Lagos – A former Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Munzali Jibril, has hinged the crisis in the country’s education system on the “quality and quantity’’ of its teachers. 

Jubril made the remark while delivering the golden jubilee 2012 pre-convocation lecture of the University of Lagos (Unilag) on Tuesday. 

The theme of the lecture was: “Nigerian higher education: Agenda for reform’’. 
According to him, the nation has a serious deficit in the quality and quantity of teachers. The crisis in our education system is the crisis of teachers. 

“One of the fundamental problems of teachers and teaching in this country is that it is now the profession of last resort. 

“To this effect, quality cannot be found or sustained where only those who have no interest in teaching join the profession,’’ Jubril said. 

The one-time NUC boss said 38.75 per cent of the nation’s teachers did not possess the Nigerian Certificate of Education or higher qualifications, according to statistics given by Nigeria’s Education Roadmap of 2009. 

Jubril also said as at 2009, only 44 per cent of the teachers required in the polytechnics and colleges of education were available. 

He said that a shortfall of 39 per cent in the number of teachers required at the university level during the same period was also recorded. 

According to him, over 60 per cent of teachers in the universities are junior academic staff, whose proportion should not have exceeded 45 per cent. 

Jubril explained that the development was indicative of the shortage of senior and more experienced lecturers. 

“About 32 per cent of all lecturers in Nigerian universities had no teaching qualifications as teacher- trainers in 1999/2000. 

“Little wonder then that our educational system is characterised by low quality output and inefficiency as illustrated by the low performance levels in the National Senior Secondary School Examination,’’ he added. 

He called for a reorientation of teachers and the need to accord recognition to the teaching profession. 

“Research carried out recently among secondary school students in the country showed that about 80 per cent of them did not wish to go to a college of education to pursue NCE course. 

“In the 2000/2001 matriculation examinations, only 22.49 per cent of the available places in the colleges of education were filled through direct entry owing to the shortage of qualified and interested candidates. 

“This has forced the colleges to admit most of their students through the pre-NCE or remedial route, thereby lowering the quality of intakes even further. 

“The NCE programme which was originally designed to address the problem of critical shortage of teachers at the basic education level in the 1960s appeared to have outlived its usefulness.’’ 

He explained that non-recruitment of NCE products had resulted in thousands of them roaming the streets. 

Jubril said teaching should be made the profession of first choice through attractive remuneration for the country’s education to improve. 

He added:“the welfare of teachers and the condition of service, including working environment, tools and facilities as well as career growth and prospects must also be considered. 

“To raise the quality of teachers and teaching, the status of the profession to become the destination of first choice must be enhanced. 

“This could be achieved by raising the salaries of teachers at all levels to at least 10 per cent above their counterparts in the civil service.’’ 

Earlier, in his opening remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), tasked the university management on the need to improve on the institution’s current ranking. 

Olanipekun, who is the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council of the University of Ibadan, said Unilag’s achievements should position it as Africa’s best. 

“With the calibre of products the university has produced over the years, it must work toward becoming the best in Africa and among the best 100 in the world in no distant time,’’ Olanipekun said. (NAN)