Kaduna – The National Teachers Institute (NTI) has urged the Federal Government to equip non-education graduates with basic teaching skills during the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation course.
The Director-General of the institute, Dr Ladan Sharehu, made the call at the Nigerian Academy of Teachers’ 30th annual congress in Kaduna on Wednesday.
Sharehu said that over 80 per cent of corps members were being posted to schools as teachers after their orientation course.
“It has become necessary to find a way of inculcating in these graduates’ basic teaching methodology skills for effective teaching and learning in Nigerian schools,’’ he said.
He noted that after the service year, a significant number of the graduates were employed into private or public schools as teachers.
“A certificate programme on teaching methodology for non- education graduate during orientation programme has therefore become imperative to ensure quality teaching in our schools,’’ he said.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
The NTI director general said the institute had been a strong advocate in this direction and had designed a programme in that respect.
Sharehu further stressed the need for Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD) for teachers in 21st century.
He added that if Nigeria must attain the status of a developed country, then the training and retraining of teachers must be a priority for all levels of government and proprietors of private schools.
“The 21st century world is knowledge-based economy; therefore, there is an obvious need for continuing refresher courses for teachers at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education.
“There is the need for policy makers, educationists, teachers and relevant stakeholders to relentlessly work toward legislating on mandatory continuing professional development training for teachers,’’ he said.
Sharehu commended Prof. Ango Abdullahi, the Emir of Birning Gwari, Malam Zubairu Mai-Gwari, and Mrs Rabi Tenebe, who were awarded with Honorary Fellowship by the academy. (NAN)