Shortfall in quality, quantity of teachers impact cognitive skills development

The level of education needed to facilitate the development of cognitive skills in students might be under threat from the quantity and quality of teachers at various levels of the education system in Nigeria education watchers have indicated.

This development is coming on the heels of growing concerns from employers about the employability of the products of the current education system.

In its Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring report of 2005, the United Nations Children Emergency Fund acknowledged (UNICEF), stated “it is commonly presumed that formal schooling is one of several important contributors to the skills of an individual and to human capital. It is not the only factor. Parents, individual abilities and friends undoubtedly contribute. Schools nonetheless have a special place, not only because education and ‘skill creation’ are among their prime explicit objectives, but also because they are the factor most directly affected by public policies.”

Folasade Adefisayo, CEO Lead Learning observes that “teaching is the mother of all professions and teachers are nurturers of the nation’s talents and cognitive skills in particular. Sound cognitive skills translate into a more productive and innovative workforce and entrepreneurs. However, something has gone terribly wrong with the formation and public perception of these agents of human and social transformation. Teaching today is regarded as a profession for those who could not find a place in other professions. Well, let it be on record that I am proud of teaching and a proud child of parents who were both teachers.”

Tunji Abimbola, director of education at TMAB Education Consulting and former special adviser to the Ogun State Governor on Education contended that for starters, teacher training curriculum is obsolete. I was awarded a bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Ibadan over 30 years ago. Three decades on, the curriculum has not significantly changed. The education faculty of most Nigerian universities is construed as a dumping site for candidates rejected by other departments thought more ‘lucrative’.

Abimbola said, “the Federal Government’s campaign to recruit 500, 000 teachers may not be successful because according to him, “We politicise education, we seem to have a knack for putting the wrong people in the wrong places. To solve this problem, entry requirements to education (for teachers) should be raised. The standard of education reflects the quality of instruction.”

Anatoli Nnoli, a 300 level student of Psychology at Anambra State University told BusinessDay reporter this, “what I tell 100 level students is not to bother studying hard because some of the lecturers are much more interested in money, others in sampling the little girls on campus than in teaching. I really don’t blame any lecturer given that they seem to be sometimes poorly remunerated and paid irregularly. I am already calculating how much it would cost me to get a second class, upper division (2:1). One lecturer in our department constantly comes to class two hours late, very bad example. Some lecturers still do their best though.”

Experts say the falling quality of instruction, affects the development of cognitive skills needed to be productive. The relationship between measured labour force quality and economic growth is perhaps even more important than the impact of human capital and school quality on individual productivity and incomes.

STEPHEN ONYEKWELU