The Registrar of Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria, Prof Josiah Ajiboye, made this known during a one-day Capacity Training Workshop for Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ECAN).

The Registrar also said that since the beginning of 2021, he has signed about 100 letters for qualified Nigerian teachers who secured teaching jobs in Canada and other parts of the world.

He stated that teachers trained in Nigeria are becoming highly competitive, adding that government at all levels should do its best to attract them to stay back home.

Prof. Ajiboye who emphasised that the approvals given by President Muhammadu Buhari on repositioning teaching profession in the country, called for adherence by the State government as well saying, States are the largest employers of the teachers.

He said that with the approvals given by the President and with its full implementation across the country with the cooperation of states, more qualified teachers will be retained in the system.

Also speaking at the event, Assistant Director in the council, Dr Abimbola Okunola, said that the teaching profession has been rated more critical than any other profession in the world, hence the need to attract the best brains for the practice of teaching in the country.

He, therefore, emphasised the need for professionalism as the secret behind the success or collapse of any vocation, hence the need to critically take professionalism seriously in the teaching profession.

On his part, Assistant Director, Department of Planning, Research and Statistics in TRCN, Dr Magaji Waziri, said that the country has been flooded with unqualified manpower which had lowered the quality of teachers in the system.

Waziri maintained that there was therefore the need to set standards at all levels while ensuring quality teaching and learning through monitoring and supervision of teacher education programmes.

Also speaking at the event, Chairman of ECAN, Chuks Ukwuatu, called on journalists to ensure adequate reportage of education stories to foster development in other sectors.

Ukwuatu commended TRCN for its role in ensuring excellence in the professionalism of teachers as well as maintenance of teachers’ quality.

No lesser than 14,000 public school teachers in Lagos State have benefitted from the EkoExcel phase III empowerment programme, aimed at expanding their knowledge through technology and ensuring that they are globally competitive.

Speaking at the graduation ceremonies held at Vetland Primary School, Agege and CMS Primary School, Bariga, respectively, the Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Wahab Alawiye-King, congratulated the teachers while appealing to them to explore new opportunities by getting out of their comfort zones and expanding their frontier of knowledge.

He described EkoExcel as the complete transformation of the basic education sector and a total departure from the traditional way of teaching in the classroom, designed to instill discipline and make teaching and learning more interactive and engaging using technology.

He said “It is about empowering the teachers to make them globally competitive. The important aspect is about integration of technology in our classroom by making the teachers more productive and efficient. We get to monitor the time of arrival and performance indicators”.

He added that empowerment goes beyond capacity building, but instilling discipline in and rewarding them.

Speaking on his expectations from them, Alawiye- King said, “if we don’t have teachers who are academically qualified, there is no way we can reach our goal which is to transform the sector.”

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Abosede Adelaja also congratulated the teachers, while advising them to change the face of education and the narrative in the state which is one of the transformation agenda of the present administration.

The Permanent Board Member in charge of EkoExcel, Bayo Adefuye appealed to the teachers to be the star that will change the next generation for the better, adding that the governor is raising the standard of education to ensure that they become digital.

He said “We want you to rewrite the Nigerian story. We want you to make our children great. You are the one we are trusting with this great task. Let our children be great by raising them as your own children”.

A primary six teacher at Vetland Primary School, Sarah Abiodun Oladipo, who spoke on behalf of the teachers, promised that no matter what comes her way in the state, she would ensure that every child in her custody becomes the best.

A total of 294 members from across the country were recently inducted by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (CIPSMN) and advised to abide by its ethics.

Speaking at the 2021 group A induction ceremony held in Lagos, the Registrar, Mohammed Jimoh Aliu reteirated the need for government to professionalise procurement as enshrined in the Public Procurement Act of 2007 so that there can be value for tax payers’ money.

He noted that every public official saddled with the responsibility of procurement must be duly trained, certified by the institute and be guided by the ethics of the profession.

Aliu listed some of the challenges confronting the institute to include lack of procurement policy and procedures; lack of inauguration of Public Procurement Council and proper domestication of its certificate in the scheme of service of the federation.

The registrar described procurement as a critical aspect of any organisation as they cannot function efficiently without continuous flow of right quantity and quality materials to support operations.

He expressed concern that this field of endeavour is constantly being abused on a daily basis in the country and that is why it is not evidenced in the tax payers money and the delivery of quality service and security.

The registrar added that that those at the helm of goverment affairs have been frustrating the domestication of its certificate leading to corrupt practices in the system.

The President of the institute, Jubrin advised the professionals to abide by its rules and regulations and be hard working, adding that failure to adhere to these will attract sanctions from the body.

The federal government has expressed its readiness to roll out the accelerated basic education programme that will enable disadvantaged children between the ages of 10 and 18 years have access to education.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who was speaking when he received the new curriculum developed by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) for the Accelerated Basic Education Programme (ABEP) from the Executive Secretary of the Council, Professor Junaidu Ismail in Abuja, noted that all stakeholders would be carried along to ensure successful implementation of the programme.

Adamu, who bemoaned the high level of illiteracy in the country, stated that the projection of the government was that in the next five years, the country should attain 90 per cent literacy rate with the accelerated programme and other programmes put in place by the ministry.

The minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono, said obsolete curriculum posed a big problem to quality education in the country, adding that the review of basic education curriculum would be taken into consideration.

He revealed that the National Universities Commission (NUC) has commenced a review of the curriculum of universities and that this would be ready soon.

The Executive Secretary of NERDC, Prof Junaidu Ismail, on his part said that the programme was implemented in partnership with Plan International, under the EU-Borno project being funded by European Union.

He revealed that the programme and curriculum were approved for implementation by the National Council of Education at its 64th meeting in Port Harcourt in 2019 and was piloted in Borno with 54 learning centers. He said over 8,000 learners have enrolled.

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu recently launched acollaboration between the Lagos State University (LASU) and an American based University, Cornell University, New York for 16 professional certificate programmes to be jointly run by the two institutions.

Speaking during the virtual launch ceremony, the governor stated that the establishment of LASU/Cornell University Postgraduate Professional Certificate Programmes was aimed at giving prospective students across the country an opportunity to gain global skills and professional expertise that will not only make them relevant and employable, but globally competitive in the 21st-century digital economy.

He said the decision to collaborate with Cornell University, rated to be one of the best leading universities in the world, was borne out of the desire to keep and sustain LASU’s present pedigree and high academic profile as the second-best university in Nigeria and one of the best 600 in the world.

While promising that the state government would closely monitor all the treaties and agreements under the collaboration to ensure that there is no breach of trust, the governor appealed to the foreign partners to give LASU/Cornell collaboration all necessary support and professional advice that would not only enhance LASU’s current ratings, but make it a university of first choice in Africa.

In his remarks, Cornell University Vice-President, Professor Paul Krause, said that his institution was ready to partner LASU to run 16 professional certificate courses that would help to build the capacity of prospective students through exposure and impactful training.

He noted that globally, the university is one of the leading institutions in entrepreneurship skills development, innovation and creativity, management, leadership training, engineering, data science and statistics, promising that it would design a programme content to impact on the productivity of the students.

Krause commended the governor for investing in education, adding that learning remains a strong weapon to fight ignorance and bring sustainable development to the society.

The acting Vice-Chancellor of LASU, Professor Oyedamola Oke, disclosed that the collaboration process started about three years ago during the tenure of the former VC, Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun in furtherance of the university’s academic excellence.

He said the collaboration would give LASU’s professional certificate programmes an international outlook, add value and bring improvement to the quality of learning.