The Registrar and Chief Executive, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria(TRCN), Prof Josiah Ajiboye, has said that some teachers in Nigeria particularly in primary and secondary schools are a century gap backward as they are still relying on the 20th Century knowledge and skills.
He said teachers in that category are those who have not upgraded themselves with relevant 21st Century skills that will help them to perform optimally in classrooms in line with best global practices.
He said such teachers are everywhere but more in the remote communities and that they should understand that they are only buying time as they will soon become unusable again in the profession.
He gave the remark as one of the panellists at the 2022 Education Summit programme organised by the Lagos State government recently.
Speaking on the theme of the two-day event, “Creating a Sustainable fit-for-purpose education model, ” Ajiboye said the world is changing fast and so also the mode of operations in every sector of the economy and profession including teaching.
According to him, people don’t do things again the same way as in times of old.
He said, “That is why it is more than necessary that any teacher who loves his or her job and knows what he or she is doing at this technology knowledge- the based economy must be ICT compliant and savvy, otherwise he or she will soon be replaced by technology.
“This is because the roles of teachers have changed and many students nowadays know more than their teachers because they do lots of research and make the internet their friend and also innovative.
“Those students are ever ready to challenge their teachers, who are not well-prepared.”
In his own presentation, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof Olufemi Bamiro said that even though there are lots of problems confronting the education sector in Nigeria, chief among them is the poor delivery of curriculum by teachers across levels of education.
He said another one is not about the lack of policies and programmes that can bring about required substantial change in the system but the non-implementation of such policies as laid down.
He said it is high time that Nigeria’s government saw teachers as agents of development even as the school should also collaborate with industries to produce fit-for-purpose manpower for the country and beyond.
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