The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Angela Ajala, has issued a stark warning that Nigeria’s continued neglect of teacher education could severely undermine the nation’s future, insisting that no sector can rise above the quality of its teachers.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ECAN) in Abuja, Ajala described teacher education as the “engine room” of national development, stressing that every profession in society is ultimately shaped in the classroom.
She cautioned that when teacher training is compromised, the consequences are not immediate but generational, affecting engineers, doctors, scientists, entrepreneurs, and political leaders who all pass through the hands of teachers.
“If we get it wrong with a teacher, then Nigeria is finished,” she warned, emphasizing that the classroom remains the most powerful institution for shaping national destiny.
Ajala lamented the growing decline in the prestige of the teaching profession in Nigeria, noting that it is increasingly viewed as a fallback option rather than a respected career path.
According to her, this perception crisis has contributed to falling enrolment in Colleges of Education, with some institutions reportedly struggling with very low student numbers across multiple programmes, a trend she described as dangerous for the country’s future workforce.
Defending recent reforms in the sector, she explained that changes such as adjustments to admission requirements, including the removal of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) requirement in some cases, were based on data and aimed at expanding access while strengthening outcomes.
She argued that UTME, being a short standardized test, should not be the sole measure of a candidate’s suitability for teacher training, insisting that broader reforms are needed to rebuild the system.
Ajala further revealed that curriculum reforms are ongoing to align Nigerian teacher education with global best practices, noting that countries like Finland and Singapore are often referenced, but Nigeria is not far behind in structure—only in implementation.
She warned that if the current decline in enrolment is not urgently addressed, Nigeria could soon face a critical shortage of qualified teachers, with far-reaching consequences for basic and tertiary education delivery.
The NCCE boss also highlighted that reforms are designed to make graduates of Colleges of Education more globally competitive, allowing them to acquire multiple qualifications and modern skills relevant to 21st-century learning environments.
Earlier, the Chairman of Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria, Chucks Ukwuatu, commended Ajala as the first female Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education, pledging stronger media collaboration to improve public understanding and reporting of education issues.
The visit ended with renewed commitments from both sides to strengthen teacher education in Nigeria, even as growing insecurity highlighted by recent kidnappings of teachers and students in parts of Oyo State continues to cast a shadow over the country’s education sector.
