The Minister of Education Prof. Ruqayyattu Ahmed Rufa'i and the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education Prof. Muhammadu Ibn Junaid explain the imperative of the recent public presentation of the Science and Technology Standards and Implementation Manual for Teacher Educators in Nigerian Colleges of Education.Honourable Minister, we witnessed the presentation of the standards for colleges of education for the teaching of science and technology. How really implementable are they'Any way, based on the method we operate here in the administration of education and the reforms, we have a culture of implementing whatever policy we come up with. Since, I came on board over a year now, I have always made sure whatever plans and policies we come up with we already laid out strategy for the implementation. We meet bi-monthly to find ways of assessing the policies we have on ground, to know how they are progressing. So, this present policy on science and technology teaching standards in Colleges of Education in the nation cannot be any different. You would even have noticed that the document came with an accompanying implementation manual. So, we are out to ensure that whatever framework designed in the manual must be followed logically because the essence is not just to draw up a plan but to follow it up and make sure it is applied in our education system for improvement.Of all the desired reforms in the sector, is the development of teaching standards what is uppermost in your priority list'All the problems or challenges we face in the sector are in two broad categories, namely, policy direction and quality assurance; every other thing falls within the two. What we have done with this policy draft is simply to address first the issue of quality in the delivery of teacher education in the country and enhancing quality is our number one priority even though we don't overlook the place and importance of the other areas of need. So, whatever we do should start with quality assurance, and we are on the way to getting the rest right. Whether in area of funding, teaching, children welfare or improvement, everything starts with the right quality being available so that what we put into the system will have enduring utility.So this move is coming at the right time to ensure the enhancement of quality of our science and technology education so that everything we do must have that quality. We have to update the teachers on applicable technological tools for teaching in today's world. The idea is for them to know about such tools as well as how to apply them in the teaching of science and technology. That is the right teacher education we target.The argument is interesting, but since it is standard teachers that drive standard policies, what about the standards of the implementing teachers. How have you handled that'Yes, the standards we target have to do with teachers' capacity and their enhancement to ensure they even have the right skills to be able to put what we have as policy programme across where it is needed. Actually, we know that the raising of the standard of the teacher is as important as the standards we have drafted because teachers apply the designed standards. They must be up to date, competent and good to put to good use what we come up with. So the teachers' improvement is at the centre of the total package we are working towards to make sure that we correct the errors of the past.So, it is a total package and as we take them a step at a time, the next level will totally focus on teachers' capacity building.So what plans or rewards are included in the policy to encourage teachers buy into the scheme and make it work'I don't have doubts about teachers buying into the scheme. I know the major challenge we have always had in the education sector is that teachers for long have been neglected. They are hardly exposed to or encouraged to go for capacity building or improvement. So many things had gone wrong in the past through abandonment, but another aspect that is of importance is the truth that when you have a competent, brilliant and empowered teacher, you are already half way out of the problem. So, developing the capacity is our major concern. Why am I sure they would have no problem buying into the policy' Because they are already showing that zeal to be empowered, enhanced and taken higher in their career.Teachers love their career and would also love to take steps to be the best they can afford. Last year if you can remember, we had a two-day presidential retreat for teachers, and Mr. President was there and listened to the teachers all through. He made sure the complaints and issues raised by them were documented, and we are still awaiting the final recommendations by the president and I am sure that will soon be ready for adoption in our schools. The teachers are already aware that this administration is serious and sincere about their welfare, capacity building and enhancement of their utility and service to the nation, so there are no doubts about the rewards and motivations that await them in the process of implementing the standards and the general efforts to better the education sector in Nigeria.How soon will the standards be applied'That will commence immediately. You can see that the manuals are two. One of them is on the procedure of implementation. But before we get to that, the teachers would first receive tutorial and training on how to apply these principles and policies in the classroom.How would the adoption of the standards lead to the actualization of the MDGs or the transformation the government is often promising'You know that education is a key factor in the government's agenda of transformation. And no doubt, if you could implement transformation or reforms and you don't include education, then it is grossly incomplete. So, every step we take here is part of the realization of that ultimate goal ' to make the society better, especially through the very vital sector like education. By the time we get it right in education, every other sector will fall in line and we are not leaving out any level in the sector. We target and have been working on specific reforms in the primary, secondary and tertiary education levels to get a full and rounded package needed for growth of the nation. By the time we do justice to the issue of science teachers' standards and enhancement, we face another aspect and with time, all would have fallen in line with the new growth and development trend and that is actually what the MDGs are all about.In Nigeria today, we see talents like in music and other areas celebrated, but the outstanding child in school is hardly accorded such accolade. Do you have plans to give the brilliant child a special place in our schools'Yes, I don't know exactly what you mean, because I know there has been this platform on which the brilliant and best students and children in schools are rewarded every year. But if what you mean is a suggestion to us to make it a national issue, then we will think of it because that could be a great idea. Generally speaking, the ministries at the states and schools have the tradition. I know celebrating the brilliant child is to make him/her serve as role model to others and to ginger them to work hard also because all we complain about is the erosion of the place of hard work in the sector today. So, we can do all it takes to ensure the child who works and meritoriously makes it big is accorded the right place in the system.Prof. Junaid, congratulations on the launch of the policy, which seems to fall directly under your purview. But, in your view, how, in reality, can it improve education quality in the country'Definitely the standards would serve as good starting point to the teachers in the teaching of science and technology, and the general enhancement of the sector. It defines the standards of teaching and learning and thereby guides the teacher on what to do. Once a teacher is clear about what to do and how to do that, the quality must improve and with improved quality, half the problem of education in Nigeria is solved.We believe and hope to achieve two things with the standards. One is giving or providing the teacher the clear guide, which is the sure way to improvement of standards. It has clear guides on skills and methods of improving the teaching standards in our schools, and you know science and technology are defined by parameters and those are standards and if we lack such standards that the whole world uses, that means our foundation would be faulty. And to make it work, we have designed means of encouraging students to embrace science and technology by providing the equipment and standards. Today, we have a paucity of science graduates and that is exactly what we want to change by this standardization. We want to present science and technology better through a known and attractive benchmark.Do you mean the standards you introduced also include the implementation process'Yes, it does have implementation guidelines. And each standard has attributes identified, and the attributes are used in assessing whether or not the standards have been attained. So, we have the standards in one booklet and the implementation guidelines in another accompanying it for implementation by the teachers.The major problem with science teaching and learning in Nigeria is that it is not practical, so how do you tackle that problem with the new standards'Well, the standards take care of that because we know that the theoretical bias of science teaching or education in Nigeria is due to the absence of laboratories, and that may have little to do with the teacher because he is not the one to provide the lab. But the standards sets out alternatives to the labs by guiding the teacher that in the absence of a functional lab, you can improvise on that situation with local materials to attain the same results.Are there plans for the provision of the conventional lab equipment'Yes, there are. But with the standards as I said before, a teacher is guided to provide alternative practical teaching means using local materials. But that does not stop us from going on with plans to provide the major equipment. I would let you know that there is funding coming for the advancement of our institutions, and they are mainly tertiary institutes, which includes the colleges of education. With the additional funding, that means most of the lacking things could be handled and laboratory equipment for science education is key among such needful things.How do you envisage the acceptability of this project under your watch'It is already accepted. It is just waiting for commencement of application. I am sure of this because of the approach we adopted in arriving at the standards. We didn't adopt an armchair method, but went to the fields, did real fact-finding and discovered what the problems of the system are. So the model is developed in line with the reality on ground. We involved science and technology teachers as partners in the development. We tested the approach in three colleges of education to know how practicable they are, and we got encouraging results. The feedback from the pilot schools further guided us on the evaluation and final touch and result of the task. So the standards are already accepted because it is the people that would put them to use that played a key role in their development.
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