Former Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, has urged federal, state, and local governments to commit at least 15-20% of total public expenditure to education, in line with UNESCO recommendations, to address the declining quality of teachers in Nigeria.
Okechukwu made the call following the release of the results of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN)’s Batch ‘A’ Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE), which revealed that 4,169 out of 12,874 candidates failed.
Speaking to journalists during the Igwa Nshi annual festival in Eke, Idi Local Government Area of Enugu State, Okechukwu described the results as alarming, noting that the poor performance of teachers directly reflects in the quality of students produced by the system.
He stressed that without well-trained and motivated teachers, Nigeria’s education system will continue to underperform, to the detriment of national development.
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“The government must treat this as a matter of urgent national importance,” he said. “Allocating at least 20% of the national budget to education is essential. Our greatest resource is human capital, and with a youth population making up over 70%, we have a unique opportunity in an ageing global workforce.”
Okechukwu called on policymakers to take bold steps toward investing in teacher development, education infrastructure, and curriculum reform to secure the nation’s future through sustainable human capital development.
“I’m pained over the heartbreaking crisis of inadequate funding and poor quality in our education system. To be frank, we need an urgent paradigm shift to increase investments in education and learning; for with our uncommon 70% youth demographic advantage, we can comfortably outsource skilled labour to the global community.” Okechukwu retorted.