truth4meal:
Don’t Post NYSC Members To Schools; They Cause Mass Failure- Teachers Council

The Teachers Council has said that the mass failure witnessed in various examinations for primary and secondary school students is partly caused by the youth corps members who are posted to teach without being qualified.

The Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN, on Tuesday, said authorities of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, should stop deployment of corps members, who lack basic knowledge of teaching, to teach in schools.

The Director of Operations of the Council, Steve Nwokocha, made the declaration at the maiden induction/graduation of 118 Professional Diploma in Education graduates held at the Federal College of Education, Osiele, Abeokuta.

He said the deployment of unqualified teachers, like the youth corps members, contributed to the mass failure being witnessed in the country in recent years.

“The issue of having mass failure is a process. Part of the people contributing to the process are these corpers. It is an abuse to our profession,” he said.

“Government should stop posting youth corpers to teach in schools. We at the council are against posting of NYSC without teaching background to schools,” he added.

Mr. Nwokocha argued that only graduates of education should be posted to schools, saying the council was ready to rid the country of quack and fake teachers.

“What we are saying is that NYSC should make sure that only corps members who read education should be deployed to schools. Our council is against the deployment of graduates to schools,” he emphasised.

Majority of the hundreds of thousands of graduates who partake in the NYSC program annually are posted to schools to teach.

In a related development, Mr. Nwokocha disclosed that the council has established a Teachers Tribunal across all states in the country to deal with erring professional teachers.

He said the tribunal composition comprises of 5 members, including one from a University; one from a College of Education; and three nominated by Commissioners for Education, one of which must be a lawyer.

He stated that the Tribunal is working in conjunction with the Attorney General of the Federation, which further makes it legal and constitutional

Mr. Nwokocha stated that the body, being the Africa headquarters, enjoyed adequate recognition at the international scene. He said graduates of other disciplines must undergo the programme before they could be recognized as a qualified teacher.

He threatened that schools who failed to comply with the body’s directives could have their programmes de-registered.

The council leader said the council now directly receives the names of graduates from their respective institutions in order to ensure only qualified teachers are employed.

The Deputy Provost of the College of Education, Bolatito Adeniyi, who represented the Provost, said the programme was to formally initiate the fresh graduates into the teaching profession.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and Technology, Ishola Ambali, advised the council on the need to publicise their activities regularly as it will serve as a medium to educate people.

Mr. Ambali, who represented the commissioner, also advised on need for the body to make it mandatory for government to ask for registration certificate obtained from the council before anyone is employed into the teaching service.


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When I look at the budget for the NYSC its got to be in the millions but it doesn't produce anything. The entire project appears to be a burden upon tax payers. And the NYSC is divided by geographical regions as opposed to building up one area of infrastructure that would produce economy then advancing to other areas based upon the success of the first deployment. Remember the Art of War lesson? Never divide your forces. Only specialized units, special forces, guerilla forces, etc, can be dispatched, divided and set to different locations. The issue here maybe many regions would be pulling for first bid or wanting their area to be built up. Well you can't do that way. Here's why. The program needs to pay for itself not be a tax burden. One area of the country built up economically and solidly would produce greater advantage for their entire nation and/or region. After building one area completely then move forward to complete another area. This is how wars are fought and won. So if the war is against poverty or lack of infrastructure its best to complete one area then to advance forward into many areas and not have any area completed. My advice. More later.

And how come Corps are being relocated to areas where they have no cultural ties? This one Nigeria thing is gone to the head of your leaders. Nigeria is a colonial state and its function was merely to act as a protectorate for British interests. The idea that I can take your size 8 shoes and make them fit my size 13 feet has similar meaning. How far can I walk in your shoes and not have issues? The same here with West Africans trying to make a Roman state suit the needs and wants of Africans. There is nothing wrong with centralization but the issue here is confounded by West Africa, outside of cities, is mostly rural. Centralization can not occur through imposed government. In the villages outside of the cities are small tightly ran traditional governments that only answer to their chiefs and kings. This is because this is the original government of West Africa and the people are in the habit of relying upon the Elders for guidance and leadership for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Especially pertaining to local laws and customs, environmental issues, family issues, etc. Therefore sending corps to these areas where they are answering to the Nigerian government as opposed to local leaders causes competition and hostility. It may be viewed as intrusion in the worst case. The wisdom here is that local leaders know their land best and must be at the helm of any local operations to gain the trust and cooperation of the local people. Also by youths being from that area they are assigned it assists with them connecting better and receiving acceptance and cooperation from local people.