6 reasons youths lack interest in teaching profession

It would not be a mistake to refer to the teaching profession as the king of all professions. This is because every other profession emanates from it. But it’s quite saddening that this prestigious profession is gradually losing its relevance in society.  

People, especially the youths are no longer interested in this great profession because of a number of reasons which include but are not limited to the poor educational system of the country, poor remuneration, the desire to get rich quickly by youths, and so on. 

The above reasons and others which account for the dwindling interest of youths in the teaching profession are discussed in this article.  

 

1. The poor educational system in the country

The Holy Book says ‘When the foundation is destroyed, what can the righteous do?’ The appalling state of the educational system in the country especially that of the government owned institution of learning is worrisome.  

The educational system of the nation is characterised by various crises such as lack of adequate infrastructure, neglect, waste of resources, poor conditions of service, and so on. All these and more continually discourage Nigerian youths from seeing the teaching profession as a viable career path for them. 

 

2. Poor salaries/remuneration

Teachers should be well paid as a result of the great and delicate role they perform in the life of every child, but it’s surprising that they are among the poorly remunerated workers, especially in this part of the world.  

 The notion that no one can pay for the real worth of a teacher and that their ultimate reward will be gotten in the afterlife is yet another factor that discourages young ones from going into the profession. 

  This same notion also applies to those in the medical field. They are among the highest-paid workers in the world so why should the teachers be paid less? 

 

3. Desire to get money quick

The desire to get money quick or become financially dependent at a young age characterises the younger generation. Some youths do not believe in hardwork but will rather prefer to cut corners or look for quck means to become wealthy. 

The teaching profession is one that is done because of an individual’s passion and love for impacting knowledge and not majorly for monetary reason.  Thus, there is a decline of youths interested in the profession as most youths desire to make it quick within the shortest time. 

 

4. Love for ‘soft’ work

The youths of this generation are no longer interested in any job that is tasking or demanding. They prefer what is regarded to as “soft” work, that is, a work or job with little or no stress with yet a good income.  

So, it should not be surprising that there is a decline of interest in the teaching profession as it is a job that’s demanding and stressful at times.  

 

5. Unencouraging testimonies from those currently working in the system

There are cases in which some teachers have consciously or unconsciously discouraged young people who have a passion for teaching from the profession.  

There are cases where a teacher continually talks to students about going into lucrative career paths rather than following their passion as a result of the teacher’s own experience or a teacher who constantly complains of the poor condition of service or poor remuneration before the students.   

This is enough reason for anyone not to go into the profession despite the passion as they would rather choose to learn from their teachers’ experience rather than experiencing this themselves.  

 

6. Lack of prestige associated with the profession

The teaching profession has become one that is daily experiencing a reduction in its prestige as a result of a number of factors. The nonchalant attitude of the government to the academic staff, the crumbling state of the nation’s educational system, and poor remuneration are all factors that contribute to the decline in the prestige of the teaching profession. Even those in the teaching industry will rather advise you to go into other viable options than teaching. 

Regardless of the decline in interest of youths in the teaching profession, it still remains the king of the profession. If you have an interest in impacting knowledge to others this shouldn’t debar you because as a teacher you are a nation builder.  

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