‘We don’t have enough teachers to teach entrepreneurial skills’

As the first female president of All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), how do you feel?I emerged as the first female national president of ANCOPSS in 2012. The association was established on 3rd of January, 1957, and I am the first female national president of the association. So, it has been a […]

As the first female president of All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), how do you feel?
I emerged as the first female national president of ANCOPSS in 2012. The association was established on 3rd of January, 1957, and I am the first female national president of the association. So, it has been a privilege and opportunity for me. We rotate the position among the zones and when it came to the North-central, I emerged the president. I feel greatly honoured.
What is the purpose of ANCOPSS?
The purpose of ANCOPSS is to raise awareness about matters affecting education at secondary level and advice the government on what needs to be done so that we can have quality secondary education. The association consists of principals of secondary schools and junior secondary schools in Nigeria. We have over 8,000 members across the 36 states and the federal capital territory.
 What are the major problems of teachers in the country?
The major problems of teachers in the country are lack of training and retraining of teachers, over crowdedness in our class rooms, dilapidated structures and lack of motivation to teachers for high productivity. I mean welfare of teachers, remunerations, their moral is very low in the society and to boost the morale of teachers for high productivity, their welfare should be prioritised. You can find in some states teachers’ salaries are not paid for months, this should not be so. You have to motivate teachers for high productivity.
What do have to say about the security challenges in schools, especially as it relates to the abduction of the Chibok girls?
The nightmare of insurgence in Nigeria has been a thing of concern. The incident of Chibok girls who were abducted from their school for over a year now has been a serious matter. Again, the incident in a government technical school in Yobe State where many students were killed on the assembly ground was another. One of the challenges we are facing is that of insecurity in our schools. It is a serious challenge that is why we are appealing to the government to help secure the schools by fencing them and providing us with security personnel who will help check the excesses of insurgents. As a member of the presidential committee on the fact-finding of Chibok girls, one of our terms of reference was to establish if the girls were really abducted. And we established that there was abduction of the girls, about 276, and out of that 57 escaped. The remaining girls, we don’t know their whereabouts.
The issue of drug abuse among students is alarming, what can you say about that?
The issue of drug abuse is one of the social ills we are facing in our schools. The rate at which students take drugs these days is on the increase and that is what is causing students restiveness in our schools. Until we have a law in place in the society on drug abuse and misuse, you will see youths taking drugs. So government should enact a law that can take care of this aspect. And schools have to take the issue of indiscipline seriously. They have to maintain academic leadership in their schools. The essence of education is not limited to academics. It is also about development from the perspective of respect for elders, to parents, respect to the school authority and respect to laws of the country. So it is not all about grades, it should be part of the education that a child should acquire so that at the end of his education, he will be fit to face the society.
Why do Nigerian students fail massively in WAEC and NECO examinations?
The causes of mass failure in these exams are lack of manpower, especially in the newly introduced subjects, and some core subjects like English, mathematics. The issue of drug abuse is also contributing because when students are on drugs, they cannot concentrate on their books. Also, some parents are not alive to their responsibility. So the causes are multifaceted, the teachers, government and parents and even the society, have their own parts to play.  The students also don’t want to read, the culture of reading is now dying among youths. So we have to bring back the reading culture amongst our students.
Are you comfortable with the existing education policies?
Well, I will like to suggest that when government brings out policies on education it should be consistent. Let us be fair in implementing or formulating policies. We should put in place all the components that are needed to make useful and strong education policies. For instance, we have in the new school curriculum an entrepreneurial skill that allow students to learn a trade like fisheries, painting, decorations, dying and auto spraying etc. But we don’t have enough teachers that can teach these subjects. What we do as school heads is to be proactive, for instance, making use of agric teachers to teach fisheries and animal husbandry because we know it is part of agric, but it is not supposed to be so. We need to get specialists in these areas so that they can impact the right knowledge to the students.
If you are asked to set education agenda for the incoming government, what will it be?
What I can say, as far as the incoming government is concerned, are three major things which include training and retraining of teachers, we need to update the knowledge and skills of our teachers, through capacity building, by sponsoring them for seminars and conferences, giving them in-service to go and update their knowledge in schools. Secondly, provision of good infrastructure in our schools-government should rehabilitate the dilapidated structures before providing new ones. Finally, the remunerations and motivation of teachers and welfare should be taken seriously. If government can address these three areas, I think, education at secondary level will move forward in this country.