The Registrar, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) Prof Josiah Ajiboye says his office has trained 22,500 teachers across 16 states on digital literacy training and remote learning, as well registered over 2.3 million teachers in its database.
Ajiboye made this known at a one-day workshop organised by the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria(ECAN) tagged, “Strengthening Teachers Education: Challenges and Opportunities in Basic Sub Sector in Nigeria,” in Abuja.
Revealing some of the steps taken by the government and the Council, Ajiboye said a policy has been created for career growth, elongation of teachers’ years of service from 60 to 65 years with incentives.
TRCN boss who was represented by Head of Regulation, Accreditation and Enforcement, Hammed Okunola stressed that the challenges with Nigeria Education, largely attributed to poor teaching.
He lamented that highly committed, dedicated and virile teachers are now difficult to find in schools, stressing that the Council has continued to do a lot to ensure that this becomes a thing of the past.
Ajiboye urged the media to help the country in amplifying the positive values of the sector and the many policies aimed at upscaling the dignity, rewards and recognition of the teaching profession in Nigeria.
“The Council requests ECAN to sustain its collaborative efforts at transforming the teaching profession in Nigeria. We are willing and open to always partnering with you.
“We are not yet where we would like to be but steps are being taken in the right direction and soon the tide of the teaching profession will change for the better and your names will be written among those that made it possible,” he said.
Also speaking, President of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Dr. Smart Olugbeko spoke of the need for teachers’ remuneration to be scaled up to attain the quality of education desired in the country.
Highlighting challenges of sustaining quality education in Nigeria, he said some of the major issues retarding the quality of education in the country include non-professionalisation of teaching, brain drain syndrome, low morale of teachers, insufficient knowledge of ICT, and poor implementation of policies.
