The Many Ways JAMB Kills Teaching

The Many Ways JAMB Kills Teaching Profession
By Micheal Oche
— Oct 25, 2015 5:01
Over the years, the quality of teachers in Nigeria has been on the decline. While many reasons have been given for this decline, Michael Oche in this report unravels another major reason for the problem
While many reasons have been adduced for the falling standards of education in Nigeria, much attention has not been given to the root cause of the problem. Though, shortage of quality teachers have been a major reason for the falling standards, government is yet to find the right solution for addressing the issue of shortage in quality teachers.
Primary education is at the core of development and progress in modern societies. However, the quality of teachers who are to ensure the realisation of the aspirations parents hold for their children may depend greatly on the quality of their entry qualification.
Experts say there is an urgent need to investigate the entry qualifications, the mode of entry into schools and the reasons why students enroll in colleges of education, which provides the bulk of primary and secondary school teachers.
Checks by LEADERSHIP Sunday showed that majority of the students in colleges of educationdo not possess the mandatory five Ordinary Level credits or equivalents which is the minimum entry requirement for university education and that only a few of them really have the genuine desire to become teachers.
Experts have made recommendations on how to improve on the quality of entrants into the colleges of education and the teaching profession generally in Nigeria.
National president of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), comrade Chibuzo Asomugha, in a chat with LEADERSHIP Sunday, blamed the discriminatory entry qualification into universities, polytechnics and colleges of the education for poor quality of teachers
He said, “JAMB has not helped matters and that is the point our union is making. We have insisted earlier on, it was discriminatory entry qualification standard for admission to polytechnics, colleges of education and universities. But it was harmonized because we agitated. And at a point, the cut off points was the same for polytechnics and universities. And then, universities were admitting more and polytechnic was second. While colleges of education was third.
“But now, what has happened is that by some conspiracy between JAMB and some groups who come together in a forum every year, they said they want to set cut off points. And then, they set discriminatory cut off points. And as bad as discriminatory cut off point is, they also set discriminatory admission dates, so that universities will finish admission about a month earlier than polytechnics.
“So, what you discover is that universities of all kinds of dubious descriptions, of all kinds of dubious quality – what I am saying is that there are universities who have accreditation to award degrees in this country where you find only two buildings. And all the lecturers are people coming from other schools. No permanent lecturers. Their lecturers are part-time lecturers. And these universities are admitting students with higher cut off points. Supposedly, students with higher intellects and with a higher IQ. And when they have finished admitting all, whatever you have left are the ones that are allowed to move on to the polytechnics and then what you have lefts in the polytechnics move on to colleges of education. So what you are saying is that in the colleges of education, the people who we are preparing to teach our children, are the dullest in their set.”
Also speaking, the provost of the Federal College of Education Okene, Dr. Iyela Ajayie blamed the lack of motivation for teachers for refusal of the best brains to choose colleges of education as preferred place of destination for academic and career pursuit.
He said, “If you go to a country like Canada, you will discover that teachers are highly paid. In fact they are better paid than medical doctors and engineers. That is a country where teachers are valued. They know the importance of teachers. In fact you cannot become a doctor or engineer without going through a teacher. But in this country, our children do not want to become teachers. And parents prefer their children to read law, medicine and so on. But the truth of the matter is that some of these courses have become saturated in the sense that you have many engineering and law graduates without jobs.
“But I tell you, there are some areas in the field of education that are hot cake. Early childhood education for instance- if you have certificate in it- you can get job easily anywhere. If you have certificate in educational measurement and evaluation, these are important areas but nobody wants to come to college of education. So, my advice to them is that there is no point sitting in the house for many years because you want to study engineering and so on, even when you can’t secure the admission. If you come to college of education, there are areas you can still specialize in, and you will become useful in life”
Speaking also, chairman Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), federal wing, Comrade Okonta Emeka agree that students are not interested in going to colleges of education.
He said, “Supposing the teachers are receiving the kind of salary you are paying NNPC workers or CBN workers, those in CBN will want to come and teach.
“If you look at JAMB now, nobody wants to go and read education. What you see people do now is that when they don’t get university admission, they just go to college of education. The same thing with most teachers that are coming in. It is because they cannot get job elsewhere. They don’t have passion for it. But why don’t they have passion for it? It is because those who are there are not motivated.”
Checks on online showed that in the US, elementary school teachers educate their students in mathematics, language arts and social studies. Accordingly, students wanting to become elementary school teachers take courses in how to teach these subjects. These students also take courses in human development, child psychology, curriculum design and literacy instruction, all of which prepare them to teach classes to younger students. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS, (www.bls.gov) predicts a 12 per cent job growth for kindergarten and elementary school teachers between 2012 and 2022. Additionally, the BLS reported that the median annual salary for elementary school teachers was $54,120 and $50,600 for kindergarten teachers in May, 2014.
Students who plan on teaching at the middle or high school level generally take major-level courses in the subject they wish to teach, in addition to the required teacher education curriculum. For example, students wishing to teach economics to high school seniors may major in economics and education, completing both respective requirements to earn their degree. This helps aspiring middle and high school teachers develop skills in lesson planning and curriculum assessment in their field of interest. The BLS reports that the job market for middle school teachers will grow 12 per cent between 2012 and 2022, and six per cent for high school teachers. The BLS also reports that the median annual salary for middle school teachers was $54,940 and $56,310 for high school teachers in May 2014.
In other climes, checks show that to become a primary school teacher, unless your first degree is a Bachelor of Education (BEd) or a BA/BSc with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), it is essential to gain QTS or, in Scotland, a teaching qualification (TQ), in order to teach in the maintained/local authority sector.