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Tag: NCE

  • NCCE begins review of NCE minimum standards, curriculum

    NCCE begins review of NCE minimum standards, curriculum

    The National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) has commenced a comprehensive review of the curriculum for colleges of education and the 2020 Edition of the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) Minimum Standards to enhance the quality of teacher education in Nigeria.

    Executive Secretary of NCCE, Professor Paulinus Chijioke Okwelle, disclosed this during the flag-off of the review exercise at Nasarawa College of Education, Akwanga.

    Okwelle said this would address some identifiable gaps in line with the emerging national priorities, global education trends, and the practical realities confronting teacher preparation institutions across the country.

    According to him, the review process brought together a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including teacher educators, policymakers, practitioners, and development partners, whose expertise would enrich the outcomes.

    Okwelle said that the new curriculum framework emerging from the review would integrate Artificial Intelligence and related digital competencies, in line with global trends in education and the future of work.

    He said, “The revised NCE Minimum Standards will embed AI awareness, ethical use of emerging technologies, data literacy, and adaptive digital pedagogy to ensure that future teachers are not only consumers of technology but effective facilitators of AI-enabled learning.

    “This forward-looking approach will position Nigerian teachers to operate confidently in technology-rich classrooms and align teacher preparation with international best practices and national development aspirations.”

    He recalled that the National Policy on Education (2013 revised) established the NCE as the minimum qualification for entry into the teaching profession at the basic education level in Nigeria, stressing that the relevance, quality, and effectiveness of the NCE minimum standards are of paramount national importance.

    Okwelle said, “The goal of the NCCE is to produce Minimum Standards that are academically robust, practically implementable, globally relevant, and responsive to the needs of contemporary classrooms.

    “Over the last few years, the NCCE has pursued a deliberate and far-reaching reform agenda aimed at strengthening teacher education and repositioning Colleges of Education for relevance, quality, and sustainability.

    “Central to this effort has been the successful implementation of major policy reforms, most notably the operationalisation of the Dual-Mode mandate.

    “Under this framework, Colleges of Education are now legally empowered to award Bachelor’s Degrees in Education in their own right, without affiliation to universities.

    “This landmark reform aims to expand access, enhance institutional autonomy, improve enrolment, and restore public confidence in Colleges of Education as credible and competitive centres for professional teacher preparation. Against this backdrop, the review of the NCE Minimum Standards is both apt and timely.”

    Okwelle commended the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, for his effort at promoting teacher education and his presence to flag off the review exercise.

    He noted that the future of Nigeria’s schools hinges on the quality of its teachers while urging the stakeholders to engage constructively and collaboratively during the critical exercise.

    He said that the success of the review would significantly enhance the quality of teachers produced and, ultimately, the quality of foundational education delivered to Nigerian children, thereby securing the future of the nation.

  • Katsina releases N400m for S-Power employees’ stipends

    The Katsina State government has released N400 million for the payment of monthly stipends to 5,000 youths engaged in the newly introduced state-power programme tagged “S-Power”.

    The youths engaged in the programme, mostly holders of Nigeria Certificate of Education (NCE) and Diploma in Education certificates, have been deployed to primary schools to reduce manpower shortage there.

    Gov Aminu Masari, while inaugurating the programme in July 2018, had said that it was aimed at reducing redundancy and indolence among youths.

    Malam Lawal Buhari, Executive Chairman, Katsina State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), who spoke on the scheme in an interview with the Agency on Friday in Daura, said that the participants would be paid the four months stipend they were owed.

    Read Also: Fed Govt to rehabilitate Kastina roads

    “Each of the participants will receive N80,000 for the four months; the monthly stipend is N20,000 as indicated in their letters of engagement,” he said.

    He explained that payment would be at selected local education authority offices,  adding that the 34 local governments had been divided into 12 centres for that purpose.

    Buhari said that the state government had approved the engagement of additional 2,000 degree holders into the programme, to complement the teaching manpower in senior secondary schools.

    “Those in that category will be supervised by the ministry of education,” he said, adding that the recruitment exercise would soon begin.

    NAN

  • Whither NCE in Lagos schools?

    Lagos State is planning to upgrade its two colleges of education to universities. To some, the plan is good, but others fear that scrapping the colleges may not bode well. Their impending scraping, they argue, may affect their mandate of providing middle-level manpower for schools. ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA, JANE CHIJIOKE and CHIMAOBIM IHEDI-OBI report.

    To  the Lagos State Government, education remains a priority. For this reason, it has joined the Federal Government in ensuring that only graduate teachers will soon man basic and junior secondary schools.

    The state is planning to upgrade its two colleges of education – Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED) Oto/Ijanikin, and Michael Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED), Noforija-Epe – to universities.

    Upon the upgrading exercise, AOCOED will  become Adeniran Ogunsanya University of Education; MOCPED will be called Michael Otedola Open Distant Learning University.

    The groundwork for the exercise is at advanced stages. The governing councils of both  colleges have also been notified. Feelers indicate that once the colleges become universities, the government will scrap the National Certificate of Education (NCE) programmes.

     

    Govt’s position

    The House of Assembly Committee on Education Acting Chairman, Lanre Ogunyemi, told The Nation on phone that the government might do away with NCE programme because it is naturally phasing out like its teacher training cousin.

    “NCE is becoming the least qualification for employment in Lagos State,” Ogunyemi began.

    “You will realise that there is no teacher training anymore, and NCE appears to be going in that direction too. That is why MOCPED now has a mandate for primary education; and even at that, go and check their level of enrolment, it keeps falling every year.

    “If you don’t have a first degree, you cannot teach in any school in Lagos. Those who were employed with NCE have been asked to upgrade. It is only in private schools now that NCE is still being considered.

    “Now the idea (behind the proposed upgrade) is that we realised that many colleges of education are in affiliation with universities for a degree programme. If you go to AOCOED, for instance, they are also in affiliation with the Ekiti State University where the students receive the training at the college, but EKSU issues the certificate. We then said, if these schools (AOCOED) have come all the way and have the requisite personnel and facilities, why don’t we just upgrade them and let them start on their own?”

    However, stakeholders in AOCOED had eagerly anticipated the upgrade for the 59 year–old college of education adjudged the oldest tertiary institution in state. They believe the institution possesses physical and intellectual infrastructure to mutate into a university.

    However, while many await the pronouncement, some stakeholders led by the AOCOED Alumni Association are worried that the government is not thinking of retaining NCE by siting it elsewhere.

     

    Precedence

    In April 2013, the Federal Government announced plans to scrap colleges of education, thereby abolishing NCE, which, according to the National Policy on Education, is the basic requirement for teaching in primary and junior secondary school.

    The then Minister of State for Education, under former President Goodluck Jonathan, Kenneth Gbagi, announced it in Abuja while inaugurating the technical committee on the establishment of six new federal universities and the future of colleges of education, polytechnics, and mono-discipline universities in Nigeria.

    He said: “We are on the verge of whether we should phase out the colleges of education or upgrade them to degree-awarding institutions or convert them to purely technical schools. One of the universities we are going to set up  will be to train teachers for the upper echelon of education.

    “It is no longer fashionable for us to have this teacher training stuff with colleges of education. So, come up with an in-depth arrangement as to what we intend to do,” Gbagi further instructed the committee.

     

    Stakeholders react

    However, to Mrs Bumi Oluokun, headmistress of Ansar-ud-Deen Nursery and Primary School, Mafoluku, phasing out of NCE in the state is not a big deal. Mrs Olukokun’s concern is the government’s preparedness to allocate more funding and right personnel.

    “I do not see anything wrong if the government chooses to abolish NCE. The government should make it a gradual process,” she said.

    She continued: “Life is not stagnant; you can only keep updating your knowledge. NCE is gradually fading out like Grade 2. Even the teacher training school has faded out. If colleges are gradually being converted to a university, the government then needs to equip them with the right personnel and structures because becoming a teacher is different from every other programme. There are some basic knowledge that a student should be equipped with. Now I cannot employ an NCE holder without an additional degree. If, at all I do, I won’t place you in any of the upper primary classes.”

    Mrs Akintola Oluwatoyin of City of Wisdom Schools, Ijesha, appealed that NCE should not be scrapped, describing it as a programme that grooms people to become better and qualified teachers.

    She said: “There is no way the NCE can be scrapped, no matter how they try to phase it from the education system. This is because those colleges will forever enjoy that exclusivity where teachers are trained. There is always a clear distinction between a teacher who passes through Grade 2, NCE before acquiring a degree and a teacher who proceeded to university for a teaching programme after his secondary school.”

    Principal of Ghazlak Private Secondary School, Mafoluku, Mr Adebayo Ayinla pitched his tent behind Oluwatoyin

    “There is a big difference between teachers who went through the NCE programme and those who did not in all aspects of teaching,” Ayinla noted.

    A teacher from a public school in Lagos, who simply identified herself as Mrs Nwaneri, described NCE as the bedrock of teaching.

    “That (NCE) is where the basics of teaching are being acquired before going to the university. Without these basics, a teacher cannot teach effectively.

    Mrs Yemi Danisa from Olayomi Private School, Ijesha, said some, owing to their humble background, prefer to acquire NCE certificates first, with which they earn a living before proceeding to the university later.

    Miss Itanla Titilayo who teaches at Kingdom Kids Minders School, Lawanson, said any would-be teacher desirous of being grounded in the profession should go through NCE.

    “One should not just jump into a profession without following the right process, which is NCE because this is where one gets to know how to handle students, and gather other knowledge and skills required for teaching.

    Rather than separate them, retired principal in Lagos State Mr Abayomi Adegunle, is suggesting that both the NCE and degree programmesshould be allowed to run concurrently.

    “If we say we don’t want NCE graduates again, who will teach at the basic level,” he asked.

    In the area of cost implication, Adegunle said NCE graduates are better off, and cost a lot less to manage.

    “In terms of cost, an NCE graduate could handle two or more subjects because he would have specialised and be grounded in them before graduation. But a university graduate specilises in only one subject, so where is the money to pay all the university graduates when government eventually employs them?

    Moreover, Adegunle hopes the government is already considering the financial implication of such huge projects, urging the authority to take a cue from a Southwest state that once tried same, but ran into problem shortly afterwards due to its inability to adequately fund the school.”

    Mrs Christiana Olanipekun, headmistress of Honey Field Nursery and Primary School, Mafoluku, recalled her Grade 2 and NCE days with nostalgia.

    “I have my Grade 2, NCE and my degree certificates. During my NCE days, I discovered that my opportunity of getting employment was very slim because I did not have a degree.

    “I discovered that in NCE, the lectures were raw, practical as against what I experienced in the university. At the university, we do not have 100 per cent practical-inclined personnel, but because I had gone through NCE it was easy for me. You cannot use NCE to get a job in the public sector; that is to show how irrelevant it has become.”

    Last month, the College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) of AOCOED, in a briefing noted that the union welcomed the government’s initiative, adding that a college of education is no longer a fad.

    The union appealed to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to announce the new status at AOCOED’s forthcoming convocation in June, which will also coincide with the institution’s 60th anniversary.

    He said:  ”We have been able to convince the governor that the university of education is not only the trend, it is also cultural as our society is no longer interested in college of education again as reflected in the college previous admission statistics of students who deliberately chose AOCOED as their first choice,” said COEASU-AOCOED Chairman Comrade Michael Avosetinyen,

    ”The highest statistics in the Joint Admissions Matriculation Examination (JAMB) in the recent past is 24. The implication of this is that the state government and the college will be at a loss while the staff may not be able to justify their existence”.

    Similarly, during the college’s matriculation of NCE full time last month, its Registrar Mr Shehu Adedamola Muhideen, re-echoed the government’s stance

    He said:  “The government is considering doing away with NCE institutions in all the state tertiary institutions and transmuting us into a university of education. We’ve had some directives and moves were going on at the level of government to have this realised in full. So, it’s most likely that we may be having the last set of NCE students who were matriculated a few weeks ago. From the next academic session, we are looking forwards to seeing a university of education.”

  • Nasarawa to train 2,140 teachers on classroom management

    The Nasarawa State Government will train its 2,140 newly engaged teachers on classroom management before deploying them to classes, Alhaji Tijjani Ahmed, the Commissioner of Education, said on Wednesday in Lafia.

    Ahmed told our correspondent that the teachers would be trained on the rudiments of managing classroom situations to acquaint them with effective skills to cope with students and pupils.

    “The training will last for two weeks; it will focus on building capacities for effective service delivery.

    “Most of those recruited are just fresh from schools; there is a differences between what they were taught in school and the experience in class.

    “As trained teachers, most of them did teaching practice while in school, but they were not in charge of the classes because of the presence of the permanent teachers,” he said.

    The commissioner disclosed that the newly engaged teachers were offered one-year employment.

    “After the one year probation period, the ministry will interview them again and offer permanent and pensionable appointments to those qualified,” he said.

    He said that teachers with degrees would be paid N25,000 per month, while those with NCE would be paid N20,000.

    On security, he said that measures had been adopted to secure boarding schools, and advised proprietors of private schools to equally beef up security in their schools.

    NAN

  • ICPC arraigns civil servant for allegedly forging certificate

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Wednesday arraigned one Blessing Njoku in an FCT High Court in Maitama for allegedly forging a National Certificate of Education (NCE).

    Njoku, a civil servant with the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) in Abuja, was arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on deceit and forgery.

    The Prosecuting Counsel, Mr Suleiman Abdulkareem, told the court that the defendant sometimes in 2015 in Abuja deceived the Executive Secretary of the directorate that she was a holder of a NCE.

    Abdulkareem told the court that the defendant claimed to have been a student of Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri, between 2006 and 2009.

    The defendant, he added, claimed to have graduated with a credit grade in Business Education, adding that she forged the school’s statement of result to support her claims.

    Read Also:  Lawyer petitions ICPC over FMC Owo contract

    The prosecutor said that the offences were contrary to Sections 25 (1) (a) of the Corrupt Practice and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and 363 of the Penal Code.

    She, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    Mr Samuel Oche, the Defence Counsel, filed an oral application for bail, arguing that the offences were bailable.

    The prosecutor did not oppose the application, as according to him, granting of bail was the exclusive prerogative of the judge.

    Justice Sunday Aladetoyinbo admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N500, 000 and one surety in like sum.

    The judge also ordered that the surety must be a senior civil servant resident in the Federal Capital Territory.

    Aladetoyinbo fixed May 2 for the commencement of   trial.

    NAN

  • FG set to stop uncertified teachers next year – Ajiboye

    FG set to stop uncertified teachers next year – Ajiboye

    The Federal Government has said it will not allow any teacher without Professional ‎ Certificate of the Teachers’ Registration Council (TRCN) to teach beyond 2017.

    This is part of the 3-years Ministerial Strategic Plan by the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu which is designed to end unqualified teachers in Nigerian classrooms.

    The Registrar/Chief Executive Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Professor Olusegun Ajiboye made the disclosure in Ibadan on Tuesday.

    According to Professor Ajiboye, the Registration Council will put a stop to normal registration at the end of May 2017.

    He hinted that the first professional qualifying Examination of TRCN will take place at the end of September, 2017 designed to fully professionalise teaching in Nigeria and ensure that only those qualified are employed by government for quality assurance.

    The Registrar who noted that those who wants to use the normal registration has till the end of May 2017 added that the Buhari-led administration does not joke with teacher-professionalism.

    Ajiboye who noted that teachers who register on or before May 31, 2017 ‎ will be exempted from the qualifying examinations added that the Council has registered about 1.6million teachers since he assumed office.

    The professional qualifying examination, according to Ajiboye is designed in modules comprising category A (PhD holders), B (Master degree holders), C (Bachelor degree holders), and D (NCE holders).

    Ajiboye however said the induction in higher institutions will continue while the examination will be infused as part of the requirements of induction.

    “By the end of 2017, Nigerian children will be taught by only qualified professional teachers who can deliver the quality education desirous for the elevation of our children and our country. Professionalism ‎is the key for entering into the profession. Those who do not have what it takes cannot be trusted with the lives of our children. We are out to ensure a guaranteed future for our future leaders by ensuring that those who teach them are the best around. This will translate to higher performances and better value for professional teachers. The professional examination takes place by September ending and it is the first of its kind and we have structured it into modules of different categories. This is in line with the 3-year Ministerial strategic Plan education policy of the Minister of Education Malam Adamu Adamu.”

     

     

  • N-Power: Lecturers, students fault exclusion of NCE holders

    N-Power: Lecturers, students fault exclusion of NCE holders

    The N-Power initiative of the Federal Government to recruit 500,000 graduate teachers to teach in schools and communities is ongoing.  However, students and teachers of education have condemned the scheme for excluding products of colleges of education who are specifically trained to be teachers.

    It was with enthusiasm that Nigerians received the announcement that the Federal Government would employ 500,000 teachers last December.

    Hopes were high that the job opening would give opportunity to many trained but unemployed teachers.  However, when the initiative tagged N-Power Graduate Teachers Corps was unveiled last month and advertisements calling for application came up, it excluded holders of the National Certificate in Education (NCE), who train in colleges of education for three years to teach at the primary and junior secondary education levels.

    Only graduates of universities and polytechnics (Higher National Diploma) can apply for the N-Power teacher slots under four categories – teaching, health, community education, and agriculture.  But only those recruited for the N-Teach category would be deployed to primary and secondary schools to serve as support teachers and “also assist in taking basic education to children in marginalised communities.”  The graduate teachers, who do not need to have studied an education-related field, would serve under the initiative and get training in other areas for the two years that the programme would last.

    Nevertheless NCE holders can still apply for the 100,000 slots dedicated to non-graduates in the areas of technology, construction, and knowledge.

    Many lecturers and students of colleges of education are unhappy about the relegation of NCE holders in the scheme, particularly as the teachers are to be deployed at a level they are competent to handle.

    A top official of the College of Education, Akamkpa, Cross River State (names withheld), faulted the policy, saying it was tailor made for NCE graduates, yet excluded them by recruiting only graduates who have undergone the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.

    “The essence of the NCE programme we offer here is to prepare to produce manpower for the Universal Basic Education (UBE) level. So how come now that those who really trained for that purpose are left out? Basically those who should be given preference are those originally trained. I don’t see how if you want to give loan to farmers or empower them, then you rather give the facility to economists or bankers.  It is just not right. It ought to favour those mandated for such level of education. Preference should be given to College of Education graduates before anyone else in this programme because they have the basic training.

    A teacher at the Adeniran Ogundanya College of Education (AOCOED), Oto/Ijanikin chapter, Adeyemi Adesanya, said it would be difficult for the government to achieve its aim of training the teachers adequately in such a short time.

    “At present, Nigeria has so many unemployed professional teachers.  So when the information was first announced, a lot of us out there were happy that for the first time, government specifically put teachers in their plan. But we were later disappointed when we read the breakdown and realised the policy was an all-comers affair. The exercise will end disastrously.

    “Government cannot just employ fresh graduates and say they want to train them as teachers for two years; the exercise will fail because a lot of things are attached to producing qualified teachers, not the kind of fire brigade approach they want to embark on,” said Ogundanya, a former chairman of COEASU at the college.

    Another lecturer at the Faculty of Education, Adekunle Ajasin University (AAU), Akungba-Akoko, Prof Clement Daramola, also condemned the exclusion of NCE teachers, saying it rubbished efforts to professionalise teaching.

    “The substance of professionalism must become part of each nation’s identity so that professional attitudes and values are not compromised.

    “Sociologists tell us that society uses professions to organise the essential complex services that it requires.

    “Unless we truly believe there has been a conspiracy to deny good educational practice to our children, we need to acknowledge that the present decision to exclude trained teachers from teaching and replace them with untrained ones has serious challenges to our future educational development.

    “It is widely assumed that teachers do not need a great deal of training because the tasks are rather simple and straight forward and could be performed by any educated person. This is erroneous and fallacious,” Daramola said.

    Mr Francis Olaoye, a lecturer at the Department of Home Economics, FCE (Tech), said even if the government did not want NCE graduates, the initiative should have been limited to education graduates of universities only, and not made an all-comers affair.

    “This scheme should only be for education departments in the universities; even if they don’t want graduates of the colleges of education.  I don’t think people who have BSc at the university would even agree to go and teach at primary schools. They will see it as beneath them,” he said.

    On the implication of the exclusion, Prof Daramola said it would make trainee NCE teachers feel inferior.

    “Our children who opted for teaching career should feel inspired as well as encouraged about their career choice.  It is clearly a statement of lack of faith in the innate capacity of teachers as such decision would lead to low efficacy and lack of professionalism in Nigeria and should be reversed forthwith.

    “Many of the NCE teachers may misinterpret government action as being their own personal fault to pursue a career in teaching,” he said.

    Glory Akpan, a student of COE Akamkpa, feels that way.  She queried why those not trained to teach should get better opportunities than trained teachers.

    She said: “The whole situation just makes us unappreciated. We almost feel like what we are doing here is a waste of time. It is a total disregard for the certificate we obtain from this place. It once more brings to the fore the issue of the superiority of a university certificate over all other kinds of qualifications. A situation where the university certificate is treated as such would not augur well for the society. I am not trying to undermine university education or anything, all I am saying is that everyone should be respected.

    “This particular case is very painful to me because we are particularly trained to teach especially at the primary and junior secondary level, but rather university graduates who are mostly not trained to teach, except few in Education Faculties, are given the opportunity.  I believe it is very unfair and something should be done immediately about it, else the essence of the entire programme would be defeated.”

    Lola Adekunle, a 200-Level Accounting student of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos, attributed the failure to include NCE teachers as the practice of government to initiate programmes without conducting research.

    “I don’t think the government made proper research before embarking on this project. Why would they disallow college graduates from the scheme? It is wrong and should be reviewed please,” she said.

    But Ife Sodipo, 400-Level, Primary School Education student, is not optimistic that the government would reverse its decision because NCE trainees are unhappy.

    “I am sure we don’t have a choice but to follow government’s directive. If they say college graduates are not qualified, then that is it. Even if we complain, government would not listen to us. It is unfair, but there is nothing we can do about it,” she said.

    In future, Provost, Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo, Prof Kamoru Usman, said the Federal Government should consult more with stakeholders before announcing new policies, so it may not end up wasting public funds.

    “You cannot quarrel with government policy; they are entitled to their decision.  Had they consulted us (stakeholders) before the policy, perhaps we would have advised them more appropriately. What they said was that they would engage these people and train them before dispatching them to schools; maybe they would engaged us at the point of training; that I still don’t know.

    “At the end, they are not going to make the teachers permanent. Government will engage some while leaving many others. I think that’s just government policy of wasting money.

    “A very good policy such as this should have been backed up by research. Government was supposed to have commissioned people as in: ‘What exactly do we need? Which areas do we require teachers?’ and all that.”

  • College matriculates 800 students for NCE

    Tai Solarin College of Education (TASCE) Omu-Ijebu, ogun State has matriculated about 800 students into the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) programmes for the 2014/2015 Academic session.

    At the ceremony held at the College Main Campus, Omu-Ijebu, the Provost, Dr. Abiodun Ojo enjoined the students to take the vocational training they would be exposed to seriously.

    He noted that vocational training is the only antidote to the current perennial unemployment challenge in the country since no government or organised private sector could employ all graduates.

    Ojo urged the new intakes to shun act that would jeopardise their studies, noting that cultism, which is an albatross in higher institutions of learning, is a significant avenue for self-destruction and bleak future.

    The Provost noted that any student that joins a cult group has made himself a target of attack, a prospective physically challenged individual, a convict and probably a dead person in due course of time since cult members rarely attack non-members; he therefore advised the matriculating students to be involved in all activities that would protect the integrity of their family names.

    Ojo enjoined the students to disassociate themselves from the Termite Club and join the Bee Club. According to him, the Termite destroys to the point of collapse. The patient Bee tarries for tree to flower, picks the pollen grains and produces the honey at the same time leaving the tree alive.

  • Primary problem

    Primary problem

    •Kano’s unqualified teachers highlight a national challenge

    The recent revelation that 25,486 out of the 45,000 primary school teachers in Kano State are unqualified is a sobering reminder of the challenges besetting Nigeria’s beleaguered education sector. The discovery was made after a verification exercise conducted in the 44 Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in the state. A primary school teacher who is deemed to be unqualified lacks the National Certificate of Education (NCE), which is the minimum qualification for teaching at that level. More importantly, it means that such individuals do not possess the basic skills to teach impressionable young children in their first formal educational setting. The implications of this are horrifying. Generations of pupils have been at the mercy of ill-trained and poorly-motivated teachers, thereby creating a dislike for learning rather than a love of it. With such inauspicious beginnings, most of those children have gone on to an underwhelming secondary school career, if they bothered to complete it at all. The net result: a colossal loss to a state and a country in dire need of human resources. While its efforts to get to the bottom of the issue are to be commended, Kano State cannot be absolved of all responsibility for this lamentable state of affairs. In July 2011, it was found that 75 per cent of all primary school teachers were incompetent and unqualified. At the time, assurances were given that training and re-training programmes would be introduced in order to ensure that the problem was resolved. Now, the same promises are being made, nearly three years after they were first given. Nor is Kano alone in this quandary. In 2013, Plateau State announced that it would sack 11,000 unqualified primary and secondary school teachers; eventually, some 2,000 were fired. In February 2013, about 1,300 primary school teachers in Kaduna State failed tests normally taken by Primary Four pupils. Nigeria had 10.5 million children outside primary school in 2012, one of the largest figures in the world. How did Nigeria end up with so many terrible teachers at the very foundation of its education system? Several causes come to mind. The spectacular increase in primary schools which accompanied the oil boom created a huge demand for teaching staff which tertiary institutions were unable to meet. Combined with the failure to enforce standards, this meant that teaching became a popular last resort for those who were unable to further their education or get into their preferred professions. Poor salaries and conditions of service have made primary-school teaching very unattractive to those who do it, inhibiting any desire to strive for excellence. Facilities are poor, classes are large, and the infusion of needed resources is arbitrary and infrequent. There has clearly been a dereliction of duty in matters pertaining to primary school education, and it must be reversed if the situation is to change. Ironically, several viable solutions are suggested in Kano’s own Revised Education Strategic Plan for 2009-2018: upgrade unqualified teachers; halt the recruitment of unqualified teachers; improve NCE training in Colleges of Education; provide regular in-service training for teachers. In 1999, the Federal Government established the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme to accelerate the development of primary school education, but its activities are inhibited by an apparent lack of cooperation of many state governments. In January, the Federal Government accused them of refusing to access the N44.9 billion in counterpart funding for the implementation of UBE. It is alleged that they have declined to make use of either the conditional Matching Grant or the non-conditional Special Education Fund managed by the UBE Commission. The most prominent offenders include Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Plateau and Benue states. This should not be the case, given the huge financing challenges facing primary education in the country. If Nigeria is to achieve the much-vaunted Millennium Development Goals (MDG), it must improve the quality of primary school education, and that cannot be done without well-trained, adequately-remunerated and properly-motivated teachers.