qualified teachers among others.
In Adamawa State, Nigeria, the education sector was also facing similar challenges, but the Common Heritage Foundation team, in collaboration with other stakeholders, rose to the occasion.
In this feature success story, we take a closer look at the journey behind the landmark Teachers’ Recruitment, Retention, and Redeployment Bill, which was recently passed into a bill in Adamawa State thanks to the evidence based research provided by the Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) team led by Professor Akogun.
The team’s research aimed to identify best practices from similar legislation in Kaduna State, ensuring that Adamawa’s bill avoided mistakes and incorporated lessons learned.
We explore the tireless efforts of the Common Heritage Foundation team and other stakeholders who played a pivotal role in shaping the bill, and the impact it is expected to have on the education sector in the state.
Join us as we delve into the inspiring story of how the Common Heritage Foundation team empowered education in Adamawa State and the lessons we can all learn from their success.
The Research Team Lead ERICC, Professor Akogun hailed the achievement as a triumph of evidence-based lawmaking, praising the stakeholders and legislature for their commitment to using research to inform policy.
He noted that this approach is unprecedented in Nigeria, where laws are often passed without thorough research and analysis.
“The success of this initiative demonstrates the power of collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders in creating effective and informed legislation.” According to him, with the bill’s passage, ERICC is now turning its attention to further research on education in conflict-affected areas, including the implementation of Universal Basic Education (UBE) in northern Adamawa State.
Professor Akogun expressed confidence that the Governor will sign the bill into law and emphasized the team’s continued commitment to producing research that informs policy and development.
This pioneering approach is set to make a lasting impact on education in Adamawa State and beyond. The IRC’s Country Director, Mr. Babatunde Ojei, welcomes the teacher’s reform bill, citing the impact of instability on the education sector and the need for dynamic approaches to teaching.
He stresses the importance of continuous development of teachers and finding ways to retain them in their work.
“The bill should also consider the current reality and the need to instill updated methodologies in training and teaching children who have not been in school for many years due to the situation”.
Mr. Ojei believes that the bill’s adoption and the efforts of their partners to push for it are welcome developments. “The bill creates opportunities to keep teachers engaged and delivering quality services to
children.” He suggests that similar evidence should inform policy making in other parts of Nigeria, but emphasizes that enforcement and implementation, as well as allocating resources, are crucial to the success of the bill. He advocates for using the bill as a pilot to learn from and leverage other states in the long term, instead of creating multiple similar acts in different states. He believes that it is not enough to have an act in play, and that success requires everyone working together to enforce and implement the bill’s provisions.
Mr. Ojei emphasizes the importance of education and the need for innovative, effective approaches to teaching in Nigeria.
Ahmed Sani, Director Human Resource KADSUBEB , reiterated that Adamawa State government will benefit alot from the experience sharing with Kaduna state through data appreciation, Kaduna has used data to make many policy decisions and through implementing merit based policies to raise the standard of teachers, school infrastructure, disability inclusion and gender mainstreaming.
“So where you have good education you must have good quality teachers .”
The component of merit based teachers recruitment is an essential part of educational development. He explained that Kaduna has assessed their teacher quality and had to remove about 22,000 teachers and recruited 25,000 merit based teachers which helped to raise the
quality of teaching and learning in Kaduna state. “So with this policy that Adamawa has developed and looking at experience of Kaduna it stands to benefits alot.” He noted that Adamawa has strengthened the policy that was implemented in Kaduna state to a level of law so that strengthening will definitely make Adamawa’s own stronger and give the government the more strong instruments to work with.
“In Kaduna state we had the political will at that time, that was why the policy was implemented hundred percent.However with Adamawa State raising it above policy into a law they have gone one step better than Kaduna and with the hope it will give them room to make better use of the system. “
The Director KADSUBEB sait having the policy as a law will also ensure sustainability because “if you say you want to do something as a policy, somebody else can come and dust it off the table but if it is a state law it is very difficult to undo it so this is also another plus for Adamawa state government for sustainability long into the future.” He stated.
Abubakar Saad, Director Legal Department Adamawa State House of Assembly, emphasizes the importance of evidence-based instruments in law-making, particularly in education.
According to Saad, relying on evidence is crucial to proving any point, and opinions cannot be relied upon. He noted that this is part of the saying that informed the law-making process, particularly in education. Saad highlighted the role of research in identifying challenges and informing policy decisions.
“The research that preceded the passage of the teacher’s retention, recruitment, and deployment bill helped to identify challenges that were previously unknown to the legislature.”
He stresses the importance of evidence-based instruments in law-making and their ability to determine the efficiency and genuineness of any actions taken.
Dr. Adedoyin Adesina, Program Manager CHF, noted that CHF’s research focused on conflict and crisis, which is a widespread issue in Nigeria.
She noted that during a country scan, CHF noticed that Adamawa State was already trying to set up a teacher bill at the state assembly. Recognizing the importance of using evidence to support the bill, CHF decided to learn from the successes and failures of Kaduna State’s implementation.
“The main difference between the teacher bills in Adamawa and Kaduna is that the Adamawa bill is based on extensive input from stakeholders, including community leaders, SBMC, headmasters, principals, and teachers.”
“CHF was involved in reviewing the law and making input into it. This means that the law in Adamawa is expected to perform better than the one in Kaduna, which was just a policy and not a law.” She stated.
Adedoyin explained that the passing of the policy into a bill and hopefully to become a law in Adamawa state means that everyone must follow it, and those who do not follow it can be prosecuted or charged by the law.
This is a significant change in teacher management in Adamawa State that CHF has been looking forward to. The input of stakeholders and the passing of the bill as a law are expected to make a significant difference in the implementation and effectiveness of the teacher bill in Adamawa.
She emphasized the importance of learning from the experiences of other states when passing bills and policies. Muhammed Ibrahim, Director of Mobilization Madagali LGA, noted that the UBE Act was established in 2009, which empowered the state government, specifically the local government, to recruit teachers.
However, some governors took the powers of the local government into their own hands and overused the UBE board to recruit teachers. This has resulted in challenges in the recruitment of qualified teachers at the local government level.
Ibrahim emphasized the importance of following the UBE Act and giving local governments the responsibility to recruit teachers in order to ensure that qualified teachers are hired. However, due to political interference, unqualified individuals, including apprentices with no teaching experience, are serving as teachers.
This is a significant challenge that needs to be addressed in order to ensure quality education is provided in the local government.
To address this issue, he said the department of social mobilization has gone into the community to create awareness about the educational system.
“They have launched campaigns for out-of-school children, girls’ education, adult education, and liaised with school-based management committees to bring development to the schools. The SBMC is present in almost all schools and can be approached to identify and address any challenges.”
He explained the negative impact of political interference on teaching and the importance of following policies and qualifications in teacher recruitment. He also emphasizes the importance of community engagement and collaboration with SBMCs to address issues in the educational system.
According to Micheal Chinda Medugu, Deputy Director of Research Planning and Statistics, the ministry conducted a statewide need assessment to identify subject areas with teacher shortages, particularly in science subjects.
The recruitment process, which was transparent and merit-based, involved the creation of a portal for applications, followed by a rigorous selection process, including written tests, oral interviews, and verification.
Medugu expressed satisfaction with the process, noting that due process was followed, and successful candidates have been captured in the state’s payroll.
He said his department remains committed to supporting education-related initiatives, providing data driven insights, and conducting research to inform policy decisions.
Conclusively, the teacher’s recruitment, retention, and deployment bill in Adamawa State is a landmark achievement that has been the result of tireless efforts from the Common Heritage Foundation team and other stakeholders.
The bill is based on extensive input from stakeholders, including community leaders, SBMC, headmasters, principals, and teachers, and is expected to perform better than the one in Kaduna, which was just a policy and not a law.
The success of the teacher recruitment, retention, and deployment bill in Adamawa State is a testament to the power of evidence-based research, community engagement, and collaboration with stakeholders. It serves as an inspiration and a model for other states in Nigeria to follow in their efforts to improve the quality of education for all.
Amina Abdullahi writes from Yola, Adamawa State
