Govt moves for quality teaching, to train 150,000 teachers

TO enhance the quality of teaching across the country, the Federal Government has pledged to train 150,000 teachers in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT.)

Kicking off the 2012 Capacity Building Workshops for Basic Education Teachers and Managers in Bauchi yesterday, Minister of State for Education, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, stated that the Federal Government considered the training and re-training of teachers as an imperative for educational development.

He said: “Capacity building for teachers and education managers is aimed at ensuring that teachers and education managers, who are directly involved in basic education delivery, are exposed to current trends in education policies, management systems and teaching methodologies.”

According to Wike, to ensure that every state domesticates the training programmes to meet its peculiar needs, the State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) have been involved in the execution of the programmes in their respective states.

The minister noted that the Federal Government was expending N5.55 billion for the 2012 training programme. He stated that between 2009 and 2011, 511, 675 teachers and education managers were trained by the Federal Government at the cost of N16.036 billion.

“Let me remind you that funds expended on capacity building do not require counterpart funding from states. Unlike in the past, the Federal Government will not condone a situation where funds are released to states for the purpose of training of teachers and education managers and they are not utilised”, he said.

The minister directed the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) not to release funds to states that are yet to conduct teachers’ training in the previous year.

He added that independent monitors had been appointed to closely monitor the training nationwide.

In his remarks, Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda, represented by his deputy, Sagir Aminu Saleh, commended the Federal Government for placing premium on teacher capacity development.

He said with improvement in the quality of teachers across the country, the people should expect general improvement in educational standard.

Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Ahmed Modibbo Mohammed, stated that ensuring quality learning and teaching were necessary for the attainment of desired educational goals.