The Federal Government has pledged to ensure the teaching profession attains its rightful place in society, though ongoing policies and measures already being implemented to give the profession a facelift.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who said this at the 2022 World Teachers Day in Abuja on Wednesday, stressed that teachers have a huge role to play in Nigeria’s development and well-being.

Osinbajo said: “No society can grow beyond its educational attainments… One of the  major differences between healthy, well-functioning and prosperous societies and poorer societies is education. We owe so much of our well-being as a nation to our educators at every level.

“Indeed our future as a nation is so heavily dependent on education and our educators. This explains why the Federal government is determined to return teachers, teaching, and the teaching profession to their rightful places.

“To this end we are fully implementing the professional teaching and teacher qualification framework standards that will invariably impact on education outcome and teacher performance at the pre-school, basic, secondary, and tertiary levels.

“We are also developing a verifiable database of teachers in Nigeria, already the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has registered 2, 108, 342 teachers and licensed 1,250,000 teachers.”

The Vice President, who noted that education in Nigeria must respond to the dynamism, speed of development, and massive changes in society, urged teachers to embrace and understand technological skills, critical thinking skills, and adopt modern listening, writing ideation, and imagining skills.

“The truth is, we have a huge opportunity in our hands to leapfrog development in education through technology. But to do this we must continue to invest in expanding our capacity as teachers. We cannot integrate technology successfully, as urgently as we need to, without training and equipping teachers,” Osinbajo stated.

Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, commended teachers for not embarking on strike despite what he described as “unfavorable and intolerable policies”.

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Adamu stated that their decision to embrace the principle of constructive engagement has helped keeps students in schools, saying: “It is universally accepted that the teaching profession is a noble one. Regrettably, over time, the place of teachers in our society has come to be less appreciated, their roles relegated and their welfare ignored.

“Our teachers, especially at the basic and secondary levels have been at the receiving end of some of the most unfavourable and sometimes intolerable policies, practices, and experiences.

“Despite this paradox, I note with an enormous debt of gratitude that the Nigerian Union of Teachers, the umbrella association of all teachers, never called out their members on strike or stopped catering to the educational needs of our children throughout my tenure as Minister of Education. Rather, they chose a policy of constructive engagement with all levels of governments and the larger society to proffer solutions. They even instituted awards for state and non-state actors who demonstrate commitment to the welfare of teachers and the promotion of educational development generally

“It is therefore not surprising that this strategy has proved more productive as we have witnessed a gradual improvement in the last few years. I recall with deep satisfaction the progress that has been recorded since President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled a comprehensive policy to redress, reposition and refocus the teaching profession in Nigeria exactly two years ago at this same venue. The scorecard is heart-warming but I am the first to acknowledge that there is still a long road to travel before we reach our desired destination.”

To further restore the practice of attracting and retaining the best brains in the teaching profession, Adamu noted that amongst other packages, “biological children of teachers can now attend their respective schools at no cost as an additional incentive for committed service and in appreciation of the sacrificial spirit that propels it.

“The National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission has completed work on the reviewed remuneration package for teachers in basic and secondary schools including provisions for rural posting allowance, science teachers’ allowance, and peculiar allowance. Implementation is awaiting conclusion of consultations with state governments and the National Assembly.

“We have repositioned the curriculum and introduced history and religious knowledge as stand-alone subjects. We are also working with professional associations and religious bodies including the Nigerian Historical Society to address the shortage of teachers in specialised subjects.

“We have repositioned our intervention agencies and established the National Senior Secondary Education Commission to fill the gap in that segment of our education tree. The amendment of the enabling law is at final stages in the National Assembly.

“After several failed attempts in the past, we have formulated a National Language Policy that will ensure the progressive and consistent development of Nigerian languages and prevent their extinction. A national launch is planned before the end of the Administration.”

The Star