FOR the various policies designed to move Nigeria forward to succeed, policy formulators at both the national and state levels have been advised to pay adequate attention to the training of teachers.According to Dr Sijibomi Olusanya, Provost of the Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka, Lagos, since teachers have been saddled with the responsibility of training those who would drive all government policies, from the lowest to the highest level of the education ladder, teacher education must necessarily occupy a central position in all government plans.Olusanya made the assertion at the college's combined 35th convocation ceremony held last week in Lagos, at which a total of 3, 082 students, comprising the 2008/2009, 2009/2010 and 2010/11 sets received Technical Teachers Certificates (TTC), National Certificates in Education (NCE) and the Technical Teachers' Diplomas in Nursing.The Provost observed that the declining standard in the education system could be directly attributed to, among others, entry requirements, paucity of staff, dearth of equipment, poor infrastructure and the mismatch between students' population and the ratio of manpower. He recommended the 'retooling and repositioning' of teacher education to boost quality.He also affirmed that while technical and vocational education (TVE) was an integral part of teacher education, its capital-intensive nature poses a serious challenge to the college. Apart from funding, which he said was preventing the college from realizing its goals, Olusanya listed irregular power supply, lack of space and classrooms and low staff development as a major problem. He seized the occasion to appeal to the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqqayyatu Rufai, the private sector, relevant arms of the United Nations and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for assistance.His words: 'One of the greatest challenges facing the College is inadequate land space for the development of the required infrastructure. This problem is making it increasingly difficult for us to adequately fulfill the mandate of providing TVE to those seeking knowledge in these areas. The number of candidates that apply for admission yearly has increased tremendously, but the carrying capacity of the college is greatly hampered, due to inadequate lecture rooms and other learning facilities.'The situation, the provost submitted, constitutes a huge problem to the society, because it hinders many school leavers from having access to higher education. 'This denial poses a challenge to the nation and may impede progress in the transformational agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.'In the midst of the challenges, however, the Provost said some progress has been recorded. 'All our courses received full accreditation by the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) at the last accreditation exercise,' he affirmed. 'And with more dedication, human and material resources at our disposal, we shall continue to scale the hurdle of the NCCE accreditation exercise in the future.'Rufai, in her keynote address, reiterated the federal government's resolve to evolve strategies through TVE, to equip Nigerian youths with relevant skills for employment and job creation. This commitment, according to her, was borne out of the recognition that entrepreneurial skill 'is the corner stone for technological and economic development.'She said: 'Government has continued to offer generous support in funding, provision of materials and equipment, teaching aids as well as granting of scholarships to students and teachers in the field. We have developed workshops for all federal government colleges and polytechnics and purchased equipment worth billions of naira. All the equipment cost government N15 billion.'She reminded the graduands that education devoid of good character was meaningless, urging them to shun all forms of societal vices like abduction, kidnapping, robbery, assassination and terrorism.In his convocation lecture, the Executive Secretary of the NCCE, Prof Muhammed Junaid said the event provided an opportunity for closer interaction between the teacher education policy makers, the regulatory agency and the practitioners responsible for implementing the policies.On the issue of quality, he disclosed that although, good structures and facilities, a well articulated curriculum and a conducive teaching and learning environment were necessary, they were not, in themselves, sufficient conditions to ensure that graduates of colleges in the country were well prepared to deliver.He said: 'There are other areas of the teacher education programme which should be of concern. Such areas include teaching and learning, care, support and guidance, which both teachers and students enjoy. The development of the right type of attitude and our commitment to the pursuit of the greatest good are also important.'To ensure balanced development for teacher education programmes in the over 100 Federal, State and private Colleges of Education, Junaid averred that quality control in teacher education 'is at the heart of the functions of the commission.'As part of the decisions reached at the National Council on Education to raise the minimum teaching qualification to the NCE level, he said that the NCCE has so far harmonized the fourth edition of the NCE Minimum Standards, currently being implemented in all the Colleges of Education and other NCE awarding institutions.
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