Recruitment, Training, Deployment, Professional Development, and Professionalisation of Teachers in Nigeria: A Critical Appraisal

Recruitment, Training, Deployment, Professional Development, and Professionalisation of Teachers in Nigeria: A Critical Appraisal

Dr. A. S. Adelokun

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.9020063

Received: 20 January 2025; Accepted: 25 January 2025; Published: 03 March 2025

ABSTRACT

The quality of teachers in Nigeria has always occupied the front burner when interrogating poor academic performance of pupils in schools. This interrogation often skips arguments in favour of efforts already made to checkmate poor quality of teachers.  Many government agencies at both state and national levels in Nigeria (Ministries of education, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria, National Board on Technical Education (NBTE), National Teachers’ Institute, National Council for Colleges of Education, National Education Research and Development Council etc) and development partners (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have, at one time or the other, got involved in efforts towards improving teacher quality.

Of interest was the finding by Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) which evaluated the extent to which the states had improved after the Assessment Baseline exercise.  Taking Kano State, Nigeria as an example, it was discovered that the improvement on qualified teachers was not universal on all levels of education. The Baseline, which covered 2015/2016 to 2020/2021 in Kano State, highlighted the following as observations on teachers’ status in Nigeria:

• There was an improvement in number of qualified teachers in primary schools
• There was an improvement in the recruitment of female teachers in primary schools.
• There was also an improvement in Pupil-Qualified Teacher Ratio (PQTR) in primary schools.
• There was an improvement in number of qualified teachers in junior secondary schools
• There was an improvement in the recruitment of female teachers in junior secondary schools.
• There was a deterioration (worsening) in PQTR in junior secondary schools.

This area of deterioration needs to be quickly arrested in order not to lose the gains of earlier years in the teaching industry.

In order to further strengthen the status quo on teacher quality, certain documents are necessary and sufficient to provide the rubrics for its assurance. These documents (though not limited) include:

• National Policy on Education (2013) where minimum teaching qualification is spelt out.
• National Minimum Standard for Colleges of Education (2015) which defines the academic standard of students on NCE programme.
• Guidelines on Academic Programmes to NCE (2012)
• Policy on Career Path for the Teaching Profession in Nigeria (2019)
• Approved Minimum Academic Standard on Education in all Nigerian Universities
• University Matriculation Examination/ Direct Entry Brochure Guidelines.
• Teachers Registration Council Manual for Accreditation of Teacher Education in Nigeria.

The Teacher Policy designed by TRCN has as its objectives the following:

• Develop well-trained skilled workers that can deliver quality education for global competitiveness;
• Develop the best brains for the teaching profession through support for teacher preparation and training
• Develop and maintain a sustainable and robust education management system for transparent and accountable decision making at all levels
• Ensure an efficient system of recruitment and deployment of teachers that promotes equal opportunities to quality education for all.
• Recruit more qualified teachers to meet up with the state target of basic and post-basic PQTR in accordance with laws on recruitment and deployment mechanism.

How well have state governments been able to comply with these lofty objectives? The TRCN has gained a lot of grounds in ensuring professionalisation of teaching. It has even introduced qualifying examinations to ensure that only successful candidates are licensed to teach in both primary and secondary schools in Nigeria. The TRCN achieves this with the cooperation of the Colleges and faculties of education in Nigerian universities.

In an effort to ensure inclusivity in schools, the World Bank sponsored the Nigerian Partnership for Education Project (NPEP) and launched the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) scheme to bring Girls back to school through financial incentive. The Project covered Kaduna, Kano Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi and Plateau states through a scholarship programme for girls. This has been scaled up in 11 other states of Nigeria.

The Education Sector Support Programme (ESSPIN) also conducted training programmes on school education which covered six states in the North-central region of Nigeria at various times. Their achievements stated in measurable terms are as stated below:

• 2 million children in school
• 1712 headteachers operate effectively
• 7877 teachers now delivered confident literacy and numeracy lessons
• Over 120000 children now have toilets in their schools.
• 165000 children now have potable water in their schools
• A sum of 4.3 million pounds was received as contribution in school improvement
• Over 6600 community members were trained to support various aspects of school improvement.

The focus of ESSPIN was on school learning environment. Yet, the tripod upon which school improvement rests is:

1. Technology of instruction
2. Facilities
3. Teacher quality

INTRODUCTION

In 2018, the Universal Basic Education Commission, Nigeria published its four year statistical digest on Basic Education in Nigeria’s thirty-six states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The statistics covers a wide range of information about teachers, Pupils, Staffing in the education- related MDAs in Nigeria. A cursory look at these data exposes the good, the bad and the ugly about the whole education system.

Nigeria’s Education System has remained dynamic (in the real sense of the word). This dynamism has affected (both positively and negatively perhaps) all the tiers of education viz: Early Childhood Care & Development Level, Lower Primary, Higher Primary (last two described as primary school of six years duration), Junior Secondary School and Senior Secondary School. The Early Childhood Care & Development (ECCDE) years to Junior school III is described as Basic Education while the Senior Secondary School stands apart. Teachers at these levels possess various certificates of various ‘stature’ and different terms of completion.

In ensuring that the teachers perform efficiently and effectively, some welfare packages (at varying degrees) are designed with policies to ensure their implementation. This would definitely have an implication on teacher indicators. While teacher commitment may be assured through motivational indicators, the extent to which this would impact on teacher efficiency and effectiveness would also be scaled up or discounted by the frequency and type of their professional development programmes they attend.

The training schools for teachers of various cadres (Teachers Colleges, Colleges of Education and Faculty of Education in Nigeria’s 170 universities – though, some do not  offer training in pedagogy) admit students through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) through Direct entry (3years) and its four-year modes. With the 60:40 ratio of science to humanities admission policy adopted by Nigeria, no effort are expected to be geared towards equity and equality in the ratio of male to female admissions in order to avoid a tilt in favour of either of the gender.

Not only that, the process of attaining effectiveness in schools would be a function of the type of professional development training the teachers receive. An effective training programme for in-service teachers would lay emphasis on methodology and the mode of delivery. Apart from identifying the pedagogical needs of in-service teachers, contemporary tools and teaching materials of delivery of instruction would also go a long way to impact on professional development of in-service. This placed emphasis on the need for the inclusion of contemporary Ed Tech. in the training process of teachers in training as well as in-service teachers. With the dynamism experienced in the Ed Tech world, the in-service teachers need constant upping of their knowledge.

Nigeria’s teachers often complain of estrangement, powerlessness, and low self esteem. Most states in Nigeria have involved ways of empowering their teachers to forestall this. Thus, they do, through various empowerment programmes to boost teachers’ morale.

All these aforementioned prerequisites for the efficiency and effectiveness of in-service teachers are essential but not sufficient if the following are paltry, deficient or error-laden. These factors include :

• Educational data issues in terms of sourcing and funding
• Education financing and governance
• Educational planning
• Partnerships with local and foreign agencies
• Inclusiveness in education
• Gender and safety
• Security in schools

Teacher qualification and policies for recruiting and induction of qualified teaching staff

Teachers are trained in colleges of education and faculties of education in universities. At the college of education level where Nigeria Certificate in Education holders are trained for teaching at the basic education level (crèche to junior secondary school), two modes of entry are in existence. These are pre NCE and Direct modes. Are the early childhood level, in 2018 (which was when the latest statistics were released), North-central region had 27303 caregivers; North-east 9572; North-west 18532; South-east 25229; South-south 29290; South-west 44291. Thus, a total of 154217 staff strength was on at the ECCDE centres in 2018 in Nigeria. This was in account of both private and public centres. While the male species has 1770 caregivers, the female had 7802 which was a far cry from the female representation. The declining number of qualified teachers at all levels of basic Education leaves much to be desired. At the ECCDE level, percentage of qualified teachers/care givers fell from 76% in 2006 to 57% in 2018. The primary school level rose from 56% in 2006 to 64% in 2010 and declined to 62% in 2018. The percentage of qualified teachers at the JSS level rose from 80% in 2006 to 85% in 2010 but declined to 76% in 2018. This trend only stresses the fact that schools now parade more unqualified teachers than hitherto. This could be as a result of embargo on employment in most states of the Federation. These have had a negative multiplier effect on the existence of experienced teachers, who, as they retire, are not being replaced due to the embargo.

Source: Universal Basic Education Commission (2018).

It is noteworthy however that teacher qualification at this level has not attracted much attention. This may be because ECCDE is still at the teething stage relative to other levels of education in Nigeria, A lot of improvements have however been made over the 2018 figures, (though not documented yet) at this level too. The process of recruitment at the public centre level has been mainly by advertorials at the state Universal Basic Education (SUBEB/MDA) examinations conducted and selection follows. Graduates of NCE and B.Ed/B,A.Ed in Primary Education and ECCDE have remained the target of the recruitment. The induction of teachers at the ECCDE level after recruitment has always the dimension other levels take. The UBE funds and organizes the SUBEB six-week induction by cluster approach through the use of experienced facilitators from universities. This also extends to other teachers within the ambit of the SUBEB. The private ECCDE caregivers/teachers do not usually take part in the induction.

Certain comments need be made in this regard. First, the qualifications for recruiting caregivers in the private ECCDE centres are not well defined or enforced. It is an all-comers affair in the private sector. This situation leaves much to be desired as the products of the centres are left at the mercy of the proprietors/proprietresses.

Second, it is note worthy that the minimum qualification of NCE is followed in the public sector. Not only that, the public sector occasionally recruits university degree holders in Education-related disciplines. This made for better quality teachers/caregivers at the ECCDE level.

Third, the supervisory roles of SUBEB at the state level and UBEC at the national level should not go unnoticed. These two agencies, through scheduled supervision and inspection, ensure the implementation of well-intended policies over public ECCDE centres and private ones. The extent of the supervision is however another point of interrogation considering the paucity of funds in the education industry.

Fourth is the issue of qualified teaching staff at the private ECCDE centres. The private sector of ECCDE recruits less qualified personnel in order to save cost. The public sector had the wherewithal to employ qualified personnel at this level but the recent state of the economy has hampered this process.

Consequently, shortage of qualified staff at the ECCDE has hit the states too. States are advised to seek more funds for the recruitment of staff through other non-government sources or from appropriate, well-thoughtout and sensitization-laden fiscal policies. Using appropriate legal process, education tax can also be introduced through the instrument of the states’ Houses of Assembly. With more funds in its kitty, qualified (minimum of NCE) teachers/caregivers would be gainfully employed for the ECCDE centres.

The recruitment of teachers/caregivers for primary schools is done by the SUBEB in each of the 36 states of the federation of Nigeria. This is because Education is on the concurrent list of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). SUBEB organizes qualified examinations and interviews using the funds from the Federal Government’s UBEC. The minimum qualification is NCE while some degree holders in the discipline of Primary Education Studies are also employed. In 2018, as evidence by UBEC document (2019), the number of teaching staff (public and private) by state is as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Number/Percentage of Public Primary School Teachers by State

Source: UBEC: (2019) National Personnel Audit (NPA) Report on Public and Private Basic Education Schools in Nigeria.

Table 1 shows the number of primary school teachers by state in Nigeria. It shows Kano State (7.1%) had highest number of primary schools. This was followed by Lagos State which had 5.9% of the total public primary school staff strength (TPPSSS). Other States which had substantial percentage of the TPPSSS were Niger (3.9%), Kaduna (3.9%), Rivers (3.2%), Delta (3.0%), and Benue (3.0%) just to mention a few. The implications of these data are far-reaching. One would have to know the pupil-teacher ratio in order to measure the efficiency implied in these figures. A high percentage does not imply better classroom efficiency. However, megacities such as Kano and Lagos justified the large numbers of teachers in those states. Yet, some caution is needed when comparing their efficiencies relative to other states

Teachers welfare and enabling   policies for teacher retention and supportive working conditions.

The place of motivation in the effective performance of teachers cannot be overemphasized. h one of the key factors in motivation is an improvement in the welfare of teachers. Some of these measures are believed to be necessary and sufficient for boosting the morale of the teachers.

• Regular payment of salaries and allowances.
• Opportunities for career growth and development. This can be in form of professional involvement in further studies.
• Regular promotion of teachers and the implementation of existing policies on promotion. The public services most state have once in three years promotion policies. It is observed that this is hardly followed by the state governments. A new dimension as even evolved where promotion policy is implemented “In print” but not in practice. This is capable of damaging the existing positive industrial relations left in the public services of those states.
• In the distance past, teachers benefited from housing loan policy. Teachers where then able to put a roof over their heads without having to go through mortgage banks. The economic down turn as however affected this policy which could have triggered another boost in the dwindling morale of the teachers in those states.
• The dearth in employment of more public school teachers as a result of the upturned economy as also meant lower morale among teachers. This is because of the extreme work load they may have to be tasked with. This usually ends in frustration and anger, thus discounting effective performance of teachers at the pre-primary, primary and junior secondary education levels.
  • The retention of teachers is another issue worthy of note. Teacher retention has reference in the ability of the school system to prevent teacher turn over which could be to other professions. Unbridled teacher turn over is not in the interest of pupils as strange faces may scare pupils. TEACHERcareercoach.com observed that one in four teachers were considering a new career. It was argued that 44% of teachers change “Jobs in the first four years in the profession” (com). Advancing the argument further TEACHERcareercoach.com gave reasons why teachers quit the teaching profession. These are summarised below:
• Tall expectations are stifled by limited opportunities for growth.
• Teachers often have the feelings of “Not being happy, unhealthy and unfulfilled arising mental health ”.
• Support policy for teachers is not being implemented in many states. This has led to the feelings of estrangement, powerlessness and alienation. These feelings are not good for improved efficiency of teachers.

The working conditions and work environments of teachers have not been able to mitigate increasing teacher turn-over. This is because government policies (Extra income for teachers in less-cities, provision of accommodation for teacher recruits, and provision of instructional materials), are half-heartedly implemented or not implemented at all in most states. It is observed that if many of the teacher-improvement policies are implemented, high teacher turn over rate would be mitigated.

Teacher Training and Continuous Professional Development.

As aforementioned, the training of would-be teachers in Nigeria takes place in colleges of Education where NCE teaching certificates are acquired and the faculties of education in universities where B.Ed/B.A Ed/B.Sc Ed and their advanced versioned are acquired. Nigeria Certificate in Education holders are trained to teach at the Creche, Nursery and Junior Secondary Schools while their university-trained counterpart are trained for upper secondary school. One could however interrogate the extent of effectiveness of this policy since the pitiable advent of dwindling quality of education. This has called for a rethink on professional development of teachers. The federal Government has introduced various development programmes particularly in-service education in identified areas of need (ICT Education, Languages) using SUBEB as a channel for reaching teachers at the state level.

The beginning teachers get inducted through occasional workshops while the relatively-experienced teachers go through cluster training after school hours where ideas can be shared. Not only that, special training programmes are also organised y state government for instance Lagos State SUBEB aided by UBEC, organise a training programme for teacher in special in 2021 to further advanced the cause of inclusivity courtesy of Lagos State’s Education Transformation Agenda. The State has also engaged teachers in the area of language literacy. This was sponsored by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2021. A tripartite sponsorship of the training of language teachers in the area of phonics was also implemented in Lagos State under the auspices of LASUBEB, UBEC and Universal Learning Solutions (ULS). Various other training programmes have been held across the state of the federation

In other words, both federal and state governments have made substantial efforts (in varying degrees though) towards the professional development of teachers, there is hope that these efforts would yield the desired results over time.

Gender Equality in Recruitment and Career Progression

Gender Equality in the recruitment of teachers has reference in the consideration given to gender in the process of the recruitment of teachers. This is measured through Gender Parity Index (GPI). In 2018, The GPI for ECCDE was 10.31; Primary (1.16) and JSS (0.78) (Source UBEC, 2019). This figures imply a tilt in favour of female gender in both ECCDE and Primary level but in favour of male in JSS. The UBEC statistic also show gender parity difference within National, Private and public ECCDE (National: 91% for female, 9% for male; Private 93% for females and 7% for males; 87% for females and 13% for males in public schools). Some states considered gender in the professional development process for example Osun State considers gender in the selection of participants in the cluster training programme.

At the primary school level, National Data showed 54% for females in recruitment and 46% for males. At the private Secondary School level it was 47% females and 53% males.. In the public primary school sector it was 34% recruitment for females in the primary schools and 66% for males

The JSS level featured data slightly different on a National scale: 44% of teachers were females in 2018, while 56% were males. Private Secondary School had 40% Teacher recruitment for females in 2018 and 59% for males. At the Public JSS level, 46% of the teachers were females while 54% were males. The trend of the data has shown that females were favoured in recruitment at ECCDE and Primary School Levels while JSS favoured males.

Career progression of teachers and gender parity is not an issue. Teachers are promoted in the public education sector without any recourse to gender. However the issue of gender may interfere on a personal note when a gender rejects posting based on specific interest. For instance, a married woman may reject a duty post if not convenient for her family. Such could mean an impediment on career profession. Approvals for study leave are granted without any recourse to gender. It defines analysis therefore, only experience and year of graduation matter in career progression.

And now a word on this issue. Should a recalcitrant teacher be rewarded with promotion if only year of graduation and experience are used as criteria for promotion? The answer is “NO”. This non-challant attitude has had a spiral effect on many teachers particularly those described by Robert Presthus as local workers who have special dedication to duty where they work. Promoting an irresponsible teacher is a disservice to the teaching industry.

Teacher training in EdTech and Multimedia Education

Various training programmes have been organised by state SUBEBs. One of these is Multimedia usage in the instructional process. Curriculum and instructional delivery are best handled to achieve effectiveness if relevant Multimedia aids are used. It is observed however that most teachers who have adequate knowledge of EdTech as a tool for instruction are those who personally have a flair for Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) This because most States are no ale to carry teachers along in depth during the training programmes in EdTech for want of equipment. It is therefore necessary for the states SUBEBs through UBEC to supply instructional technical aids for the training programmes considering the free Education Policy at the basic level of Education, Funds for the provision of EdTech materials will come from non-tuition fee sources. Without these materials, training teachers at workshops as it is currently being done would be a wasteful exercise since schools do not have them. There should be a way of involving the Education Trust Fund (ETF) in the provision of basic instructional media resources at no Tertiary Education level.

Teacher Empowerment and Support Schemes.

Teacher empowerment has reference in all steps taken to up the opportunities available to the teachers. Such opportunities may be in form of study leave (with or without pay) Sandwich/Part time programmes approval and short term courses support schemes which include car loan facility, housing scheme through the introduction of housing fund (mortgage) which serves as counterpart funding source. These supports boost teachers’ morale.

Sundry other factors are necessary too to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the education industry. These include education data issues/reporting, education financing and governance, educational planning, partnerships, inclusiveness in education, gender and safety and security bin schools. Each of the aforementioned is treated in turns below..

1. Educational data gathering is facing some traditional challenges in Nigeria. They are called traditional challenges because they are peculiar to developing economies. Data gathered are usually muffled and adulterated. The purpose of such data is usually misinterpreted whether consciously or ignorantly. Data gathered with a bias in the source may eventually be truncated or at be polluted in order to invalidate the data. The school censuses taken in the past have been alleged to experience sharp practices. Students’ enrolments could be inflated and personnel auditing report may be under serious criticisms. This is because most exercises in data gathering are seen from the political angle.

Educational financing has also been seriously abused. Affordability has not always been considered. Political consideration has always taken over reasons. This has led to the high expectations the citizens have concerning government. So rather than a belief in the bottom-up approach  to development of education, the citizens are made to believe in top-up strategy where government is seen as a capable entity to do all things in the school system. The crisis of shortage of funds for financing public schools thus started with compromised manifestoes. Rather than make affordable pledges on funding of schools, the political machinery seems to have adopted the socialist approach to education without proper definition of the lower and upper limits of such pledges. The society would do better if it can adopt realist approach to issues of finance. Would a socialist education mix well with a capitalist economy?

Another cross-cutting issue is educational planning. Most times the implementers of educational plans, if the latter are made at all, are not patient enough for their full implementation. The educational planner may not be involved in the implementation in order to offer guidance. Most of the planning is done with inaccurate and mutilated data. Accuracy of data is of necessity if educational plans are to succeed.

Partnerships with local and international agencies are of utmost importance in these days of paucity of resources. However, such partnerships must consider factors such as economic, political, and social implications of such partnerships.

The Sustainable Development Goal 4 emphasizes the need for inclusivity in all areas of the school system. Efforts are being made by all levels of government to pursue this lofty goal. Such efforts are however being hampered by societal misinterpretation, ignorance and deliberate resistance. While for instance pupils with physical challenges are supposed to be integrated into the regular school system, the design of most schools does not encourage this. Conventional schools do not seem to tolerate inclusivity in this regard. This has further exacerbated the gap between the education of the vulnerable and that of the non-vulnerable. This makes many schools unsafe for the vulnerable thus discounting the purpose of SDG4.

By and large, Nigeria’s education system has been more sinned against than sinning. The education, which was supposed to thrive during the days of buoyant economy, was deprived of adequate facilities as a result of certain challenges, chief of which was corruption and wasteful tendencies, has , in recent times been facing paucity of funds at all levels. The private sector of education which seems to be driven by profit motive has also suffered untold hardships in some states due to high incidence of tax. The government needs to realise the important contributions of edupreneurs in mitigating the burden of funding of schools with an overbearing enrolment (if there were no private schools) on the government. Tax the private schools? Yes! Heavy taxation? No!

Some challenges of teacher professionalisation process in Nigeria

Number of inductees to cover the teaching industry has continued to dwindle due to high unemployment rate of qualified teachers leading to reduced application rate to colleges and faculties of education In the Nation. This has further given room for the appointment of untrained teaching personnel particularly in the private sector. In the Southwest zone for instance, in 2019, 76% were both qualified in private and public basic schools; 65% in private and 87% in public basic schools. The  use of unqualified teachers in South-south zone’s basic schools has also gone to the extreme with 71% qualified teachers in both private and public basic schools; 61% in private schools;  and 79% in public basic schools. In the North central zone, 79% of basic school teachers were qualified in 2019; 70% in private and 85% in public basic schools. (Source: UBEC Personnel Audit Report, 2019)

The professional development of teachers has taken a worrisome direction in Nigeria. This is because some states have not given the process due attention. While states like Imo and Anambra had trained 34% and 48% of their basic schools’  teachers between 2015 and 2019, states like Oyo, Ogun, Kano, Kaduna, Kebbi, Akwa Ibom Bayelsa and Bauchi had only trained 6%, 11%, 9%, 8%, 17%, 17% , 5%, 5% respectively. (Source: UBEC Personnel Audit Report, 2019)) This would only discount the gains made on professional development of teachers.

Trained teachers seem to have higher job mobility through unfettered transfer among basic schools and across the states. A few trained teachers seek for other jobs outside teaching while they are needed in the teaching industry. Some get transferred away from rural areas after being inducted and have been through teacher development programmes. This has led to a thin presence of teachers in some rural areas in spite of the professional development programme they had been involved in. This does not augur well for balanced development in the rural areas.

The teacher professionalism process across the zones needs to be addressed. Information across the six zones in Nigeria shows the disparities within the number of teachers with TRCN certificates. South-east (44%), South-south (40%), South-west (39%), North-central (39%), North-east (27%), and North-west (30%) all have a long way to go in professionalisation process. The teachers without TRCN certificates are still many. (Source: UBEC Personnel Audit Report, 2019)). This would take its toll on the quality of the products.

The following recommendations for immediate attention are hereby made:

1. The issue of teacher quality is beyond the reach of fiat. It requires proper research on the needs of teachers which may be as varied as the number of teachers.
2. Teacher quality requires considerations given to the stakeholders (teachers, government, and community).
3. The role of TRCN in the sustainability of quality teachers should be further strengthened to avoid loopholes particularly in the private sector.
4. The ultimate objective of TRCN in teacher quality direction should be to criminalise the employment of non-qualified teachers in the private sector.
5. Mandatory professional development programmes should be organised for all teachers irrespective of gender but as a criterion for career advancement.
6. Development partners with ‘local content’ such as African Development Bank, African Union Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) should be further encouraged to do more.

CONCLUSIONS

Teacher quality is a function of many factors which should be vigorously charted and monitored. Those factors could be within or extraneous. Constant monitoring would go a long way to prevent the collapse of the teaching industry. In these days where Nigerian teachers are being sought after by foreign countries, there is a dire need NOT only to train more qualified teachers to meet the across border demand, there is the need to make sure Nigeria has enough to meet local demands particularly at the upper echelon of the secondary school system. The school system would do better if efforts are also geared towards gender consideration in recruitment of teachers. The JSS needs more qualified female teachers. The Nation should not rest on its oars. The private school sector, particularly in megacities, seems to be relatively free of proper monitoring of the quality of teachers being employed by the schools. The whole is greater than the part. They need to be made to comply.

REFERENCES

1. Federal Government of Nigeria. (2014). National Teacher Education Policy.
2. Kano State Ministry of Education (2023). Kano State Teacher Education Policy.
3. PLANE (2022). Baseline Assessment of Teacher Provision and Policies: Kano. Revised 2023.
4. Umar M. (n.d). The Role of ESSPIN in transforming Basic Education into Effective One in Jigawa State: Situations and Challenges. Online.
5. Universal Basic Education (2019). 2018 National Personnel Audit (NPA) Report on Public and Private Basic Education Schools in Nigeria.
6. World Bank (nd). Nigeria Partnership for Education Project. https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/506841476077511270/nigeria-partnership-for-education-project

APPENDIX

Acronyms and Abbreviations

N.C.E: Nigeria Certificate in Education

B.Ed.: Bachelor of Education

B.A. Ed. : Bachelor of Arts in Education

B.Sc. Ed.: Bachelor of Science in Education

PLANE: Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria

PQTR: Pupil to Qualified Teacher Ratio

UBEC: Universal Basic Education Commission

SUBEB: State Universal Basic Education Board

FCT:  Federal Capital Territory

JAMB: Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board

MDAs:  Ministries, Departments and Agencies

ECCDE:  Early Childhood Care and Development Education

TPPSSS:  Total Public Primary School Staff Strength

ICT:  Information and Communication Technologies

USAID: United States’ Agency for International Development

LASUBEB:  Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board

CAI:    Computer Aided Instruction

GPI:    Gender Parity Index

JICA:  Japan International Cooperation Agency