Reps urge the teachers' council to publish the identity of quacks.

The call followed the acceptance of the report by the House Committee on Basic Education and Services after MPs discussed it as a Committee of the Whole.  While Prof Julius Ihonvbere chairs the committee, the suggestion appears in the 'Report of the Committee on Basic Education and Services on the Call for Recruitment of Qualified and Registered Teachers in Nigerian Schools.'

TRCN, Nigeria's governing authority for the teaching profession, alleged earlier on May 4, 2023, that more than 70% of private school teachers in the South-West geopolitical zone are untrained.

Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti are the states in the South-West.

According to the TRCN's registrar, Professor Josiah Ajiboye, the teachers are unqualified since they lack the necessary qualifications to register with the council.

Earlier this month, the TRCN president lamented that a lack of skilled instructors in schools continues to be a concern in Nigeria's education sector.

Ajiboye stated that in order to address the issue, the Council corrected nearly 7,000 quack instructors in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states.

TRCN stated that highly committed, dedicated, and virile teachers are becoming increasingly difficult to recruit in schools, emphasizing that this has impacted the level of instruction.

The House committee suggested that the House "urge the Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria to publicize data on quacks and unqualified teachers in Nigeria by state."

It also recommended that the Nigeria Union of Teachers, the National Teachers Institutes, and the Association of Arabic Studies comply with the provision of the Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria Act requiring "that a teacher possess a minimum qualification of Nigeria Certificate in Education and must be registered, certified, and licensed."

The Teachers Assessment Test should be reintroduced, according to MPs, to determine the quality of teachers. They also emphasized the importance of teachers being inducted by the Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria following pre-service training before being hired.
"There is a need to strengthen the Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria Act to enable it to monitor the recruitment of teachers at all levels of government," the committee added.

"The Federal Government should establish a Teachers Academy to serve as an instrument for a uniform standard for Nigerian teachers who graduated from various universities, and where procedural and practical teaching would be taught."

"Teachers' low pay encourages them to move from one location to another." As a result, there is an urgent need to make the teaching profession more appealing by enacting a Teacher's Salary Structure similar to what is available in other professions such as the Nigerian Maritime Authority, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, and so on, in order to boost their morale."

In a related development, the House considered and accepted the 'Report of the Committee on Basic Education and Services on a Call for the Rehabilitation of Unity Schools Across Nigeria,' in which MPs encouraged private sector intervention to rehabilitate unity schools.

The committee suggested that the federal government "immediately improve the meager budgetary allocation and releases to the Federal Unity Colleges."

The legislators presented a four-year fiscal plan to "completely overhaul the colleges and restore them to their glory."

The National Senior Secondary Education Commission, according to the panel, should be appropriately supported to fulfill instructional materials and infrastructure needs, as well as teacher development needs of Federal Unity Colleges.

The committee also suggested that "associations such as old student's bodies and parents-teachers associations, which have contributed enormously to the development of some of these schools, be encouraged to take on more viable projects across the schools in order to reduce government burden."

"If the FUCs are to survive and remain relevant to their mandates, it is time to involve high net-worth individuals, banks, and other business concerns in their revamping and reconstruction."

"The Federal Government shall establish a voluntary 'Adopt-a-school' committee to ensure that relevant agencies, corporations, and individuals contribute to the development of the FUCs."

"The budgetary meal subsidies allocation for students should be increased to N500 per meal."