Education
THE Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, said the ministry has developed a New National Teacher Education Policy (NNTEP) to address critical issues such as career pathways, remunerations and teaching standards.
Sununu said this at a two-day 2024 online Conference of Registered Teachers organised by Teachers Registered Council of Nigeria (TRCN) on Wednesday in Kaduna.
The theme of the conference is: “Advancing Teacher Professionalisation in Nigeria Towards Education 2030: Challenges, Strategies and Prospects”.
The conference was supported by UNESCO, Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE), UKaid, Safe the Children International (SCI), TY Danjuma Foundation and DRPC.
Sununu said teachers needed professional preparations through adequate and informed exposure to training, conferences and seminars.
“This will increase awareness and new commitment for effective teaching that will match international best practices.
“The Federal Ministry of Education is making progressive efforts to ensure quality and functional education in Nigeria and restore the dignity of the teaching profession.
“Over 7,200 education bursary awards have been offered to students to study education courses.
“The education ministry’s DOTS policy will ensure that the nation’s educational system is equiped to produce competent and globally ready citizens,” he said.
Sununu also said the DOTS policy was packaged to achieve the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
He said the ministry’s responsibility did not end in recruiting teachers and providing classrooms for teaching and learning.
Sununu said they ensured teachers training and re-training to help achieve major objectives of the nation’s educational system.
He said that this was to equip learners with requisite knowledge and skills to enable and realise their potential and become globally competitive.
The minister also said the conference was apt in the ministry’s collective efforts to reposition the teaching profession toward achieving sustainable development goal (4) and Education 2030 Agenda.
He emphasised that national conferences were critical to all professional bodies which was a symbol of professionalism where people with great ideas rub minds to improve their profession.
Sununu commended TRCN for the milestone it had achieved by institutionalising the online annual conference for registered teachers in a digital era.
He called on all the stakeholders to work assiduously to ensure an enviable and enduring education sector that was imperative for national growth and development.
Also speaking to newsmen on the sideline, the State Coordinator of TRCN, Ms Esther Ayuba, said certification and licencing were major ingredients for the teaching profession.
She said every trained teacher was supposed to obtain a certificate and licence before being allowed to teach.
According to her, a trained, registered and licenced teacher is the most qualified to teach, believing that they can maintain the professional knowledge, skills, values and ethics that binds the teaching profession.
She lamented that many trained teachers were yet to register with the council.
Ayuba, however, said sensitisation by the council had gone far while enforcement was taking place to ensure that only registered teachers were allowed to teach.
“A lot of them have registered now, but have yet to receive their certificates because of the procedures.
”Every trained teacher in Nigeria, whether he/she is teaching or not, must register with the council.
“For professional pride, every teacher should register,”she said.
Describing teaching as the mother of all professions, Ayuba called on the government at all levels to encourage teachers with better welfare and remunerations as obtainable in other countries.
She said at the end of the conference, it was expected that the teachers would be proactive in their areas of specialisation.
This is by knowing that they were professionals and utilised their rights to make an impact and change the narrative in the society.
Earlier, Dr Stella-Maria Nwokeocha, the Registrar of TRCN, said a teacher was an important factor that could not be over-emphasised in the development of education.
She said Nigeria shared in the global concerns of teachers and teaching progression as raised in the global report on teachers by UNESCO on teachers/education 2030.
Nwokeocha explained that the report provided meaningful findings regarding teachers recruitment, retention and professional development.
She also recalled the interest of the AU Commission through its continental education strategy for Africa since 2016 to 2025.
”This is to ensure quality education system and training that would meet the efficient human resources need of the African continent and its core values,” Nwokeocha said.
She. therefore. said, it called for continuous dialogue, workshops, training and conferences such as the annual conference on registered teachers in Nigeria.
The TRCN boss said that the dialogues were aimed at providing necessary supports and encouragement needed to reposition the teaching profession to attain quality education and national building.
She equally said the annual conference was part of the TRCN’s efforts to fulfill its mandate of professionalisation of teachers in Nigeria.
Nwokeocha added that the central focus of the conference was to deliberate and proffer solutions to emerging issues in education and learning in Nigeria and improving teaching outcome.
Some of the participants, Mercy Andrew, a teacher at LGEA Narayi Primary School and Mr David Kunanza, said they were faced with overcrowded learners per classroom and other unfavorable teaching conditions
The duo also said employment of non professionals as teachers has negative consequences on children who end up not learning.
They called on TRCN to push further their plights to the appropriate authorities for actions.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that teachers who participated in the conference attracted 25 professional credit points. (NAN)
A.I
Oct. 17, 2024
Tags: Dr Yusuf Sununu UNESCO
