In thirteen years, the Universal Basic Education Commission has disbursed N57,165,751,416.12 to states for professional development programmes for instructors.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, disclosed this information at the National Conference on Teacher Professional Development in Abuja. He stated that this development demonstrates the federal government’s commitment to bolster the sector’s level of knowledge.
Concerned by the low number of teachers who have participated in training programmes in recent years, UBEC officials challenged state governments to implement teacher capacity-building programmes that live up to expectations.
“According to the UBEC 2022 NPA, 67.5% of public school teachers and 85.3% of private school instructors have not received any in-service training in the past five years (2018-2022). This situation has implications for the provision of quality education.
Between 2009 and 2022, the Federal Government, through UBEC, has provided a total of N57,165,751,416.12 in assistance to the states for teacher professional development.
This is grossly insufficient to meet the training requirements of the instructors. The states receiving assistance have come to rely heavily on federal funding for their TPD, with little or no state contribution. This is a significant obstacle to achieving quality learning outcomes at the elementary level, according to Bobboyi.
He lamented the low student-to-teacher ratio in Nigerian institutions, stating that this negative trend has led to poor learning outcomes.
The following information was returned by the UBEC 2022 National Personnel Audit of the nation’s basic education institutions. There were 177,027 institutions of basic education with a total enrollment of 47,010,008, including 7,234,695 in ECCDE, 31,771,916 in primary schools, and 8,003,397 in junior secondary schools. There were 354 651 teachers/caregivers in ECCDE centres, 915 593 in primary schools, and 416 281 in junior secondary schools.
” The ratio of teachers to students varies from state to state, but none meet the recommended ratio. There are states where the ratio of students to teachers is as high as 1:100. Nigeria has not yet attained 100 percent qualified primary school instructors. It is unfortunate that some teachers hold the First School Leaving Certificate, the Basic Education Certificate, the Senior Secondary School Certificate, the Associate Certificate in Education, and the Diploma Certificate.
“It is more about the quality of learning (knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values) and the capacity of learners to apply this to their life journey. Given that the teacher is the one who facilitates learning, it goes without saying that he must acquire a certain level of competency at the conclusion of his pre-service training and continue to build on this throughout his teaching career in order to perform this task effectively. This highlights the significance of Teacher Professional Development, according to Bobboyi.
Mr. Andrew David Adejo, permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, declared the two-day conference open and stated that the Federal Government is prepared to implement programmes designed to improve educational outcomes.
Adejo stated that the conference was in accordance with the vision of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to improve the country’s educational prospects, adding that the incoming Minister of Education would give it his undivided attention.
Teachers are the foundation of the education system, according to Adejo, who urged states to strengthen their teacher development programmes and recruitment procedures.
“We have no choice but to enhance the quality of the students by supplying the teachers with… We must ensure that teaching does not remain a profession of last resort…. Adejo stated, “We recognise there are obstacles, and UBEC has been working to reduce them, but the states are not moving at the same pace as UBEC.”