Safe Schools: We can’t train 21st century teachers where learners feel unsafe — Provosts

The Committee of Provosts of Colleges of Education has called for stronger measures to secure learning institutions across the country, warning that Nigeria cannot train 21st-century teachers in environments where learners feel physically, emotionally or psychologically unsafe.

The committee also stressed the need for teacher-training institutions to equip educators with the skills required to protect learners from bullying, harassment, violence, exclusion and other threats that could undermine their education.

The position came against the backdrop of renewed concerns over attacks on schools and the broader security challenges confronting educational institutions across Nigeria, with the Federal Government seeking to strengthen the concept of safe learning environments as an integral part of education delivery.

Speaking on behalf of the Committee of Provosts at a National Trainers’ Workshop on Safe Learning Environment, Gender-Responsive Pedagogy and ICT Skills for Educators in Teacher Training Institutions in Nigeria, the Provost, Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba, Dr James Olisa, described the intervention as timely.

Olisa said safe learning environments must become a fundamental component of teacher education, stressing that educators could not adequately prepare learners for the realities of the 21st century if their own training environments failed to demonstrate safety, inclusion and respect.

He said, “We cannot train 21st-century teachers in an environment where learners feel unsafe — physically, emotionally, or psychologically.

“We must model campuses to be free from harassment, bullying and violence, where every student teacher can thrive,” he stated.

His remarks are particularly significant as schools and other learning institutions continue to face security concerns, making the protection of learners, teachers and education personnel an increasingly important component of education planning.

Olisa further called for greater attention to gender-responsive pedagogy, saying teacher educators must be prepared to identify and dismantle gender stereotypes in teaching materials, classroom interactions and assessment.

He said both male and female student teachers should be given equal opportunities to excel, particularly in science and technology.

On digital education, the provost said the traditional chalkboard approach could no longer adequately prepare learners for a rapidly changing world.

“The chalkboard era is gone. A teacher who is not digitally literate cannot prepare learners for a digital world,” he said, urging teacher-training institutions to move from theory to practical integration of ICT into teaching and learning.

Earlier, the Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Ahmad, said the Federal Government was concerned that it might be counting children who were physically present in school without adequately knowing how many were actually safe, participating and learning.

Ahmad, who was represented by the Director, Colleges of Education in the Federal Ministry of Education, Dr Uchenna Uba, spoke at the workshop organised to strengthen the capacity of educators in teacher-training institutions.

She said enrolment and attendance figures alone could no longer provide a complete picture of the state of education in Nigeria, noting that children could remain physically present in classrooms while bullying, exclusion, ridicule and unsafe environments gradually pushed them out of meaningful learning.

According to her, UNICEF data showed that 74 per cent of children aged seven to 14 lacked basic reading and mathematics skills in 2024, a situation she said underscored the need to look beyond access and attendance when assessing educational outcomes.

Ahmad said a child’s presence in school must be matched by evidence that the learner was safe, included, participating and learning.

She said the Federal Ministry of Education had introduced the National Policy on Anti-Bullying in Nigerian Schools and its implementation guidelines, but stressed that the success of the policy would ultimately depend on what teachers and other adults did when confronted with bullying, abuse or exclusion.

“Success, however, will be decided in schools and classrooms by whether a teacher recognises bullying, whether a child knows how to seek help, and whether the adults responsible respond with care and consistency,” she said.

The minister also linked the ability of teachers to protect vulnerable learners to the conditions under which they work, noting that overcrowded classrooms, inadequate teaching materials and heavy workloads could affect their capacity to identify and respond to learners in distress.

“We cannot simply hand her a policy and expect every difficulty to disappear. We must prepare her to put it into practice. That is the promise of this workshop,” she said.

The workshop is training 45 master trainers drawn from 15 colleges of education, who are expected to cascade the knowledge acquired to about 500 teacher educators across the country.

The training focuses on safe learning environments, gender-responsive pedagogy, prevention and response to school-related gender-based violence, as well as digital teaching and ICT skills.

Ahmad also urged the beneficiary institutions to ensure that ICT equipment provided through the support of the Government of Japan and UNESCO translated into practical improvements in teacher preparation and classroom learning.

She challenged the master trainers to replicate the training in their respective institutions, provide opportunities for colleagues to practise the approaches and monitor whether the interventions were producing measurable changes in classrooms.

The Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Japan in Nigeria, Kozaki Hitoshi, reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to supporting education development in Nigeria.

Kozaki said the value of the intervention would ultimately depend on how beneficiary institutions deployed the equipment and skills provided to improve teacher preparation and learning outcomes.

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The workshop therefore places renewed emphasis on the need for Nigeria’s safe-school agenda to address not only bullying, harassment and gender-based violence, but also the broader security threats that can prevent children and teachers from learning and working in safe environments.

The Committee of Provosts maintained that teacher education must prepare educators not only to teach, but also to recognise threats, protect vulnerable learners and create learning environments where students can participate without fear.