transforming teacher education for global competitiveness

TRANSFORMING TEACHER EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT FOR

GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS

The Jubilee Lecture presented at occasion of the

Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Alvan Ikoku

Federal College of Education (AIFCE), Owerri, at the

AIFCE College Auditorium on the 3rd of December 2013

By

Godswill Obioma fman fcon fnae fstan fnatt fipma (UK)

Professor of Mathematics Education and Evaluation

Executive Secretary, Nigerian Educational Research

and Development Council (NERDC)

1

TRANSFORMING TEACHER EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT FOR

GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS

PREAMBLE

I am delighted and highly honoured to be invited to

deliver this Jubilee Lecture on the occasion of the

Golden Jubilee celebration of this unique and great

institution, the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of

Education (AIFCE), Owerri. I wish to thank the

organisers for giving me the liberty to dwell on a

topic that I consider relevant to the developments in

the profession nationally and globally. I have

therefore elected to share my little ideas on

‘Transforming Teacher Education and Development for Global

competitiveness’

This topic and the ensuing discussion which I hope

will amplify the need to refocus and reposition

teacher education programmes in Nigeria in order to

address the challenges of globalisation and its

2

attendant effects on education, can be considered

very auspicious especially at this time in our

national history when the entire Nigerian education

system is undergoing far reaching systematic reforms.

I have elected to dwell on this issue for two major

reasons. First, Nigeria has set for herself Vision 20-

2020 whose ideals are aimed at making her ‘one of the

largest economies in the world, able to consolidate its leadership

role in Africa and establish itself as a significant player in the

global economic and political arena’. Thus, education having

been identified as an instrument per excellence for

economic and social reconstruction, and with teachers

playing a fundamental role in the education delivery

process, professionals and teacher educators must

seek strategies to reconstruct the paradigm for

teacher education and development through appropriate

curriculum change. Secondly as we strive to meet

local needs, our teachers so produced must meet

minimum global bench marks and best practices. Thus

any curriculum change process should take account of

what happens in other developed climes.

Before I proceed with the core business, I wish to

make two small remarks. First, I recall with

3

nostalgia how my journey into this College started on

the 12th of January 1973. I was one of the lucky

candidates, at just 19 years of age, that had passed

the entrance examination into the prestigious

Advanced Teachers Training College (ATTC) Owerri, ,

to study Mathematics and Physics (a rare feat I must

admit in those days as some of my secondary school

teachers were not successful in that entrance

examinations!). I was to be deprived by abject

penury, occasioned by the after effects of the civil

war, as only ten Nigerian shillings for transport and

other sundry but essential requirements stood between

me and my cherished ATTC. My dear mother, though not

educated but realising the importance of education

had to pay the sacrifice by selling her only

‘george’ wrapper that survived the civil war for me

to make up for this needed money. Dear Mama, thank

you very much. May God continue to keep you to be

reaping the fruits of that great sacrifice! Perhaps,

if I had not come to ATTC I will have returned to my

village and be consumed hopelessly in abject poverty.

I will humbly say with deep modesty that I virtually

ran through ATTC (which was renamed Alvan Ikoku

College of Education---AICE, before I graduated in

4

June 1975) coming out tops of not only my class and

course but the entire College and scoring

distinctions in Mathematics, Physics and Education.

Please permit me to pay tributes to some of my great

and committed teachers by remembering them: Adumanu

and Hymes of UNESCO (Mathematics), Eze and Nwokedi

(Physics), Ahumibe (Philosophy), Madubuike

(Psychology), Amalaha (History of Education), Ukeje,

our Provost (who also spared time to teach us

Educational Planning and Administration), Oguike

(Curriculum), later the beautiful and ageless Mrs Ndu

(Curriculum and Methods). The list is indeed

inexhaustible!

AICE passed through me and I passed through her. For,

I played football and tennis, was in the famous

Atiliogwu Dance Group, sang in the choir of the

Protestant Chapel and in the process learnt how to

play the old piano, was in the editorial board of the

campus magazine (a weekly whose aim was to correct

any ills perverting the campus through scourging

cartoons), a member of the Sophist Club, was in the

Drama Group. There were only three hostels A and B

(for males) and C (for females also called Akata for

whatever reason I cannot remember now). You can’t

5

believe that I also found time to hang around Akata!

In short my AICE was fun but we studied very hard in

order to excel. The College turned out the best of

bests of what was classified as ‘well qualified but

non graduate teachers’. I recall that some of the NCE

graduates that proceeded to the United States for

further studies were granted waivers as they were

allowed to get on straight to the Masters degree

programme. University of Nigeria, Nsukka admitted us

(just the eleven of us for experimental purposes)

into the first ever 2-year direct entry programme for

the Bachelors degree! We did not disappoint. I should

say with humility that I again came out tops in my

course and in the process won the academic prize in

Mathematics/Education in the Faculty of Education in

June 1979. I also came out tops in the Masters degree

programme in the Faculty of Education in March 1982

and capped it by winning the Vice-Chancellor’s

academic prize for the best PhD dissertation in July

1985! I must state that I am indeed proud to be an

alumnus of this great Institution as she had laid the

foundations for my future development in life.

Secondly, I wish to bring the good tidings and

felicitations from the Nigerian Educational Research

6

and Development Council (NERDC), Abuja, to you all.

As you already might have known, NERDC has, since

2005 under my leadership as Executive Secretary and

with the active support of both my Management and

Governing Board, strived to bring to the front burner

the course of Research and Development in Education

through her statutory responsibilities of:

Curriculum development at all education levels;

Book development for public use as well in the

specific context of creating the environment for

book production;

Language development as it relates to education

delivery and for public transaction; and

Research in education that will drive public

policies in the sector.

This is besides other responsibilities given to

Council by the supervising Federal Ministry of

Education and the National Council on Education

especially as they relate to the review of the

National Policy on Education. I also currently chair

the Committee for the Implementation of the Roadmap

for the Development of the Nigerian Education (the 4-

Year Strategic Plan 2011-2015)

7

Consequently, NERDC being classified among the family

of allied tertiary educational institutions and

research institutes shares with you the ideals of

academic pursuit, acquisition of knowledge property

and the functional application of same for public

good. In this regard the Council has pursued with

vigour the process of curriculum revolution (with

collateral delivery platforms in form of Teachers

Handbook and Teachers Guides for Curriculum

Implementation) so as to make our school graduates

globally competitive and functionally engaging

themselves in their world of work. The renewed

curriculum is geared towards preparing learners for

the acquisition of higher knowledge and for the

sustenance of high ethical standards. We have so far

also been able to gain some relative degree of

renewal of and stability in pre-tertiary education

curriculum. The implementation of the 9-year Basic

Education Curriculum (BEC) commenced in September

2008 in primary 1 and Junior Secondary School 1 with

the first batch graduating from the Basic Education

Certificate Examinations (BECE) graduating in June

2011. The new 3-year Senior Secondary Education

Curriculum (SSEC) which incorporated 34

8

trade/entrepreneurship subjects took off in September

2011. The first batch of the senior secondary school

students are expected to graduate in June 2014.

These curriculum reforms, as we shall see later, have

far reaching implications for teacher education and

development.

In order to galvanise corresponding curriculum

reforms in tertiary education beginning with teacher

education programme, NERDC organised a roundtable of

major stakeholders in 2010 which included amongst

others Provosts of Colleges of Education to discuss

the process of curriculum renewal at that level. A

recurring issue at that Roundtable was how teacher

education programmes of Universities, Colleges of

Education and Polytechnics would respond to these

curriculum changes at the pre-tertiary education

level.

With those two remarks I will invite you to this

discussion in which we shall consider the Context with

regard to the impact of globalisation on developing

economies and Nigeria’s home grown response to the

on-going global reforms and in the process identify

the challenges to teacher education and development

in the global reform process. We shall then briefly9

Review the Present Status of Teacher Education and Development

in Nigeria. We shall not regurgitate morbid historical

antecedents underlying teacher education and

development in Nigeria as these are well known facts,

rather we shall look at the gaps and missed

opportunies. We will then consider Reforms in the

Curriculum of Pre-tertiary Education Curriculum that have

either taken place or have been planned for

implementation. This is with a view to providing the

necessary foundation for reconstructing the

philosophy and the production processes required for

preparing and sustaining today’s and future class

room teachers that are hoped to meet local needs and

for global competiveness. Some on-going Public Policy

Reforms in Teacher Education and Development will be

examined with a view to evaluating their

appropriateness, implementabilty and level of

implementation. We shall conclude by identifying

lessons gained and Opportunies for the Improvement of

Teacher Education and Development in Nigeria.

THE CONTEXT

Globalization is not merely an economic phenomenon;

it is multidimensional, albeit better understood

starting with its economic dimension. It affects

10

every aspect of our lives, politics, education,

trade, leisure, etc. Globalization is the key factor

driving the changes we witness and experience today.

Two underlying forces, technological change and the

removal of obstacles to world trade and movement of

human capital drive globalization. There exists a

compelling natural law that forces human societies to

exchange goods and services in order to survive.

Human societies only have discretion in determining

what is to be exchanged. Rooted in this natural law,

globalization (together with rapidly changing

technologies) have simply made time and space to

shrink so dramatically that virtually everything now

seems to manifest on a real time dimension to propel

international trade and finance in a global economy.

A global economy is an economy whose core activities

work as a unit on a planetary scale. Global economy

is also dynamic and flexible, thus allowing the

overall system to link up everything that is valuable

according to dominant values and interests; at the

same time, disconnecting everything that is not

valuable, or becomes devalued. Enacted by innovation,

competition, and constant restructuring, and

constituted in the powerful medium of new Information

11

and Communication Technologies (ICT), the world’s

global economy is characterized by a simultaneous

capacity to include and exclude people, territories

and activities. For example, financial markets are

interconnected worldwide, such that savings and

investments in all countries, even if most of them

are not globally invested, depend on one another for

their evolution, performance and behaviour. Thus

globalization encourages rapid growth and in-flux of

trade, human capital and services, within and between

countries of the world; with emerging technologies

playing a crucial role in the integration of the

world’s economic and social activities.

The global economy is relatively new. The

technological infrastructure required for it to

function (telecommunications, information systems,

electronic-based manufacturing and processing,

information sharing networks, micro-chips-based

international business services, etc.) came into

existence only in the last two decades or so.

However, technological change, which increases

overall productivity, is the foundation for growth in

a global economy. The spate of development of

emergent technologies in the last two decades,

12

particularly information and communication

technologies (ICT) is phenomenal and revolutionary;

influencing all aspects of the processes, which

underpin the functioning of modern society.

Advancements in ICT and emerging technologies have

enabled the manufacturing of completely new types of

product and the introduction of new production

technologies. The internationalization of services is

a new and growing phenomenon in the global economy.

Developments in ICT have also made it possible for an

increasing volume of services to be produced at a

distance from where they are actually used. Without

doubt, ICT have impacted greatly on the world’s

economy, decreasing the cost of capital, product and

production factor movement, through the reduction of

geographical distance.

Globalization and emerging technologies are

fundamentally transforming every society (developing

and developed societies alike) by creating a

knowledge economy that influences the way people live

and interact with one another. Perhaps, the most

significant impacts of globalization that affect the

developing countries the most is the associated

pressures to adapt to changing technologies, gain

13

access to modern technology, wider markets and

foreign capital. Today, multinational corporations,

in manufacturing, services, and finance, with their

ancillary networks of small and medium businesses,

constitute the core of the world economy. In Nigeria

for instance, the rapid spread and use of information

communication technologies (ICT) such as mobile

phones and the Internet has transformed our lives and

economy in an unprecedented manner. Many Nigerians

are taking advantage of emerging technologies to form

part of the global production networks for better

productivity.

It is important to note that globalization does not

eliminate the nation state, but fundamentally

redefines its role and affects its operation. The

real issue today is not the debate about whether

globalization is real or not, or whether it is

desirable or not, but how the emerging technologies

can be harnessed and better channelled to promote

more growth, more trade, greater modernization and

better living standards of citizens. We must not also

confuse “globalization” and its attendant “emerging

technologies” to imply the local production of

technology hardware. Many developing countries like

14

India, Singapore and Malaysia have embraced the

emerging technologies, particularly information and

communication technology, and are experiencing

unprecedented economic growth as a result of this. On

the other hand, sub-Saharan Africa nations are slow

in their integration into the global economy and are

thus being left behind. On average, the economies of

nations in the sub-region have contracted; poverty

has increased, and education levels have risen less

rapidly than in the more globalized countries. A

World Bank report indicates that poverty has in fact

doubled in Nigeria in the last 20 years. Nigeria

despite the abundant human and natural resources with

which the country is endowed, is currently rated

among the lowest ten in the world on the human

development index. The challenges facing the Nigerian

nation are complex and require good visioning and

strategic planning, which correctly identifies the

viable developmental paths and the resolve to

translate the strategic plan into fruitful and

efficacious actions. It should be noted however at

this point that the present democratic leadership

within the context of Transformation Agenda has taken

the lead by setting strategic goals, time lines and resources for

15

implementing and attaining these goals. Providing quality

education is at the core of one the strategic goals.

Globalization and emerging technologies are

fundamentally transforming every society. Countries

the world over are redefining their priorities in

order to compete effectively and profit maximally

from the emerging global village. Apparently, there

is a shift from industrialization to knowledge and

information technological driven development and

advancement, with significant impact on education and

the emergence of global goals and protocols. Since

curriculum prepares learners for a living and life in

their own societies and for competition in the global

economy, it is only logical that school curriculum

contents and processes should be dynamic enough to

adapt to the new socio-economic, political,

scientific and technological realities of times.

In Nigeria, education has been identified as the

strategic instrument for addressing present and

future challenges of globalization and impact of

knowledge economy. However, in adapting to continual

technological, social and political changes of the

country and the world, educational programmes are

16

expected to unleash the powerful forces of emerging

technologies to produce competent graduates who would

not only meet our local needs in the job market, but

can cross borders to compete with the best in the

world.

The global adoption of international development

goals (IDG), prominent among which are the goals of

Education for All (EFA) and Millennium Development

Goals (MDG), has led to global reforms in the social

and economic context in the last two decades or so.

Thus, nations are challenged to evolve strategic

responses for the attainment of these IDG’s as well

as the meeting of country specific development

targets within the Nigerian context. Thus in 2004,

Nigeria adopted the National Economic Empowerment and

Development Strategy (NEEDS) as a home-grown response to

these global reforms in the social and economic

context. The four cardinal points of NEEDS which

can be summarized as follows:

Wealth creation;

Employment generation;

Poverty reduction; and

Value re-orientation;17

recognize education as playing a fundamental role in

empowering the people to attain these cardinal

points. Education, which is a fundamental driver of

human capital development, is globally recognized as

an instrument per excellence for social and economic

reconstruction. The core question is: How can reforms in

teacher education and development drive the production of

appropriate human capital which itself is very critical to social and

economic development in the context of global competitiveness?

Successive administrations beyond 2004 have provided

policy thrusts which tended to build on the strengths

of NEEDS. The 7-Point Agenda and the Vision 20:2020 are

clear demonstrations of policy focus in this

direction. The on-going Transformation Agenda of the

present administration captures education as a

fundamental tool. In all, education is prominently

recognized as playing some fundamental role in these

on-going social and economic reforms. Again the key issue

is whether related public policy driven reforms have brought about

or can bring about any significant improvement on teacher

education and development?. What in fact can be done to further

improve the profession?

Seeking answers to the two key questions raised above

have become even more critical at this stage as18

discussions at the global arena have shifted away

from how nations have attained the goals of EFA and

MDG’s to the issues of the post 2015 Development Agenda

in the context of education. The global thrust beyond 2015

is that in the context of education emphasis should

be laid on quality not just access and on learning to live

together. Thus quality learning that focus on global

ideals while also reflecting the priorities of

nations and regions should take center stage. These

discussions were brought to the front burner at the

Expert Meeting organised by the UNESCO Bureau for

Education (IBE) in September 2013 in Geneva as well

as the just concluded UNESCO Biennial Conference in

Education in Paris in November 2013. In all of these

discussions the issue of producing quality teachers

was succinctly underscored. I wish to state that I

participated at those two fora.

A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE PRESENT STATUS OF TEACHER

EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Prior to 1996 the minimum qualification for primary

school teaching was the Grade 2 Teachers Certificate

(TC II). Although this was the case yet there was a

preponderance of school teachers with primary school

leaving certificates, ‘secondarians’ (school19

certificate holders), secondary school attempted),

failed Grade Two (awaiting upgrading by the NTI).

This situation has tended to persist to date in some

states especially in the northern part of the

country.

It will be recalled that there was a hurried

introduction of the 5-year post primary training and

one-year post secondary education crash programme to

produce teachers for the UPE programme which was

introduced in 1976. In course of time these teachers

became non-functional and ineffective to cope with

emerging demands of primary education in terms of

contents and delivery processes. Thus with the

revision of the National Policy on Education (NPE) in

1981 Government stipulated new minimum qualification

for primary school teachers as the National

Certificate of Education (NCE) in the year 1996 and

consequently set a 3-year time line for the phasing

out of Grade 2 teacher training colleges and Grade 2

Certificate holders. This represented a major reform

in teacher education programme.

However as noble as this policy thrust was, it was

fraught with a number of implementation gaps,

prominent among which were:20

Many states especially in the north complained

that they could not meet the time line for

phasing out the old regime. That led to

continuous shifts in the time lines. Where-as

most southern states have recorded remarkable

achievements in the implementation of the policy,

there are still a preponderance of holders of

Grade 2 Certificate in some northern states till

date.

The Colleges of Education that produced pre-

service NCE teachers did not follow-up promptly

in reviewing their programmes and curricula to

produce teachers adequately and functionally

prepared to cope with the demands of primary

school teaching to the extent that to date there

are calls by some stakeholders including high

level policy makers for a return to the old Grade

2 teacher training colleges!

Although the National Teachers Institute as part

of its statutory responsibilities upgrades

serving primary school teachers to NCE holders,

the post training performance of such teachers

have continuously come under criticisms in terms

of quality out-put.

21

Presently in primary schools, teachers are assigned

to teach individual classes. Thus a classroom teacher

is expected to cope with 11-12 subjects. In the old

post TC II training arrangement, pre-service teachers

were taught almost all the primary school subjects

(sub divided into the so called Federal and State

papers) and the pedagogy mainly Principles and

Practice of Education. They were also expected to

satisfy the minimum conditions stipulated for success

during Teaching Practice. That mode of preparation

was thought to be deficient when weighed against the

expectations and demands of modern knowledge and

learning. That was the core reason the minimum

standards for primary school teaching were raised to

NCE essentially to produce some sort of specialist

teachers for the primary school.

Unfortunately the development of corresponding

programmes for the preparation of NCE holders for

primary school teaching failed to take account of

this challenge. The new subject matter introduced

then in the main was Primary Education Studies which

pre-service teachers opting for NCE (primary) elected

to take. There were some content areas required for

the NCE (primary) option; however on graduation

22

qualifying teachers are deployed to teach individual

classes and all subjects as was obtainable in the old

system. This practice has persisted to date thus

producing the so called NCE holders who cannot cope

with demands of primary school teaching. These

factors are compounded by the fact that pre-service

teachers elect to go into teacher training colleges

not as a matter of calling but as last resort and

lack of an acceptable alternative.

Although the NCE has been prescribed as the minimum

teaching qualification for primary schools, most

local governments are reluctant to employ the teaming

population of NCE holders. The complaint is that they

cannot bear the financial burden of paying NCE

holders. Specifically in some northern states the

scenario is compounded by the fact that the states do

not employ non indigenes or have pegged staff

progression of non indigene teachers under their

employment to particular cadre and salary levels. All

these are against the back drop of lack of qualified

teachers predominant in those states.

The scenario at the junior and senior secondary

schools follows a different pattern except in the

context of ill motivation of teachers and their23

electing to teach as a last resort. Pre-service

teachers in colleges of education are often the

residuals from the population of applicants that wish

to proceed to higher education. As a result they are

admitted with very poor pre-qualification results.

The worst case scenarios are in the sciences and

mathematics and related courses. This scenario is

replicated as it were in admission process in the

Faculties of Education of Universities. Teachers that

are produced from these institutions are ill-

motivated from the onset and regard teaching as not

only transitory but as a last resort.

There is a dearth of qualified teachers in technical

colleges. This is as a result of the acute paucity of

pre-service teachers in the technical education

programmes of polytechnics and colleges of education

(technical). Even when these pre-service teachers

graduate they elect for other more ‘lucrative’ and

rewarding jobs than teaching.

Teachers’ salaries and conditions of service are to

say the least very deplorable. There is no regulated

and well streamlined teacher development framework

unlike other professions. In service training and

strategic capacity building aimed at improving24

service delivery are often regarded as a favour and

privilege. Even when serving teachers gain

experiences through these opportunities, they are not

backed up by rewards such as promotions, enhancement

of status or other related privileges as obtainable

in other professions.

REFORMS IN THE CURRICULUM OF PRE-TERTIARY EDUCATION

The formal adoption of the 9-year Basic Education

programme through the enactment of UBE Act of 2004

provided opportunities for far reaching reforms in

the existing school curriculum. Thus the Nigerian

Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC)

proposed a new 9-year Basic Education Curriculum

(BEC) Structure which was approved by the National

Council on Education (NCE) in December 2005. NERDC

then reviewed the existing primary school and JSS

curriculum which led to the production of the new 9

year BEC. The major features of the new 9-year BEC

include:

Connecting thematically and systematically the

subject matter of primary school and JSS

Introduction of core compulsory subjects such as

English Studies, Mathematics, Basic Science,

Basic Technology, Social Science, Civic 25

Education, Cultural and Creative Arts, Religion

and Physical & Health Education

Introduction of Basic Science and Technology and

Computer Studies/ICT, in the primary education

components.

Introduction of French as a compulsory subject

from primary 4.

Reduction of the number of subjects offered from

22 subjects to a range of 11-14 subjects.

The infusion of such new emerging issues as

Vocational and Technical Education, HIV/AIDS

Education, National Values, Disaster Risk

Reduction, Road Safety Education into the

relevant content drivers of the subject matter

The final certification, through the Basic

Education Certificate Examination (BECE), will

now be awarded at the end of the JSS no longer

primary 6.

The implementation of the BEC beginning from

primary 1 and JSS 1 concurrently in 2008 while

systematically phasing out of the old primary

school and JSS curriculum. This is to avoid the

implementation gaps of the past where the UPE

programme was implemented in one-short basis and

26

to make adequate provision of teacher capacity

building, learning resources and relevant school

infrastructure. Thus it is envisaged that it

will take a cycle of nine years for the full

implementation of the 9-year BEC.

In the course of implementing the 9-year BEC,

stakeholders noted that the curriculum was over

loaded in terms of subject offerings. This was re-

echoed at a Presidential Education Summit held in

2010. The recommendations of the Presidential Task

Team, which further synthesised the outcomes of that

Education Summit, for the need to reduce the subject

over load was given a Presidential approval in 2011.

NERDC was then directed by the Federal Ministry of

Education to reduce the subject over load to a

minimum of 6 subjects and a maximum of 13 subjects.

NERDC has accomplished this task speedily. The

revised 9-year BEC having under gone all procedural

processes was approved by the National Council on

Education in June 2013 to be implemented beginning

from primary 1 national wide in September 2014. The

revised curriculum shows that 6 subjects (English

Studies, Mathematics, Basic Science and technology,

Nigerian Language, Religion and National Values and

27

Cultural and Creative Arts) will be taken in

primaries 1-3; Prevocational Studies and French will

be added in primaries 4-6; Business Studies will be

added in JSS 1-3. Arabic is optional for all the

class levels. Teachers Guides have also been prepared

for all the subjects including Arabic.

NERDC proposed a new curriculum structure for the 3-

year Senior Secondary Education which was also

approved by the NCE in November 2006. Subsequently

NERDC then reviewed the existing Senior Secondary

Education Curriculum (SSEC) which led to the

development of a new SSEC in 2010. The new SSEC which

incorporated 34 trade/entrepreneurship subjects is

intended to provide appropriate learning experiences

for JSS graduates from the 9-year BEC as well strong

support for higher education. Besides, graduates of

the senior secondary school who are not able to

proceed to higher education will have acquired

relevant life-long functional skills for their world

of work. The new SSEC became operational from

September 2011 for the first batch of the JSS

component of the new 9-year BEC.

The major features of the new SSEC include:

28

The introduction of four core compulsory

subjects: English Language, Mathematics, Civic

Education and one (1nos.)

trade/entrepreneurship subject (to be selected

from the newly developed 34

trade/entrepreneurship subjects).

Separation of the subject matter into four

fields of study from each of which students are

to select a range of 3-4 subjects depending on

their area of potential strength. Students are

free to select an elective subject from any

other field of study or indeed from the group

of trade/entrepreneurship subjects provided

that they do not exceed a maximum of 9

subjects. These fields of study are:

Science and Mathematics

Humanities

Technology

Business Studies

Development of 34 trade/entrepreneurship subjects

aimed at ensuring that every Senior Secondary

Education (SSS) graduate is properly equipped

with technical/entrepreneurship skills for self

29

employment. This is a radical departure from the

past.

The infusion of new emerging issues into the

relevant content drivers as was done for the 9-

year BEC.

The implementation of the new SSEC beginning from

SS 1 in September 2011 while gradually phasing

out of the old curriculum.

Students will continue to sit for 8-9 subjects in

the relevant public examination

It is important to clarify some related issues to

avoid misconceptions in policy implementation.

The implementation of the new SSEC does not

turn every senior secondary school into

comprehensive school.

Technical and Business/Commercial secondary

schools will still continue to operate but

within the new curriculum structure, ie every

student in this category of school will take

the 4 cross cutting compulsory subjects listed

above.

Secondary schools need not offer all the 34

trade/entrepreneurship subjects. They will

commence with those within their resources 30

and/or compliant with the ethos of their

environment.

Public examination bodies have also reviewed

their examination syllabi to reflect the new

SSEC and to prepare adequately to administer

the first certification examination in June

2014.

HAVE THESE REFORMS IN THE CURRICULUM OF PRE-TERTIARY EDUCATION

MADE ANY IMPACT ON TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMMES?

Fundamental to the success of these curriculum

reforms lays the critical issue of producing

qualified teachers to teach the new curricula and

with particular regard to the new subject matter

introduced at both the basic education and senior

secondary education levels. Teaching, it is argued,

is at the heart of education, and so the most

important action any nation can take to improve

education is to strengthen the teaching profession in

terms education and training as well as development.

Meanwhile, improving student learning and school

effectiveness are consequently viewed as dependent

upon the implementation of a wide range of 'quality

teacher' programs and policies related to the

selection, training, certification, hiring and

31

retention of good teachers in public school

classrooms. With the on-going curriculum reforms, it

is only imperative that a similar restructuring

should take place for teacher education programmes.

Unfortunately the fundamental curriculum reforms that

have taken place at the pre-tertiary education level

have not been sufficiently followed up at the teacher

education programmes of colleges of education,

polytechnics and universities.

Let us examine the attempts made by the National

Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) a

regulatory entity for colleges of education at

realigning the programmes of the colleges of

education to respond to the curriculum reforms for

basic education. The Minimum Standards for Teacher

Education Programmes in Colleges of Education (COEs)

presents the attempt at restructuring of teacher

education programmes in the COEs to produce

specialist teachers for all the sub-sectors of basic

education (pre-primary, primary and junior secondary

32

schools). Although this represents a major attempt to

address the existing gaps in knowledge and skills

required by NCE teachers to teach the 9-year Basic

Education Curriculum (BEC), these pre-service

teachers continue to experience difficulties in

coping with primary and the junior secondary school

teaching. The minimum standards document for the

Specialist Teacher education programmes in the COEs

attempted to take cognizance of the 9-year BEC and

recognises the specifications as distinct from those

of the Senior Secondary Education which is content

specific .

However the changes in minimum standards for teacher

education occasioned by the introduction of the

‘Specialist Teacher’ programme were without a

corresponding change in the conceptual/structural

framework of the NCE teacher education programmes. The

new minimum standards for the specialist Teacher

33

education courses still retain the 2-subject

combinations structure i.e. Primary Education Studies

(PES) combined with any other single subject

discipline e.g. Social Studies, English Language, and

so on. The rationale for the retention of the extant

2 –subjects combination being that “it allows for the

preparation of would-be teachers in the senior

secondary school and as entry qualification into the

B.Sc. (Ed)/B.A (Ed) programmes. Going by this

structural framework, a typical ‘Specialist Teacher’

prepared to teach in primary schools for instance, is

expected to offer and pass prescribed examinations in

the following:

(a) General (ancillary) studies (English, Library,

etc.). 

(b) Foundation studies (principles and practice

of education; Psychology, Philosophy and

sociology of education).

34

(c) Two subjects related to the students

identified field of study which in the case

of a Specialist Primary Education Teacher

would be:

(a) primary Education Studies (PES)

consisting of Mathematics, Basic Science

and technology, Cultural and Creative

Arts, French, Pre-vocational Studies

(Agriculture and Home Economics); one

Nigerian Language and religion and

National Values (Islamic Studies or

Christian Religious studies, Civic

Education, Social Studies and Security

Education); and

(d) another subject discipline which could be

either in the Science, Arts or humanities.

(e) Teaching Practice.

35

The structural framework for the ‘Specialist NCE

Teacher’ described above appears to be similar to that

of teacher education programmes of these

institutions of the 1960s and 1970s. This

structural framework is still deficient in coping

with the 9-year BEC and its revised version

expected to take off in September 2014. The

argument that this arrangement allows for

progression to the Bachelors in Education is weak

when it is considered that there should be a window

for specialisation at the degree level for teaching

in primary and junior secondary school level. A

couple of years ago, on a study tour to Washington

DC, I encountered a professor of education who was

teaching in the primary school because of her

specialisation in the area!

We now propose the structuring of the NCE

programmes to produce specialist teachers in five

36

areas but with broad based capability as presented

below:

Compulsory Cross Cutting Subjects

Basic and Relevant Foundation Courses in

Education

Basic Principles and Methods of Teaching

leading to no less than 12 weeks of Teaching

Practicum to be orgainised prior to the final

year of graduation

English Studies

Specialisation in Mathematics and Basic Science & Technology

Mathematics

Basic Science

Basic Technology

HPE

IT

37

Specialisation in Religion & National Values and Cultural &

Creative Arts

Cross cutting subjects

Social Studies

Civic Education

Security Education

Cultural and Creative Arts

Option 1

Christian Religious Studies

Option 2

Islamic Studies

Arabic

Specialisation in Language

Nigerian Language

French

Specialisation in Business and Pre-Vocational Studies

38

Option 1

Agriculture

Business Studies

Option 2

Home Economics

Business Studies

Specialisation in ECCD

Relevant content areas of ECCD

The above implies also a paradigm shift in the way

classroom transactions should be organised and

managed. The pattern of rotating specialist teachers

across streams of classes should be put in place and

resources provided to support that. This is the best

practice culture in Britain, US, India and Singapore.

The persistent practice of assigning a teacher per

class as an ‘all rounder’ or ‘generalist’ no longer

meets emerging needs of global development.

39

The teacher education programmes of polytechnics,

colleges of education (technical) and universities

have remained essentially stagnant. It will be

recalled that 34 new technical/intrepreneurship

subjects have been developed for the new 3-year SSEC

which is planned to commence from September 2011,

there is no evidence that there are attempts to

accommodate these in terms of content structure and

delivery processes at the technical education

programmes of universities, colleges of education

(technical) or polytechnics! Universities are

expected to produce pre-service teachers for the

senior secondary schools. There is little evidence to

support that teacher educators in the universities or

indeed in related tertiary institutions are familiar

with the structure of the new 3-year SSEC in terms of

both content standards and required delivery

processes. Just as has been proposed for the NCE

programmes, the restructuring of the teacher

education programmes in Faculties of Education of

Universities and the Polytechniques should commence

without further delay. Courses on the structure and

mastery of contents of the new SSEC should be

incorporated in the review. Teaching practicum should

40

be made practical and reinstated to an uninterupted

period of of 12 weeks penultinate to the final year

of graduation.

SOME RECENT PUBLIC POLICY REFORMS IN TEACHER

EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT

The adoption of a home-grown response to global

reforms in the social and economic context NEEDS in

2004 led to reform moves in almost all sectors of the

economy. This also was the case for education and

indeed teacher education development. These public

policy reforms in education which commenced in 2006

addressed the desire to meet the ideals of NEEDS, and

later the 7-point Agenda, Vision 20-2020 and the

present Transformation Agenda. The initial attempt

was to articulate these reforms coherently into the

Roadmap for the Development of the Nigerian Education Sector

in 2009.

The Roadmap for the Education Sector can be

considered a major breakthrough in the history of

educational reforms in Nigeria. Its planning carried

out in the first quarter of 2009 was painstaking and

comprehensive and involved a lengthy process of

41

consultations with stakeholders and end-users to

achieve a broad buy-in. Its strength lies in the fact

that it builds on the successes of previous reform

efforts and had systematic workable implementation

plans. The Roadmap was duly adopted at the 2009

special session of the National Council on Education

and subsequently approved by the Federal Executive

Council in June 2009. Quality Assurance which is one of

the focal areas of the Roadmap, included teacher

education and development.

The following highlights the major elements in Teacher

education and Development:

A National Teacher Education Policy (NTEP) published by the Federal Ministry of Education in 2009 includesthe following core provisions:

ensures coherency and continuity of

training opportunities throughout the

career of teachers at all levels for

pre-service and in-service teacher

education

Standards for both pre-service and in-

service teacher education are

specified with a focus on evaluation

of teachers’ performance.

42

life-long learning with appropriate

rewards

options for ECE, primary and junior

secondary education teaching

no specialisation rather ECE and

primary education students shall be

trained to teach all the core subjects

at that level

Primary and junior secondary teacher

education curriculum shall include a

course in TVE

Specialisation for the JSE pre-service

teachers.

Computer literacy and ICT applications

shall be a requirement for all NCE and

undergraduate students

There is essentially no radical

departure for pre-service teacher

education at the undergraduate level

Teaching practice has been extended

for two academic terms respectively at

penultimate and final levels for NCE

and undergraduate students who shall

43

be paid some stipends by the

appropriate government authorities

continuing and professional

development (CPD) for all teachers

which shall be recognised for

appropriate reward. The rewards will

be in the form of linking CPD to

promotion, renewal of TRCN licences

and sponsorship by UBEC/SUBEB’s/TESCOM

and LGEA’s

UBEC shall provide twice yearly

monitoring reports to FME on the

SUBEB’s utilisation of 15% UBEC

Intervention Funds earmarked for CPD

programmes in the UBE scheme.

Training institutions and relevant

regulatory bodies including TRCN are

authorised to submit funding proposals

for a Teacher Education Development

Plan (TEDP) which shall be funded by

UBEC biennially in form of grants.

M&E is engrained in all the policy

implementation of the NTEP

44

5-year degree programme for BA/BSc Ed

or Bed

3-year degree programme for post

NCE/GCE A/L, ND Diploma/Foundation

Course Certificate, ANTC/ANBC or other

recognised equivalent certificates

Implementation Guidelines for the NTEP:

The Guidelines which are designed to

facilitate the process of implementing

NTEP stipulates the statutory roles of

various levels of governments,

regulatory bodies and training

institutions.

The major features of the Guidelines

include a take-off period of 2013,

ground breaking period of 2009-2010

(during which the preconditions in the

system are to be met), a gestation

period of 2011-2012 to allow for

required human resources, systems and

processes to be put in place.

The Special Teacher Upgrading Scheme (STUP)

45

STUP is coordinated by the NTI to

upgrade all unqualified teachers by

2011.

STUP is designed to train 145000

serving unqualified teachers annually

within a band of three years (2009-

2011).

It is to be funded from support from

MDG and budgetary allocations within

the time line.

Teacher Incentive Programmes

Housing for All Teachers Scheme (HATS)

Teachers Merit Award

Teachers Salary Structure (TSS) for primary

and secondary school teachers

In March 2010, a One-Year Strategy for the Development of

the Education Sector (May 2010-April 2011) as part of the on-

going reforms in the education sector was uncoupled

from the Road map. For the first time this

represented an unprecedented policy sustenance. Thus

the Strategy includes all the four priority areas of

the Roadmap. However two new areas ie Teacher

Education and Development and Institutional

Management have been added. Though Teacher Education

46

and Development was ordinarily a component of the

Quality Assurance of the Roadmap, it has been

amplified to receive special attention and strategic

focus due its importance in education delivery as

well as turning around the education system. The

institutional arrangements for the implementation of

the Strategy have been extensively broadened in terms

of composition and structure unlike in the Roadmap,

entities such as the Forum of Commissioners of

Education, the International Development Partners and

the organised private sector are part of the

implementation task teams.

The following are some of the major public policy

reforms in Teacher Education and Development component of

the One-year Strategy:

Restructure and review teacher education

curriculum and programmes of relevant

training institutions in line with the 9-

year BEC and new 3-year SSEC as

appropriate.

Develop the Professional Standards Manuals

Restructure and strengthen NTI programmes.

47

Career development and motivation for

teachers in line with current realities and

global best practices.

Develop INSET policy especially in

mathematics and sciences

The NTEP was also retained to be implemented within

the context of the One Year Strategy. In 2011, the

One-Year Strategy was elaborated into a 4-Year Strategic

Plan for the Development of the Education Sector. Teacher

Education and Development was also retained as one of

the six priority focal area. An examination of the

implementation status of this priority area together

with the NTEP will reveal the following:

Most of the provisions of the NTEP have not been

implemented essentially due to lack of political

capacity, administrative/constitutional

encumbrances, public policy inconsistencies, role

conflicts between regulatory agencies and lack of

clarity of the funding sources. Such provisions

include: the teachers housing scheme, TSS,

realigning the STUP strictly in line with the

reviewed school curriculum

As discussed earlier the pre-service primary and

junior school (basic education) teacher education48

programme have not been fully reviewed to respond

to the reforms in the basic education curriculum

There is no observed attempt to renew the

programmes of pre-service teacher education

programme offered in the universities and

polytechnics

Complete restructuring and strengthening of the

NTI programme

LESSONS GAINED AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE IMPROVEMENT

OF TEACHER EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERA

Globalisation and knowledge economy have repositioned

education as a competitive system operating according

to the values and approaches of the market. In line

with these, reforms aimed at improving teaching

profession and indeed teacher education and

development have been influenced heavily by business

management practices and values. The trend is to

promote practices of accountability, quality control,

efficiency of performance and customer satisfaction

(Bottery, 1989). The argument being that student

teacher’s learning is most evident in the learning of

school students. Consequently, teacher education

programmes in Nigeria should be overhauled to meet

these challenges. 49

In concluding this presentation we shall identify

lessons gained and opportunities for improving

teacher education and development in Nigeria.

Hurried implementation of public policies in

teacher education has often led to their

imminent collapse. The 5-year post primary

training and 1-year post secondary training

UPE crash programme are cases in point. It

is important that policies are not only well

laid out but are backed up with proper

planning and implementation guide lines.

Thus NTEP and its Implementation Guidelines

should be re-examined and further reviewed

in line with current realities to render

them implementable.

However it is not enough to plan policies

that are backed up by implementation

guidelines. Such public policy documents

should also be backed up by appropriate Acts

and Edicts where appropriate. This best

practice culture which is obtainable in such

50

countries as Indonesia has engendered policy

sustainability across times and changes in

political leadership.

The restructuring and review of Basic

Education Curriculum presents the

opportunity of equally restructuring the

training programmes of pre-service teachers.

It is professionally impracticable to train

a primary school teacher to effectively

teach all the primary school subjects as

specified in the 9-year BEC. The way of the

future is to restructure NCE programme for

specialisation in related broad areas. This

is the best practice culture in other

developed climes for global competitiveness.

The above implies also a paradigm shift in

the way classroom transactions should be

organised and managed. The pattern of

rotating specialist teachers across streams

of classes should be put in place and

resources provided to support that. This is

the best practice culture in Britain, US,

India and Singapore. The persistent practice

of assigning a teacher per class as an ‘all

51

rounder’ or ‘generalist’ no longer meets

emerging needs of global development.

One of the policy reform provisions in the 4-

year Strategic Plan is the restructuring and

repositioning of NTI. The restructuring

should address the challenge of ensuring

that in-service teachers that have under

gone the relevant up grading training

experience perform to expectations.

Local governments (through the LGEA’s) are

constitutionally responsible for the payment

of salaries of primary school teachers. For

the workability of employing pre-service NCE

holders or upgrading in service teachers to

NCE level to teach in primary schools,

adequate funds dedicated to teachers’

salaries should be allocated to the local

governments. This should be based on valid

data and monitored by appropriate regulatory

agency. Until this is achieved, the issue

making NCE the minimum qualification for

primary school teaching will continue to be

a mere.

52

The policy statements affirm rigorous

admission criteria for pre-service teachers

at both NCE and degree level. It stipulates

5-year duration for a regular pre-service

undergraduate programme. The policy

statement also intends incentives to attract

potentially promising pre-service teachers.

These are opportunities for improvement.

However unless incentives are given in form

of bursaries and scholarships as was the

case in the past, as well as implement

concretely and practically the NTEP with

regard to career development, enhanced

salary and the infrastructural environment

for teaching, these policies will also turn

out to be mere wishes.

The NCE (technical) and relevant teacher

education programme of polytechnics and

universities should be enhanced and reviewed

in terms of content standards and pedagogy

to meet the challenges of the

technical/entrepreneurship subject matter of

the new 3-year SSEC. For now this is far

from the case.

53

Generally the methodology component of the

undergraduate PSTE should be over hauled and

restructured to meet the challenges of

teaching the numerous subject matter of the

new 3-year SSEC. As of now the extant

programmes in terms of content standards and

pedagogy are short of this demand.

The policy statements regarding teacher

education and development of both the

Roadmap, 1-year Strategy and the 4-Year

Strategic Plans are noble. However medium

term strategy plans should span across eight

years in line with best global best practice

and should be backed by appropriate

legislation in order to avoid policy flip

flops and undue policy reversals.

54

REFERENCES:

Adesina S. (2005): Growth Without Development:

Nigeria’s Educational Development 1914-2004.

Abeokuta. Educational Industries Ltd.

Bottery, M. (1989): The education of business

management. Oxford Review of Education, 15(2), 129-

146.

Eke, E. (2006): Teacher Production and utilisation at the primary

education level in Ivowi UMO & Ogunleye AO (eds) The

Growth and Development of Education in Nigeria Lagos.

55

Sunshine International Publications (Nig) Ltd pp 49-

63

Federal Ministry of Education (2004): Education

Sector Status Report. Lagos: SIBON Books Ltd.

Federal Ministry of Education (2007): National

Strategy for Teacher Quality and Development. Abuja.

Federal Ministry of Education (2009): National

Teacher Education Policy. Abuja.

Federal Ministry of Education (2009): Implementation

Guidelines for the NTEP. Abuja

Federal Ministry of Education (2009): Roadmap for the

Nigerian Education Sector. Abuja

Federal Ministry of Education (2010): One-Year

Strategy for the Development of the Education Sector.

Abuja

Federal Ministry of Education (2011): 4-Year

Strategic Plan for the Development of the Education

Sector, Abuja

National Planning Commission (2004): National

Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy

(NEEDS). Abuja

NERDC (2008): 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum

Structure at a Glance. Lagos. NERDC Press

56

NERDC (2009): New Senior Secondary Education

Structure at a Glance. Lagos. NERDC Press

NERDC (2013): 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum.

Lagos, NERDC Press (revised Edition)

NIER/UNESCO-APEID (2002): Implementing UNESCO/ILO

Recommendations for Technical and Vocational

Education and Training. NIER Press: Tokyo-Japan.

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

(2005): Standards and National Board Certification.

http://www.nbpts.org/standards/nbcert.cfm.

National Commission for Colleges of Education (2012)

Nigerian Certificate in Education: Minimum Standards for Early

Childhood Care and Primary Education, Abuja: Nigeria:

NCCE

Obanya PAI (2007): Thinking and Talking Education.

Ibadan. Evans Brothers (Nigeria Publishers) ltd.

Obioma, Godswill (2006) Issues in Curriculum Reform:

The Nigerian Education Perspective, A paper

presented at Stakeholders Forum on Improving

57

Education Delivery, organized by the Senate

Committee on Education; 7th and 8th November 2006

Obioma, G (2010): Reconstructing Polytechnic

Education in Nigeria for the Attainment of Vision 20-

2020. A pre convocation lecture delivered at the 11th

convocation of the Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic

Unwana, Ebonyi State.

Obioma, G (2010): The Reforms of Education in Nigeria in

Adesanya A. (ed) Nigeria at 50: Accomplishments,

Challenges and Prospects. A proposed publication of

the National Institute of Economic and Social

Research, Ibadan.

Obioma, Godswill (2012) An Address Delivered at the

Editorial Workshop for the Revised 9-Year Basic

Education Curriculum (BEC); 24th August, 2012

Olarinoye, RD (2006): Teacher production and utilisation at the

secondary education level in Ivowi UMO & Ogunleye AO (eds);

The Growth and Development of Education in Nigeria.

Lagos. Sunshine International Publications (Nig) Ltd.

Pp 119-137 58

Oriafo, SA (2009) Functional teacher education: the key functional

development worldwide in Ivowi UMO (ed) Education for

Value. Lagos. Foremost Educational Pub Ltd. pp 63-

91

UNESCO, (1998): The State of Education in Nigeria.

Lagos: UNESCO

59