*Barack Obama (right), America's president-elect, sitting in front of a thatched house during a visit to Africa. Many rural areas in Africa where the greater number of children live have thatched houses.Banji’s Lamentation 2
By Azubike Aliche
On Wednesday, November 5, 2008, Banji Adisa, on the pages of Nigeria’s The Guardian newspaper, wrote a second lamentation. This time, the title of the piece was “A Dangerous Signal from Cross River (State).” Cross River State is one of Nigeria’s 36 states. He was lamenting about two specific actions that the Cross River State government purportedly took, which Banji believed were inimical to the development of the education sector in the state and Nigeria. Banji groused over a report that the Cross River State government had barred holders of the National Certificate of Education (NCE) from teaching in secondary (high) schools. He also quarreled about a second report that the same state government had banned colleges in the state from offering admission to holders of high school diplomas issued by the National Examinations Council, NECO.
The National Examinations Council was set up in the last 10 years when I had already left Nigeria to conduct high school leaving examinations. It was supposed to replace the West African Examinations Council, which has been doing the job for four West African countries, including Nigeria. However, the NECO appears to be dogged by credibility problems, to the extent that its certificates still suffer a crisis of confidence. We shall not dwell much on this or on Banji’s opinion of the action of the Cross River State government on NECO certificates. On its part, the National Certificate of Education is awarded after three years of post-primary education study at an accredited tertiary education institution. I obtained the NCE certificate in 1985 from the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Yaba, with a major in accounting education. So, I consider myself qualified to comment on what can and should be done with the NCE.
It is important to state, at this juncture, that Professor Offiong Offiong, the commissioner for education in Cross River State, did join issues with Banji on his position on the policies of the state government towards NCE and NECO certificate holders. On Wednesday, November 26, The Guardian published a rejoinder from Offiong, entitled “Education in Cross River State.” In that piece, the commissioner wrote, among others, that: “The issue of making NCE a minimum qualification for teaching in the school system in Nigeria is a national education policy. The policy stipulates that the minimum graduation for teaching in the primary school is the National Certificate on Education (NCE). It is, therefore, surprising that there should be much ado about this.”
Indeed, Nigeria’s National Policy on Education, enunciated in 1997, made the NCE the minimum qualification for teaching in Nigeria’s primary schools. On its face value, therefore, the Cross River State government is right to seek to enforce that policy and should be commended, not criticized. The only problem with implementing the policy now is that many schools (including secondary schools), particularly in rural areas, lack qualified teachers. In some cases, even trained teachers are unemployed, as governments plead lack of money to employ more teachers. In such an environment, it makes sense for the Cross River State government to embark on an accelerated training and employment of teachers before it can successfully bar NCE holders from teaching in secondary schools. At the primary school level, insufficient number of qualified teachers is said to be hindering the implementation of the universal basic education program in Nigeria. In 2006, for example, of the 534, 824 teachers in the school system, 255,889 were said to be unqualified. To be considered unqualified, a teacher would not have attained the Grade Two Teacher’s Certificate, which is currently considered the minimum qualification, pending the implementation of the 1997 national policy. I obtained the Grade Two teachers certification in 1980 after attending the Macgregor Teachers College, Afikpo. Apart from inadequate number of teachers, Nigeria’s primary schools need 7,638,291 student’s furniture, 33,727 libraries and 809,444 toilets.
The problem of unqualified teachers in Nigeria’s school system is even more acute in pre-primary education, in which the government does not invest. Many of the people employed in pre-primary schools, by private proprietors, are neither trained to teach nor do they know how to handle or relate to children. The danger is that unqualified teachers may end up making the children under their care lose interest in education, due to poor presentation of learning experiences to the kids. It takes a trained and motivated teacher to create a stimulating environment for learning for children. To make things worse, there’s hardly any teacher training institution at any level that has elaborate program for the training of specialist teachers in early childhood education. This is due, in part, to the fact that there’s hardly demand for such teachers, as neither the federal nor state governments have established any nursery or pre-primary schools where graduates of such programs can be employed. It is important to state that private proprietors who dominate the provision of early childhood education in Nigeria are, usually, not able to pay such specialist teachers and still make sufficient profit. So, work in private pre-primary schools will have no attraction for such specialist teachers, because of low wages and job insecurity prevalent in private nursery schools. And where the private proprietors are able to employ qualified teachers and remunerate them well, the school fees charged is usually beyond the reach of poor children, particularly those in rural areas!
It is interesting to note that, for the year 2004, Nigeria had a projected 25,748,536 children under the age of six, a larger percentage of which needs early childhood education. For these, the importance of the existence of professionally qualified and dedicated teachers cannot be overemphasized. So also is the existence of instructional materials, teaching aides and a conducive learning environment. We, at Power Education Foundation, are committed to working to ensure that Africa’s children have access to these, as well as basic health and nutrition services. Please, visit our website at www.powereducationfoundation.com to see what we are doing and how your small donation can help create educational opportunities for Africa’s children.
Quote of the Week!
“The ultimate aim in the provision of early childhood care and development is to provide care for the child while the parents are at work and to prepare the child for further education. The Nigerian child suffers deprivation from lack of social services in terms of poor nutrition, health care and access to safe water, sanitation and protection. Data show that care and support received by a child in terms of good health, nutrition, and psycho-social care and protection are crucial in the formation and development of intelligence, personality and social behavior.”
- Dr. Robert Limlim, UNICEF official in Nigeria, published in the Guardian newspaper of Friday, October 12, 2007.
By Azubike Aliche
On Wednesday, November 5, 2008, Banji Adisa, on the pages of Nigeria’s The Guardian newspaper, wrote a second lamentation. This time, the title of the piece was “A Dangerous Signal from Cross River (State).” Cross River State is one of Nigeria’s 36 states. He was lamenting about two specific actions that the Cross River State government purportedly took, which Banji believed were inimical to the development of the education sector in the state and Nigeria. Banji groused over a report that the Cross River State government had barred holders of the National Certificate of Education (NCE) from teaching in secondary (high) schools. He also quarreled about a second report that the same state government had banned colleges in the state from offering admission to holders of high school diplomas issued by the National Examinations Council, NECO.
The National Examinations Council was set up in the last 10 years when I had already left Nigeria to conduct high school leaving examinations. It was supposed to replace the West African Examinations Council, which has been doing the job for four West African countries, including Nigeria. However, the NECO appears to be dogged by credibility problems, to the extent that its certificates still suffer a crisis of confidence. We shall not dwell much on this or on Banji’s opinion of the action of the Cross River State government on NECO certificates. On its part, the National Certificate of Education is awarded after three years of post-primary education study at an accredited tertiary education institution. I obtained the NCE certificate in 1985 from the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Yaba, with a major in accounting education. So, I consider myself qualified to comment on what can and should be done with the NCE.
It is important to state, at this juncture, that Professor Offiong Offiong, the commissioner for education in Cross River State, did join issues with Banji on his position on the policies of the state government towards NCE and NECO certificate holders. On Wednesday, November 26, The Guardian published a rejoinder from Offiong, entitled “Education in Cross River State.” In that piece, the commissioner wrote, among others, that: “The issue of making NCE a minimum qualification for teaching in the school system in Nigeria is a national education policy. The policy stipulates that the minimum graduation for teaching in the primary school is the National Certificate on Education (NCE). It is, therefore, surprising that there should be much ado about this.”
Indeed, Nigeria’s National Policy on Education, enunciated in 1997, made the NCE the minimum qualification for teaching in Nigeria’s primary schools. On its face value, therefore, the Cross River State government is right to seek to enforce that policy and should be commended, not criticized. The only problem with implementing the policy now is that many schools (including secondary schools), particularly in rural areas, lack qualified teachers. In some cases, even trained teachers are unemployed, as governments plead lack of money to employ more teachers. In such an environment, it makes sense for the Cross River State government to embark on an accelerated training and employment of teachers before it can successfully bar NCE holders from teaching in secondary schools. At the primary school level, insufficient number of qualified teachers is said to be hindering the implementation of the universal basic education program in Nigeria. In 2006, for example, of the 534, 824 teachers in the school system, 255,889 were said to be unqualified. To be considered unqualified, a teacher would not have attained the Grade Two Teacher’s Certificate, which is currently considered the minimum qualification, pending the implementation of the 1997 national policy. I obtained the Grade Two teachers certification in 1980 after attending the Macgregor Teachers College, Afikpo. Apart from inadequate number of teachers, Nigeria’s primary schools need 7,638,291 student’s furniture, 33,727 libraries and 809,444 toilets.
The problem of unqualified teachers in Nigeria’s school system is even more acute in pre-primary education, in which the government does not invest. Many of the people employed in pre-primary schools, by private proprietors, are neither trained to teach nor do they know how to handle or relate to children. The danger is that unqualified teachers may end up making the children under their care lose interest in education, due to poor presentation of learning experiences to the kids. It takes a trained and motivated teacher to create a stimulating environment for learning for children. To make things worse, there’s hardly any teacher training institution at any level that has elaborate program for the training of specialist teachers in early childhood education. This is due, in part, to the fact that there’s hardly demand for such teachers, as neither the federal nor state governments have established any nursery or pre-primary schools where graduates of such programs can be employed. It is important to state that private proprietors who dominate the provision of early childhood education in Nigeria are, usually, not able to pay such specialist teachers and still make sufficient profit. So, work in private pre-primary schools will have no attraction for such specialist teachers, because of low wages and job insecurity prevalent in private nursery schools. And where the private proprietors are able to employ qualified teachers and remunerate them well, the school fees charged is usually beyond the reach of poor children, particularly those in rural areas!
It is interesting to note that, for the year 2004, Nigeria had a projected 25,748,536 children under the age of six, a larger percentage of which needs early childhood education. For these, the importance of the existence of professionally qualified and dedicated teachers cannot be overemphasized. So also is the existence of instructional materials, teaching aides and a conducive learning environment. We, at Power Education Foundation, are committed to working to ensure that Africa’s children have access to these, as well as basic health and nutrition services. Please, visit our website at www.powereducationfoundation.com to see what we are doing and how your small donation can help create educational opportunities for Africa’s children.
Quote of the Week!
“The ultimate aim in the provision of early childhood care and development is to provide care for the child while the parents are at work and to prepare the child for further education. The Nigerian child suffers deprivation from lack of social services in terms of poor nutrition, health care and access to safe water, sanitation and protection. Data show that care and support received by a child in terms of good health, nutrition, and psycho-social care and protection are crucial in the formation and development of intelligence, personality and social behavior.”
- Dr. Robert Limlim, UNICEF official in Nigeria, published in the Guardian newspaper of Friday, October 12, 2007.
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