The Registrar/Chief Executive, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Prof. Segun Ajiboye, has said the council has written to the Director- General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), advising him to stop posting graduates without Education degrees to teach in schools.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), quoted Ajiboye as telling journalists yesterday in Ibadan that the measure was one of the steps toward transforming education in the country.
“Most of those posted to teach in the mandatory one-year scheme do not have qualification to teach. Education system gets bastardised when unqualified persons without requisite professional skills are deployed to teach,” he said.
Ajiboye, however, acknowledged that there was a dearth of qualified teachers in some states of the federation, noting that majority of those teaching in private nursery and primary schools nationwide were not qualified to be in the class.
“We have written a letter to the NYSC Director-General requesting that only those who read Education should be posted to schools during their service year. “This will ensure that only round pegs are deployed to round holes. Why are doctors not posted to teach? Why are education graduates not deployed to hospitals to operate the sick?
“If you cannot allow a teacher to treat you in the hospital, why should you allow a fake teacher to teach your children and destroy their future?
“We should not debase the teaching profession. State governors must also ensure that they train and re-train those in their schools. Human capital development must be taken seriously to transform our education system.”
Ajiboye also emphasised that those qualified must still be registered and professionally certified and licensed by the TRCN.
According to him, only qualified and well trained and re-trained teachers can bring about a transformed education that the Nigerian youth can benefit from.
