The Director General of the National Teachers Institute (NTI), Professor Garba Maitafsir, has revealed that during his time as a lecturer at the university, he encountered a PhD student who could not even write his name correctly.
He emphasized that the decline in the quality of education is not due to systemic failure but rather stems from inadequate teaching.
He stressed the importance of ensuring that teachers’ qualifications and quality are rigorously assessed if Nigeria is to improve its education system.
Similarly, the Chairman of the Teachers Service Board (TSB) in Kaduna State, Adamu Makadi, stated that teachers in the state earn approximately 27% more than their counterparts in other sectors of the state’s civil service.
Both Maitafsir and Makadi spoke at a one-day workshop titled Teachers Issues in Conflict and Protracted Crisis Settings: Documenting the Effectiveness of the Kaduna Teacher Reforms. Makadi explained that prior to the education reforms in Kaduna, it was found that the issue was not with the education system itself, but with the teachers.
This discovery led to the need for reforms focused on improving the recruitment, deployment, and retention of teachers in the state.
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“There is nothing wrong with our system of education, the problem is the quality of teachers, so Kaduna State Government took the bull by the horns by initiating a reform in the educational sector, particularly in the areas of recruitment, deployment and retention of teachers.”
“The recruitment exercise has been digitalised and adverts are open to all able and qualified candidates to apply, which has been working for us perfectly. The reform has enabled us to recruit and deploy based on their qualifications and competencies to see where they can best fit in. We also deploy teachers based on proximity to their places of residence.”
“The State Government under Senator Uba Sani has done a lot towards ensuring that competent and qualified teachers are retained in Kaduna State through provision of incentives including special allowances over other civil servants. For instance, if you are a teacher on a particular salary grade level and step, compared to your colleague who is not a teacher but in the same grade level and step, you will discover that teachers earn about 27% higher than other civil servants,” he said.
Professor Oladele Akogun, a university don and Regional Research Director for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Nigeria and South Sudan, has argued that teachers should be treated even better than medical doctors to ensure the success of the education system.
He stated that, in addition to addressing challenges with educators, Nigeria must also reassess its education policies. According to him, the country cannot achieve its desired educational standards if there is a disconnect between policies and their implementation.
Professor Akogun pointed out that while Nigeria has a commendable policy of free and compulsory education up to the age of 18, the failure to implement this policy effectively undermines its potential to deliver the desired outcomes.
On the issue of teachers, he emphasized that they should be treated with the same level of care and respect as medical doctors. He warned that failing to prioritize teachers could have long-term negative consequences, affecting future generations.
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