Before engaging unemployed graduates as teachers

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, recently announced the intention of the Federal Government to convert most of the unemployed graduates to teachers in a bid to tackle the perennial problem of graduate unemployment, adding that all youths in the country are not entitled to the N5,000 monthly stipend promised by the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government, hence the basis for putting in place the teacher recruitment programme.

Ngige had clarified that contrary to the widely-held opinion that the N5,000 was meant for all youths, only the vulnerable youths would benefit from the welfare package. The minister further said that “most unemployed graduates would be converted to teachers. The move is equally aimed at boosting the education sector. For the social safety needs, we have budgeted N500 billion for the next fiscal year. We have captured unemployed graduates. We are doing two things; we get those who read Law, Engineering and other disciplines but do not have jobs. We would train them for nine months and convert them to teachers.”

The initiative on the part of government to provide employment to its teeming unemployed populace is a right step in the right direction. The adverse effect of joblessness can better be imagined. Apart from the restiveness that is a fall-out of such a situation, there is the challenge of under-utilisation of human capacity that should be at the centre-point of economic development.

Nigerian teachers suffer from poor pay and bad working conditions. In most states, teachers are usually the last to be paid their meagre salaries at the end of the month, if they are paid at all. Many states still owe teachers several months of accumulated salaries and allowances while the retired ones do not receive their entitlements as and when due. A combination of these factors have made teaching – a noble profession – to be rendered unattractive and relegated to the background

Over the years and despite the existence of series of programmes, the rate of unemployment has remained ever high and alarming. As laudable as the plan of the government is, there is the need to exercise caution before its implementation to ensure that the nation’s educational system is better-off.

It is commonly known that Nigerian teachers suffer from poor pay and bad working conditions. In most states, teachers are usually the last to be paid their meagre salaries at the end of the month, if they are paid at all. Many states still owe teachers several months of accumulated salaries and allowances while the retired ones do not receive their entitlements as and when due. A combination of these factors have made teaching – a noble profession – to be rendered unattractive and relegated to the background.

Apart from the problem of infrastructural decay, other quality assurance measures appear to have been lost over the years in our schools. It would be recalled that there was a time in Nigeria when certain practices, such as writing of lesson notes gave teaching its professional edge, which was made mandatory.

Today, hardly do teachers come to classrooms to teach with well-prepared and supervised lesson notes. Many of them simply dish-out teaching instructions without making adequate preparation, which could largely account for why students fail to comprehend what is being taught. It is not an exaggeration that most Nigerian teachers are not computer-literate.

Generally speaking, many unemployed graduates find themselves in teaching just to earn a living and for want of other things to do. Even those trained as teachers have abandoned the profession for more paying jobs.  Quality education remains the rock on which any progressive nation can build its future while cornerstone of this foundation lies with the teachers.

Definitely, the products of Nigeria’s schools will be only as good as the quality of their teachers. In countries that truly seek development such as Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium in which the best brains are assigned to teaching and remunerated adequately and invariably reflects in their levels of development. If Nigeria is to make any remarkable progress, teachers and the teaching profession should be accorded dignity in all respects.

Today, hardly do teachers come to classrooms to teach with well-prepared and supervised lesson notes. Many of them simply dish-out teaching instructions without making adequate preparation, which could largely account for why students fail to comprehend what is being taught. It is not an exaggeration that most Nigerian teachers are not computer-literate.

Unfortunately, not much premium has been placed on effective educational planning, curriculum, budgeting and personnel, among others. This should not be so. Education should indeed be well-funded, be given priority by governments at all levels and be spared of unnecessary politicking.

The sorry state of our schools is not too different from what is obtainable in the nation’s higher institutions. Teachers are products of tertiary institutions such as colleges of education and universities. Bemoaning this rot, a foremost educationists and former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Peter Okebukola disclosed that over 80 per cent of teachers working in higher education institutions in the country have not received formal training.

While delivering the 10th Convocation Lecture of Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, titled: ‘Higher Education and Africa’s Future: Doing What is Right,’ the Don stated that the “Depreciating quality of higher education teachers is a problem of the education sector. The inability to have quality higher education teachers, on account of its relative newness, only a few have training and skills as majority of them are learning on the job, which has resulted in the stagnancy of higher education.”

Prof. Okebukola observed that there are several gaps that needed to bridge in the quest to reduce the stagnancy in education and elevate it to enviable heights. “More importantly, problem on the part of students is as a result of their attitude towards working. People no longer want to read but want to pass. As a student, there should be willingness to read, you shouldn’t be forced. Poor attitude is reflected in absenteeism, nonchalance towards assignments and writing of lecture notes.”

It is for the above stated reasons that the Federal Government should ensure that the unemployed graduates to be engaged as teachers are truly given the requisite training otherwise, the purpose for embarking on the policy may not be achieved. In addition, in selecting the beneficiaries, due process should be followed to ensure that those that are genuinely jobless are chosen not those that are well-connected. Necessary mechanism should also be put in place to avoid a situation whereby the candidates would be subjected to unnecessary exploitation by government officials, as was the case with job-seekers in the past.

Beyond the nine-month pre-appointment training, successful candidates should be made to register with the relevant bodies in the teaching profession in the country. This would not only make them real professionals guided by ethics, it would afford them the opportunity to interact with other colleagues by participating in continuous development programmes.

Just like in other professions such as law, medicine, accounting, banking, engineering and journalism, a teacher is not inferior and hence, should regularly update his/her knowledge and competencies in our fast-changing world, whereby everything is going digital. That is why the government should not miss this opportunity by ensuring that the best hands are recruited into the teaching profession!
• Kupoluyi writes from Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta(FUNAAB),adewalekupoluyi@yahoo.co.uk,@AdewaleKupoluyi