Bring back teacher training colleges

In its bid to improve upon the quality of education and save the sector from the quagmire that has bedeviled it over the years, the federal government has declared its willingness to re-introduce the abolished Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) in the country. This was disclosed recently by the minister of education Mallam Adamu Adamu at […]

In its bid to improve upon the quality of education and save the sector from the quagmire that has bedeviled it over the years, the federal government has declared its willingness to re-introduce the abolished Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) in the country. This was disclosed recently by the minister of education Mallam Adamu Adamu at the inauguration of the Kano State Education Promotion Committee in Kano. He said the President Buhari-led administration was committed to the revitalization of the education sector.
The minister who was represented at the occasion by his Senior Special Adviser (SSA) Dr Abdullahi Baffa Bichi stated that arrangements had reached advanced stage for the review of the education curriculum; adding that government would soon introduce special scholarships to enable those interested in teaching to further their education. The scholarship is aimed at improving the skills of teachers who are the backbones of quality education.
Speaking at the occasion, the Kano state governor Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje announced that the Education Promotion Committees of the 44 LGAs in the state have been given N440m to be used for the procurement of teaching facilities; with a view to adding value and guaranteeing quality assurance within the system in the state.
It would be recalled that the federal government in 1998 phased out Teachers’ Grade Two (TC II) Certificate and replaced it with the Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) as the minimum teaching qualification in Nigeria. The very poor quality of primary school graduates and of their teachers was the main reason advanced then by government for abolishing teachers’ colleges. Unfortunately, this policy has, after 18 years of implementation, failed to remedy the situation it was meant for.
Some primary school pupils in class six, for instance, cannot correctly write or even read their names. The poor quality of primary school graduates has generally failed to improve because they are being taught by wrong teachers; holders of NCE. This justifies the assertion by some educationists that the caste of teachers needed in primary schools is not those who possess NCE but TC II holders.
The renowned educationist, Professor Adamu Baike, described the scrapping of TTCs in the country as not only premature but also responsible for the obstinate woes that have since then continued to confront the system. Besides failing to actually professionalize teaching, the hasty scrapping of the TC II has kept us bickering over minimum teaching qualification several years after the establishment of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).
The scrapping of TTCs for the purpose of raising minimum teaching qualification from TC II to NCE was actually taken in error because as it evidently compounded the sector’s challenges at the basic level of the system. The training of NCE holders is actually not compatible with what is expected of primary school teachers. While teachers’ colleges train their graduates to teach nearly all subjects at the primary school level, colleges of education prepare teachers in only two subject areas. The situation was further worsened by the ill-timing of the policy which was introduced at a time when there were no enough NCE holders to even go round existing secondary schools.
In order to properly address the crisis at the basic level of education, there is need to bring back the TTCs. Beyond that too, government should acknowledge that teachers’ welfare is central to sustaining the interest of trained and qualified TC II teachers on the job. The profession must therefore be made attractive. This will not only appeal to serving teachers but shall equally charm potential teachers in TTCs to want to remain in the profession after training. The higher the number of trained and qualified teachers retained on the job, the less number of quack teachers that would be found in teaching.
 If the primary which is basic foundation of education is rickety, the secondary and tertiary levels of the system are likely to be worse. Bringing back TTCs to get the right teachers to teach in primary schools would, therefore, be a wise decision.