There is urgent need for more teachers in primary schools — Oyo NUT Chair

Comrade Raji Oladimeji Ismail, the former national president of the National Association of Primary School Games Teachers (NAPGAST) is the current state chairman of the Oyo State Nigeria Union of Teachers. In this interview with MODUPE GEORGE, he speaks about the state of education in Oyo State and activities of the union to complement the government’s efforts, among other issues.

What is the state of education generally in Oyo State?

Let me start on this note of special appreciation to the executive governor of Oyo State, Engr. Oluseyi Makinde, who has put in so much for teachers and the teaching profession in Oyo State. So, if we are to rate the level of Education in Oyo State, we would say there has been a tremendous improvement in terms of infrastructure, manpower and welfare of teachers. We have been fortunate in Oyo State, especially in the area of primary education; we enjoy a lot of interventions from the Federal Government, through the World Bank project, BESDA, among others, because we are very alive to our responsibilities. Also, the state has been paying the counterpart fund, which has actually given us the opportunity to access many of these intervention projects that have brought some level of development to education in the state.

Talking in terms of infrastructure, we move around and see that a lot of schools have been renovated and while some are newly built. However, the presence of peace is not the absence of agitation if you get to some areas you will still find one or two places where schools are not up to standard yet, most of which are in the rural areas, but the government is not resting. Concerning the teachers, consistent training and retraining exercises are in place. Under the national project called Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA), training is frequently organised for teachers in primary schools. While the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) also puts up training programmes in collaboration with the University of Ibadan, the NUT’s State Executive Council (SEC) also puts up capacity building workshops for the development of teachers. Another aspect we must mention is the prompt payment of teachers’ salary and other incentives attached to it. So far so good, the government is doing well. So, the state of education is something to write home about, unlike what it used to be.

..but how about the current cry for the service of ‘brilliant teachers’ in the rural communities?

In 2005, almost about 5000/6000 teachers were recruited by the then governor, Senator Rasheed Adewolu Ladoja. They were posted to various local governments, in such a way that those who sat for the interview were also committed to write their choice of local governments with the condition that “the moment you are posted to your choice local government you cannot leave until after some years” and they all agreed. To the best of my knowledge, these teachers were deployed equally in all the 33 local governments in the state. I’m sure that a lot of them are still in their locations. One good thing about the whole issue is that the government is a continuum, up till now, the embargo has not been lifted. So, it has been practically difficult for any teacher to leave the rural area for the urban, especially those who are captured under that particular arrangement.

To the best of my knowledge, we have competent, capable, responsible, committed teachers in almost all the local governments, but we must also identify the fact that for now, we have shortage of teachers in the primary schools, while we now have adequate teachers in the secondary schools. Thanks to the recruitment done by the government over a year ago, where a total of 5,000 teachers were recruited into secondary schools and apart from that over 1,000 teachers were redeployed from being non-teaching to teaching staff, raising the number to about 8,000 teachers being injected into the secondary schools. We can now sleep and close our eyes regarding having adequate teachers in secondary schools.

However, we have a shortage of teachers at the primary schools and we have mentioned this to the governor, who has also acknowledged the urgent need and is working towards addressing this. We believe this is part of his agenda in the new administration.

Virtually all the sectors have been affected by the new Japa syndrome, how has the trend affected the teaching profession in the state?

Progress, they say, is precarious; so, in an attempt to solve a problem you create another one. One good thing as far as this issue of Japa is concerned is that it has brought something good to Nigeria as a country. For instance, we attended a programme oraginsed by the Africa Federation of Teaching Regulatory Authorities (AFTRA) and the aim of the programme was to assess the level of capacity of regulatory authorities in Africa. I am glad to inform you that Nigeria is in the leading position in Africa and this has brought a lot of improvement to us as a nation.

In the same vein, the UK government  has given us a pass mark that whoever among out teachers who wants to travel out to take up teaching appointment would be given an automatic employment, without necessarily subjecting them to another rigorous interview or examination, having evaluated some the activities of out regulatory body – Teachers Regulatory Council of Nigeria (TRCN). Nigeria is one of the four African countries that have been given this kind of opportunity. We were made to understand that between February and May this year, we have recorded the transition of about 650 teachers who have taken advantage of this opportunity across different states of the federation.

On the other hand, it is a kind of warning that we should sit tight as a nation and do the needful to retain the best hands in our country, not losing them to other climes, where they would be more appreciated.  Of course, if we don’t appreciate them, definitely people from other countries will lure them to their side, give them all the necessary incentives and utilise their expertise for their own advancement.

The new law signed by President Muhmmadu Buhari on the teachers retirement age is yet to be domesticated in Oyo State, Why the delay?

Effort is ongoing concerning the domestication of the new retirement age. Conversations have been ongoing by the executive of the government in this regard, which will be followed by an interactive session or stakeholders meeting. Thereafter, we will take the resolve of the meeting back to the executives of the Oyo State House of Assembly for domestication. Some governors made pronouncement about the new retirement age without having discussed with their executive and they later work on the modalities. Our governor is one of such people who believes in all-inclusiveness. He wants to have a robust discussion with his executives for the necessary support before making the pronouncement. He doesn’t want to make pronouncement and thereafter begin the process.

A lot of dust was raised by the government concerning the collection of illegal fees in schools. what are these illegal fees?

It is high time we educated our teachers on this new development; the government of the day has zero tolerance for illegal collection of money in our schools. However, the majority of bodies like the  Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), old students associations and other critical stakeholders that have also been doing this on behalf of the schools. What the government of Oyo State is saying is that if you want to make a contribution towards any form of project in the school or alma mater, let it be organised in such a way that it does not involve our pupils and students. The government in not in support of anyone charging money and sending such monies through the learners to school. So, if the PTA or the old students want to do a project, they must find a way of meeting with the schools’ head or principal to make their request known. If there is going to be any collection of money let it be within themselves. The government frowns on the idea of sending money through the learners to school or any of the stakeholders coming to the classrooms to ask for money or sending those who have not paid out of the classroom.

What effort is your union putting in place to enhance teaching with new technology in public schools?

The era of an analog teacher teaching a digital pupil is gone. Majority of our teachers in secondary and primary schools are  ICT-compliant ,but there are some other factors militating against the effectiveness of this in terms of teaching and learning. There are so many things lacking in our schools to enhance the effectiveness of ICT and other things. We are not running away from these facts. This is why I want to say that we are open to assistance from corporate bodies, organisations who wish  to partner with us in this regard. The truth is the government cannot do it alone.

For instance, I got a report just two days ago that a set of computers numbering 30 were donated to a public school in the state by a set of old students from the US who believed that they must develop their school. There are limiting factors such as where to keep the computers; some of our schools are not safe, most of public schools are not fenced, most especially primary schools. Another factor is about generating power to run these gadgets. Some hoodlums gain access to schools immediately after school hours to destroy things and cart away valuable materials. These are some of the issues we had to grapple with as a union, but we will not relent on doing what is right.

What effort is the NUT making to protect the girl-child who in most cases is prone to some of these issues raised on insecurity?

NUT is an affiliate of ‘Education International. It has been directed by the body to create a unit that is dedicated to female gender issues in schools and it is to be handled by the female teachers. Just about two months ago, we as a union inaugurated the unit, christened as the Nigeria Women in Education Network (NIWEN). This is in tandem with international practice. This is a specific global directive to members of the body to inaugurate the unit; empower, saddle its members with responsibility of uncovering girl-child-related issues for the purpose of protecting, counselling and mentorship of the female pupils and students in our various schools.

As the number one teacher in the state can you share with us other grey areas in the state’s education sector that need urgent attention by the government?

I want to appreciate the executive Governor of Oyo State, Engr ‘Seyi Makinde, for what he has done for teachers in the state and the education sector generally in Oyo State. We want to appeal to the governor for recruitment of more teachers in primary schools in the state. We already have adequate teachers in the secondary arm but there is a serious shortage of teachers in primary school. Another one is about moving our teachers at the primary school from level 15 to16.

Also, I want to use this opportunity to plead with the governor to please have mercy on some of our teachers who were demoted on the basis of examination malpractices. I want to categorically say that not all of these people actually participated in the crime; some of them were involved due to negligence. We want to beg the governor to please have mercy on them and as we also want to assure him that such will not happen again.