‘Teacher training practices, curriculum due for review’

School Development Manager, Lekki British School (LBS), Dr. Dolapo Ogunbawo, has tasked the Federal Government to urgently review the current teachers training curriculum as doing so has the capacity to address challenges that often lead to poor performance of students in external examinations.
 
Additionally, she said government must endeavour to invest huge resources in the sector as obtainable in other developed climes, without which progress would not be made.
 
Ogunbanwo, who recently retired from a senior management position at London Centre for Leadership in Learning, Institute of Education, University of London, United Kingdom (UK), stressed that effort should be made by all stakeholders to reposition education in the country.

Speaking shortly after assuming the reigns at LBS, she said, “I started schooling in 1962, just after we attained independence. I am thoroughly made in Nigeria professionally, having obtained all my certificates from Nigerian institutions. So, if you ask me, I would say that it is the dedication that people had towards their jobs as teachers that I think is missing today in our education system.
 
“You will find from the quality of graduates from faculties of education, and even from other faculties that there is an element that is missing. Even though they (education graduates) have teaching qualifications, they need retraining. That is the reason I started running trainings for teachers since 1987. If the new minister of education must get it right, he needs to call those who know what to do to review the current teacher training practices, as well as the curriculum,” she stated.

She continued: “Governments overseas puts a lot of money into education but our government does not. That is the simple missing link. For schools in the UK, education is free. Any child in a school sponsored by government in the United Kingdom is taken care of as the government puts down nothing less than 4, 000 pounds per term towards their education.

On what she was bringing to the table at LBS, she said, “The school has done extremely well. I bring to a system that is already good, what would help promote it from good to outstanding. However, my concentration would be to make LBS the number one school of choice in Nigeria, and also an outstanding school globally. We would also introduce the Department for Special Needs Education by September 2016.”