The Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, has said its 2022 National Personnel Audit, NPA, shows that 67.5 per cent of teachers in public schools and 85.3 per cent of teachers in private schools did not attend any in-service training from 2018 to 2022.
Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr Hamid Bobboyi, who disclosed this at the National Conference on Teacher Professional Development on Monday in Abuja, said the situation has implications for quality education delivery.
Bobboyi challenged state governments to live up to expectations of their teachers’ capacity building schemes.
The UBEC boss also stated that a total of N57,165,751,416.12 was disbursed by the Federal Government to states for teachers professional development programme in the last 13 years.
Speaking on the 2023 National Conference on Teacher Professional Developmentwith the theme: “Transforming Teacher Professional Development in Nigeria for Improved Learning Outcomes in Basic Education,” he said the conference was a testimony to Federal Government’s commitment to shore up the level of knowledge in the basic education sub-sector.
“The Federal Government, through UBEC, has contributed a total of N57,165,751,416.12 as assistance to the states for teacher professional development between 2009 and 2022.
“This is grossly inadequate to cover the training needs of the teachers. The states that are being assisted have come to depend largely on the Federal Government fund for their TPD, with little or no contribution. This is a major challenge in assuring quality learning outcomes at basic education level,” he said.
He lamented the poor learner/pupil ratio in Nigerian schools, saying such negative development has resulted in poor learning outcomes.
” The following data were returned from the UBEC 2022 National Personnel Audit of basic education institutions in the country. There were 177,027 basic education institutions with a total enrolment of 47,010,008, made up of 7,234,695 in ECCDE, 31,771,916 in primary schools and 8,003,397 in junior secondary schools.
“For teacher supply, there were 354,651 teachers/care givers in the ECCDE centres, 915,593 in primary schools and 416,291 in junior secondary schools.
“The learner/pupil ratio varies from State to State, but none is within the recommended ratio. There are States where learner/pupil ratio is as high as 1:100 pupils. Nigeria is yet to attain the 100% qualified teachers in primary schools.
“It is sad to find that some of the people teaching in schools are holders of the First School Leaving Certificate, Basic Education Certificate, Senior Secondary School Certificate, Associate Certificate in Education, Diploma Certificate.
“It is more about the quality of learning (knowledge, skills, attitudes and values) acquired and the ability of learners to apply this as they journey through life.
“Since it is the teacher who facilitates learning, it goes without saying that for him to perform this task effectively, he needs to attain a certain level of competency at the end of his pre-service training and build on this continuously throughout his teaching career. This brings to the fore the significance of Teacher Professional Development, ” Bobboyi said.
He challenged the conference participants and resource persons to come up with new ways to boost learning in basic schools across the country.
“It is time for us to review our practice and approaches and ensure that the main objective for the introduction and implementation of TPD which is improved teacher and learner performance is achieved for the benefit of the learners and the nation at large,” he added.
Declaring the two-day conference open, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Andrew David Adejo, expressed the readiness of the Federal Government to implement programmes aimed at boosting learning outcomes in the school.
Adejo said the conference was in line with the vision of President Bola Tinubu’s administration in improving the education fortunes of the country, adding that it would get the full attention of the incoming Minister of Education.
While saying that teachers are the foundation of education system, Adejo called on states to improve on their teacher development schemes and the recruitment process.
