The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) National President Comrade Audu Amba, has frowned at the current situation where teaching is made a “Hobson’s choice” among admission and job seekers – an option not because it’s your preferred choice, but because it’s the only option available after others have been filled.
Amba made the remark in Abuja.
Amba said deliberate policies should be made to place teacher’s seat in frontal rows of other professions and teaching profession a preferred choice for youths.
Amba said many students had little or no passion for teaching profession and this was most demonstrated when a candidate scores low marks in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
He told President Bola Tinubu to priotise teacher’s values and welfare to make the profession more attractive for younger generation.
He urged the government to make teacher a model and recognise the teaching profession as a pillar of societal advancement.
According to him, when a candidate scores below the cut-off marks of first and second choice courses, he or she is often compelled to study education in other not to loose admission for the year.
“Today in our secondary schools everybody is scrambling to get 300 and above in the UTME so that he or she can read medicine.
“The university system made it clear that before you read .Medicine, you must score 300 marks and above. Why is such rules not applicable to Education?
“Those students that want to read Medicine to become Doctor, who taught and will still teach them, is it not the teacher?,” he retorted.
According to him, if the teacher is not sound, how could he or she impact the needed knowledge and training the child needs to study medicine?
“It should be that the best candidate that got 300 scores that should study education and teach.
“That is what is happening in some of the countries that have decided to change their direction, and that’s why they are getting it right.
“A teacher should be very intelligent, knowledgeable and should be the best, to impact knowledge,” he said
Amba urged the government to take cue from other countries like Finland where teaching profession is highly valued, respected and made to attracts many applicants
According to him, Finland priotises education and has systems that ensure teachers are respected professionals with a very high emolument and a strong sense of autonomy, stability and security in their work.
“In fact, if you go to Finland today, you’ll be proud to be called a teacher because the issue is that, teaching is not just lucrative, but even more challenging.
“But today in Nigeria, parents don’t even encourage their children to go into teaching profession, even the students themselves.
“Go to classrooms, just ask little children in primary school, who wants to be a teacher? Hardly will you see anybody raising his or her hand.
“But ask, Who wants to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer? They will raise their hands.
“Why is it so? Because they feel those are the professions that are valued, respected and well remunerated,” he said.
Amba, therefore urged the government to put policies in place to change the trend and psyche by making the teacher a role model and encouraging its best to become a teacher.
