•All critical stakeholders could do more to encourage the teaching profession

In societies that value quality education, high premium is placed on teachers who are well-remunerated. In Nigeria, the reverse is the case. Today, many take to teaching for want of anything else to do. Unlike in the past, teaching is now a job of last resort for most people. Teachers are poorly paid and hardly regarded in the society. Yet these are people we expect to shape the future of the nation. As Nigeria therefore joins other countries to mark the 2023 World Teachers’ Day, it is important for authorities at all levels and other critical stakeholders to appreciate the sacrifices of teachers.

Held annually on 5th October since 1994, the aim of the World Teachers’ Day is to celebrate all teachers around the globe. It commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the 1996 International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNESCO joint recommendation “which sets benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers, and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions.” According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), it is a day not only to celebrate how teachers are transforming education “but also to reflect on the support they need to fully deploy their talent and vocation, and to rethink the way ahead for the profession globally.”

Two years ago, apparently to encourage Nigerians to take up career in teaching, the federal government announced that those studying education in public universities would be paid N75,000 stipends every semester. Similarly, colleges of education students were also billed to receive N50,000 per semester. Not surprisingly, the promise was never fulfilled even when teachers need all the encouragement that they can get to take their work seriously. The National Association of Parents-Teachers Association (NAPTAN) had rejected the offer outright, arguing that the amount to the students is higher than the minimum wage which many states have not been able to implement. “Is the federal government aware that the number of students studying education-related courses is in multiple thousands?”, asked NAPTAN publicity secretary, Ekundayo Ademola. “Also, after being paid in school, do we have job placements waiting for them?”

The same cynicism greeted the earlier special salary package and other pecks for teachers, including the increase of their years of service from 35 to 40, and retirement age from 60 to 65 years. While the rationale of attracting quality teachers to the classrooms is good, the federal government did not plan where the funds to implement the programme would come from. The states and local governments that own these schools were not even consulted before such a major policy decision was announced. The states have been agitating for a review of the revenue allocation formula to pick up their mounting bills. Besides, we considered the elongation of service year from 60 to 65 years in the face of mass graduate unemployment of teachers and others somehow misplaced.

At the 2022 National Delegates Conference of the Nigeria Union of Teachers last year, the Chief Executive of Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Josiah Ajiboye, revealed that repeated attacks on schools by terror affiliates have claimed the lives of more than 2,295 teachers while about 19,000 others were displaced between 2009 and 2022.

This development has created classrooms without teachers in many northern states. Since education is on the concurrent list, there is an urgent need for the federal government and the 36 states to come together on how to create a safe space for teachers.

As we join the rest of the world today to celebrate our teachers, we must understand that any nation that discounts human capital formation is courting a big disaster for itself.

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