Ayade Gives Teaching a Quantum Leap with TCTI
Chidi Onyemaizu
The wet weather did nothing to dampen his bursting energy. So, on this particular rainy morning, Governor Ben Ayade defied the inclement weather, hopped into his official vehicle. Destination? A world-class Teachers retraining facility - the West African Teachers Continous Training Institute, TCTI - springing up in Biase.
Biase is located in the southern part of the state and the home local government of Deputy Governor, Ivara Ejemot Esu. Ayade and Esu are both erudite scholars; professors of different disciplines but united in their grit resolve to reinvent their darling state, Cross River. Just before his arrival at the project site, the drizzling rain had given way to blazing sun, almost at a baking point.
But even in the sweltering sun, there was this disarming normality in the manner he methodically inspected the progress of work at the project site. Occasionally, as if the hot sun itself was a soothing balm sort of, he let out a broad smile, one hand up pointing at a something that caught his attention. Soon, there was a crowd of heads- those of his Deputy, aides and Engineers working on the site-poring over a piece of paper, probably a building design.
And at that moment, one could notice him nodding in affirmation of whatever it was that was being explained to him, his cherubic face flushing with a glint of inward satisfaction. On this day, Biase was awestruck. And this told boldly on the faces of hundreds of ecstatic and cheering indigenes who had thronged the Institute to catch a glimpse of the governor and also of their son, Professor Esu.
“This governor is a wonder man ooo ; person never see this kin thing before. Na forest be dey here ooo . How he take build this kin fine school here wonder me ooo ,” a middle aged man who could no longer hide his joy exclaimed loudly in pidgin English, to no one in particular.
Another bewildered indigene, a young mother with a sleeping baby strapped on the back and who claimed she teaches in a private primary school in the area said she never believed Ayade meant business when the site was being cleared early this year. Adjusting the sleeping baby, smiles coloured the young mother’s face on sighting Ayade pointing something out to the site manager.
Then, lowering her head and gently tapping her chest as if to assure herself she was not dreaming, she said, “I was one of those who doubted the possibility of this Teachers Institute. I thought Ayade was not serious but I have been proven wrong. This Institute is one of the best things that has happened to Biase and to people like me who want to be professional teachers”.
There was every reason for the people of Biase and indeed all Cross Riverians to marvel. Just three months back, the site where the TCTI now stands was ground zero, barren land sort of.
However, on that same place, a towering, world-class edifice dedicated to remoulding teachers across the West African sub-region now uncompromisingly announces itself as one of the undeniable efforts of Professor Ayade to reposition education and the teaching profession in Cross River.
Professor Ayade is not magisterial as won’t leaders who wield enormous powers. At Biase, he again demonstrated that, and lived up to his billing as “Project Manager” which at his second term inauguration he said he had become, as he for four hours, without a minute pause, moved from one structure to the other, personally inspecting them and occasionally handing down modifications instructions to the contractors handling the project.
One of the unique features of TCTI is that when operational, it will have a provost who will superintend its affairs. The Teachers Training Institute is also modelled like a post-graduate school.
“We already have the provost. The Institute is a little higher. It is more like a post-graduate school because you have to have a degree in Education and you have to be teaching already for you to qualify to come here,” the governor said.
“You don’t have to be teaching in Nigeria, West Africa. In fact, anywhere you are on earth and you have a teacher that wants to be trained, he can come here to actualise his or her ambition of becoming a qualified professional,” he further stressed.
The Institute, according to Professor Ayade, will be technology and ICT driven in order to bake qualified teachers, well equipped for 21st century teaching. “We are building a world-class West Africa Teachers Continues Training Institute to cater for all teachers within the whole of West African sub-region and to start the regeneration of ethics, morality, quality of research, science and technology including ICT in a modern concept in line with 21st century.
“The teachers themselves will be taught the use of ICT to facilitate training with digital touch screens. Cross River will lead the digital world. As we are driving agriculture as a leading state in agriculture, so are we going to take education to the zenith. I think that when I’m done, Cross Riverians will know that I came in prepared and that I had a clear idea of where I was coming from and where I’m going to. Nigerians will be surprised what we are going to produce out of this Institute,” Professor Ayade stressed.
As a sub-regional teachers retraining Institute that is poised to deliver quality, Its frontiers in terms of recruitment of lecturers will be widened to look beyond the shores of Nigeria.
“This school represents the whole essence of our being, that as professors, we want to deal with education from its roots and take us back to where Nigeria’s foundation was. That’s why most of the lecturers that will come to teach here are not necessarily going to be Nigerians. Our target is competence, so whether they are Indians, Pakistanis, or Ghanaians or whatever country they come from provided they are the best in the subject matter, we will recruit them,” says the governor.
Cross River is the only state in Nigeria superintend by two professors as governor and deputy governor respectively. It is, therefore, not a huge surprise that accessing quality education is one of the top priorities of the Ayade administration. According to the governor, the classy TCTI which will start formal academic activities soon was geared towards revolutionising the teaching profession in Nigeria.
“I am a governor and a professor, my deputy is also a professor and we believe that the right thing to do is to deal with the issues of quality of teaching thoroughly. We believe strongly that the educational system in Nigerian is almost collapsing, so Cross River State is beginning a renaissance. That is why we are setting up this Teachers Continuous Training College (TCTI),” the governor informs.
In the sprawling TCTI which is about 75 per cent completed, there are a demonstration senior and junior secondary schools and an Amphitheatre for recreation for the teachers undergoing training or retraining as the case may be. There are also science labs for practicals. The idea of the demonstration secondary school and science labs within the College is to constantly subject the teachers to teaching practicals.
There are also tastefully designed hostels for the teachers, a luxurious duplex for the Provost and beautiful quarters for the lecturers. Meanwhile, the TCTI has already attracted the attention of the Governing Council and Management of National Teachers Institute (NTI). The Institute has declared its intention to train teachers from across the nation at the TCTI.
The Director-General of NTI, Prof. Garba Azare made this known recently at the 6th meeting of the 8th Governing Council held recently in Abuja. He said the curriculum and design of TCTI fit the capacity-building model of NTI nationwide.