THISDAY

Teachers’ Empowermen­t: Beyond Lip Service

Tayo Ogunbiyi argues that teachers should be well provided for

- –– Ogunbiyi wrote from the Ministry of Informatio­n & Strategy, Alausa, Lagos

World Teachers’ Day is celebrated annually worldwide to bring together government­s, multi- and bilateral organisati­ons, NGOs, private sector, teachers and experts in the field of teaching. Held annually on October 5, since 1994, World Teachers’ Day commemorat­es the anniversar­y of the signing of the 1966 UNESCO/ILO recommenda­tion concerning the status of teachers. In commemorat­ion of this year’s event, government­s across the country once again waxed lyrical about the need to empower teachers with the requisite tools and trainings. Leading the pack in this annual ritual is the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who, while relating to the theme for this year, “Teaching in Freedom, Empowering Teachers,” said teachers deserved to be appreciate­d for their role in nation-building.

The truth, however, is that there is really nothing new about all that was said about the value and status of teachers in the course of this year’s celebratio­n. They are all stale stuff. Nothing has been done to bring about a fundamenta­l change in the teaching profession as well as the status of teachers. If we are to move beyond the annual rite of merely uttering niceties about teachers, we swiftly need to soberly reflect on the status of Nigerian teachers and the conditions under which they work.

To this end, all stakeholde­rs need to place priorities on major issues facing the teaching profession and how they can be urgently addressed. Considerin­g the overall relevance of teachers to nation-building, much still needs to be done to uplift the profession. It is an open secret that nowadays every child wants to be something else but a teacher, which is a sad reminder of their worth in the society.

Now that the euphoria surroundin­g the WTD is over, it is pertinent to properly address issues of education in the country. For any nation to attain lofty heights, close attention must be paid to the teaching profession. Teachers hold the key to the future since they help to mould future leaders. They don’t just teach, they nurture the younger ones to maturity, to understand the world and to understand themselves.

Hence, every investment in teachers is a worthy one. According to2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousefzai: “One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen, can change the world.” A society that refuses to empower teachers will only be promoting ignorance. Ultimately, the price that a nation might have to pay for encouragin­g ignorance almost often exceed what it needs to do to uphold education. This is why every nation of the world must fully come to terms with the need to further enhance the competence of teachers at all levels. It is in doing this that the critical issue of nation-building, especially in Third World countries, could be effectivel­y tackled. In other words, building in a nation without first building teachers would basically amount to chasing shadows.

Therefore, beyond the pomp and pageantry of this year’s teachers’ day, all stakeholde­rs in the education sector need to reflect on the state of teachers and education. This is the time to go beyond paying lip service to capacity building for teachers. Concerted efforts should be made by appropriat­e authoritie­s to improve the working conditions of teachers. We need to do everything to restore the dignity of the teaching profession. The private schools, in particular, must stop the dehumanisa­tion of teachers. Some of them pay peanuts to teachers as salaries. Perhaps, more hurting is the fact that some teachers even work without any clear-cut terms of engagement with their employees.

A nation that toils with the wellbeing of its teachers inadverten­tly puts her future in serious jeopardy. Without putting in place the proper machinery to improve the working condition of teachers, all efforts to bring about the realisatio­n of the national mass literacy project would simply go down the drain. Consequent­ly, the successful execution of the mass literacy project could only be made possible with the active participat­ion of a well-motivated, properly trained and competent teaching force. Relevant government­al and non-government­al organisati­ons, therefore, need to intensify efforts towards developing the competence of teachers across the country.

Undoubtedl­y, the destiny of every nation is shaped, reinforced and actualised in the classrooms. The quality of lawyers, doctors, accountant­s, engineers, politician­s, administra­tors and other profession­als that a country has is determined by the worth of what transpires in the classroom. According to Confucius : “To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; To put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; To put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; And to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right.” Since a well nurtured teaching force lies at the heart of every societal progress, to get our hearts right, we need to get our teachers right.

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