The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has urged President Bola Tinubu to prioritise teachers’ values and welfare to make the profession more attractive for the younger generation.
National President of NUT, Audu Amba, who made the appeal urged the government to make teachers a model and recognise the teaching profession as a pillar of societal advancement.
Amba frowned at the current situation where teaching is made a ‘Hobson’s choice’ among admission and job seekers, an option not because it’s one’s preferred choice, but because it’s the only option available after others have been filled.
He said deliberate policies should be made to place teachers’ seats in frontal rows of other professions and teaching profession a preferred choice for youths.
He said many students had little or no passion for the teaching profession and this is always demonstrated when a candidate scores low marks in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
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 order not to lose 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 study medicine, you must score 300 marks and above. Why are such rules not applicable to Education?
“Those students that want to read medicine to become doctors, 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 the best candidate who scored 300 marks 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
He urged the government to take a cue from other countries like Finland where teaching profession is highly valued, respected and made to attract many applicants
According to him, Finland prioritises 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, 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.
He, therefore, urged the government to put policies in place to change the trend and psyche by making the teachers a role model and encouraging the best to become teachers.