As TRCN mulls one-year internship for teacher trainees

MATTHEW ASABOR examines the proposed internship programme for graduates of education in Nigerian universities and colleges of education.

TEACHER quality has dominated the Nigerian media space, as well as private and public discussions for a couple of weeks now since the contentious competency test was administered to public school teachers in Kaduna State by the administration of Governor Nasir el-Rufai.

The shocking performance of teachers in that Primary 4 test (which 74 per cent of teachers reportedly failed) has revealed how badly public teacher quality has degenerated.

Though the Kaduna test has generated diverse reactions, including a street protest by teachers in that state, fully backed by the Nigerian Labour Congress, the message is not lost on Nigerians: teachers’ training and retraining, as well as certification need to be seriously looked at.

It is no longer news that the Teachers Registration Council, in its relentless drive to professionalise teaching, has commenced certification tests for teachers to validate their competency; but the stakes are about to be raised further as the council is proposing to have education graduates from universities and colleges of education undergo compulsory one-year internship programme before being licensed to teach.

The registrar of the council, Professor Josiah Ajiboye, gave the hint recently during a meeting with stakeholders from the North-Central zone in Abuja.

Ajiboye said this was part of the proposals presented to government at the special Federal Executive Council meeting on education to improve teaching quality in the country.

“If you can have houseman ship for medical doctors, why not a one-year internship programme for would-be teachers?  So, when they finish from the internship programme, they can be registered as professional teachers,” he explained.

He, however, told Tribune Education that the proposal was still being fine-tuned, and would be duly announced when it becomes a policy.

“Like medical doctors will do housemanship after their six years programme, we are thinking that for teaching to be a profession we all desire, there should also be a one-year internship programme to train would-be teachers the principles and practice of education,” he said.

Quite naturally, the announcement of the proposal has generated questions among stakeholders. Medical students are constantly under supervision by consultants who are thoroughbred and experienced experts in their fields. Who will supervise these teacher trainees? What will happen to the normal practice teaching sessions education students go through routinely as part of their coursework? Will interns be paid?

The Nigeria Union of Teachers had declared its support for the proposed internship – anything that could improve teachers’ quality; and has pledged to work with the TRCN on it.

Its president, Comrade Michael Alogba Olukoya, told Tribune Education: “We are partners in progress. The registrar of the TRCN is a technocrat and a professional. We must act along on what is in vogue all over the world.

“If doctors and engineers could go for internship after their university days, I think teachers should not be exception, especially in these days of melodrama of competence test. It is in order; we can give it a trial.”

But Ajiboye noted that the implementation and success of the proposed internship programme would depend on the states.

He said: “It is left for them to sit down and see how the proposal can come into limelight. It will go a long way in addressing the shortcomings and lacuna in the sector which have resulted into producing graduates that are not employable.

“That is why the universities and colleges of education have to gird their loins. Enough of treating this issue with kid gloves; every graduate must come and defend his/her certificate.”

The dean, Faculty of Education, National Open University (NOUN), Professor Ibrahim Salawu, believes that the reform is capable of improving quality and entrenching professionalism. However, he has some reservation about the length of internship, rather expressing preference for six months instead of one year.

“It is commendable and should be encouraged. I don’t think it will be like any other policies, if government could assist the body to function the way it should be; like you talk of Nursing Council, Council of Legal Studies; it is hard to do anything within these bodies without consulting them, even at the point of training their students,” he said.

However, he raised some pertinent questions.

“Salawu asked, “If you are asking teachers to go for one-year internship, under the tutorship of who? Who monitors the quality? Who is the teacher that you want to set as role model? When establishing an internship, you ensure that those who will serve as role models are there.”

He stressed the need for competence test for those that will provide the internship, so that, in his words, “you don’t deliver these new graduates into wrong hands to train.”

“For instance, it would be dangerous to place students under a teacher who cannot write lesson notes to train. They should be careful in implementing the proposal. It is laudable and a welcome development, but it should be done with caution,” he warned.

But reacting to the fears expressed by Professor Salawu, the TRCN registrar said there are still those he called ‘master teachers’ around to supervise the trainees. Ajiboye said what the council is proposing is a school-based, full time programme, and that experts with experience in teaching across various institutions would be available to serve as consultants.

Will the proposed internship override the teaching practice already embedded in the curriculum?

Ajiboye said, “The teaching practice is part of the school curriculum, and the proposed internship does not override it. Teachers need rigorous training in terms of teaching administration, and that’s why the proposed internship will be school-based programme, and full time.”

He reiterated that the council would employ professors from higher institutions, who will go around to monitor the activities of interns.

Ajiboye said it would be an overstatement to say all the teachers in various schools are not competent, as that there are still experienced teachers in schools across the country in different fields of learning who will be participating fully in the programme.

The TRCN registrar could not confirm whether or not students will be paid some stipends during the internship, but he said modalities could be worked out later, if it is eventually implemented.