UBEC harps on capacity building for teachers

THE executive secretary of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr Hamid Bobboi, has emphasized the urgent need for capacity building for teachers in order to deliver on quality basic education in Nigeria.

He spoke at a two-day meeting organised by UBEC for representatives of training institutions/colleges of education selected by State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) held in Kaduna.

These selected institutions were saddled with the responsibility of conducting the Cluster Schools Model (CSM) of teacher professional development in basic education institutions.

I killed Titi’s family members because she aborted our unborn baby ― Suspect

Bobboi who was represented by the eirector, UBEC north-west zonal office, Alhaji Badamasi Musa, recalled the outstanding efforts of some institutions in conducting training for teachers in previous years using the UBEC Teacher Professional Development (TPD) fund.

He stressed that the training institutions by reason of the roles they play hold a major stake in providing quality basic education in the country.

He expressed optimism that the various institutions selected on merit by the 36 SUBEBs and FCT UBEB for the next phase of the training (under the 2016 Teacher Professional Development activities) would deliver on their mandates.

He urged them to make the best use of the opportunity offered by the meeting to identify the priority training methods that would add value and enhance the attainment of the training objectives.

UBEC director, academic services, Mallam Wadatau Madawaki, told the participants that the significance of the Cluster Schools Model (CSM) training initiative was to enhance the capacity of basic education teachers and managers.

Madawaki also used the opportunity offered by the meeting to underscore the role of training institutions in conducting pre-service and in-service training of teachers as well as new initiatives in strengthening the effectiveness of the cluster model of teacher capacity development.

He further informed the participants that UBEC in partnership with other development partners has reviewed the cluster school training approach to include effective monitoring, follow-up and mentorship of participating teachers, assessment methods and tools that would ensure accurate data collection for improved and informed decision making on the implementation of the Cluster School Model in all states.

The two-day meeting featured paper presentations, deliberations on the reviewed cluster model implementation guides as well as question and answer sessions.