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Buhari Should Not Offer 500,000 Unemployed Graduates Job -- Professor Florence by stlken: 12:16pm On Jan 28, 2016 |
It will be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had
recently stated that 500,000 unemployed graduates will be
absorbed into the teaching profession to solve, in the
interim, the problem of graduate unemployment in the
country.
Apart from the reality that many square pegs will end up in
round holes, stakeholders are also asking who will be
responsible for the 500,000 teachers' salaries, as the states
and local governments over the years have had the
responsibility of paying teachers' salaries. In her reaction,
the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics) University of
Calabar and immediate past Dean, Faculty of Education,
Professor Florence Banku-Obi applauded the Federal
Government's decision to create jobs, but added: "If the
Federal Government is thinking of creating those jobs in the
education sector by employing and sending them to the
classroom, it is a move in the wrong direction."
Untrained teachers According to her, sending these
graduates to the classroom will rather bring in more
confusion into the education sector, warning that it is going
to be a wrong step to send these untrained teachers into the
classrooms. To her, many of the said graduates are not
trained teachers, and many, especially the younger
generation don’t want to teach because they have no
interest in teaching. She said: ''Employing them will just be a
means of earning a living because they have no passion for
teaching."
Alternatively, the DVC disclosed that rather than the
government sending them to the classrooms, they can focus
on industrialization and other sectors. "Government can
expand agriculture where they need little or no skills to
make returns. Yes, I know, there are people who are trained
agriculturists, but that is the essence of extension workers.
If you are going into agriculture and have no basic
knowledge, then you need extension workers to groom you."
Stressing the need for each state auditing of unemployed
teachers for efficiency, Banku-Obi pointed out that there are
still thousands of Nigerian youths who read education but
are not employed. She urged the Federal Government to
task each state to do auditing for efficiency.
She said: ‘’Each state has thousands of unemployed trained
teachers seeking teaching jobs, they can be engaged and
sent to classrooms, while government creates opportunities
for the non-teaching graduates in other areas.’’ She noted
that the same Federal Government which owns the Federal
Government Teaching Scheme, employs NCE teachers for
one or two years and disengages them. Rather than
disengage them, she counselled that they should review the
policy and make it permanent. The professor maintained
that many NCE graduates who were employed under that
scheme, taught for one or two years and were sent back to
the labour market.
Banku-Obi who lamented the policy somersaults in the
sector said: "The confusion and the problems we have in the
sector is as a result of policy inconsistency of the Federal
Government. 'We don’t have educators piloting the affairs of
the Ministry of Education, like what we have in health and
justice. ''It is high time the Federal Government began to
think seriously of employing round pegs in round holes by
getting professional educators to man the Ministry of
Education.
"Today, we think we are getting to the right direction,
tomorrow another minister comes who does not have an
idea of what education and teaching is all about comes with
another policy. Now, the new man thinks he is doing Nigeria
good by sending unemployed graduates to the teaching
profession, they are not thinking of the effect on the sector.
Unemployed graduates "Already, employers are
complaining that we have graduates that are unemployable
and the Federal Government is sending these same
graduates to the teaching profession. ‘’What are you
expecting to get from the system? It will be garbage in,
garbage out.
They are going to feed the tertiary institutions with poor
students. At the end, the tertiary institutions will not be able
to perform any magic on the undergraduates. I think we
should have a good policy. ‘’If possible, government should
have another education summit where people will come and
discuss this issue. Unfortunately, when Ministry of Education
calls for Education Summits, they bring in directors of
different fields, staff from different ministries, professionals
from different fields, they will never bring in educationists to
talk about education.
‘’They see education summit as an avenue of making their
own money. I strongly suggest that there should be a proper
education summit and state auditing of teachers. Let them
verify if they can get the numbers of teachers they are
looking for from the states for the teaching profession. After
this, they should engage the services of the Teachers
Registration Council to set up aptitude tests and see those
who are qualified and have a passion for the teaching
profession before engaging them. The body should organize
one or two months training for them before engaging them.
Speaking in the same vein, Deputy Director, Distance
Learning Institute, University of Ibadan, Professor Oyesoji
Aremu also applauded the initiative of the Federal
Government to employ the 500,000 unemployed graduates,
but however expresses some reservations. Teaching
manpower He said: ‘’It is a welcome development given the
paucity of teaching manpower generally in the school
system (primary and secondary education).
According to him, some cautionary notes should however,
be sounded in the interest of pupils/students and education
for part of the existing malady in the education sector not to
repeat itself. He, however frowned at employing wrong
personnel (who masquerade as teachers) into the school
system. His words: "'Mostly in many public schools (primary
and secondary), the teaching force is populated by
untrained teachers.
This, with proven evidence, has contributed not only to the
decline of standards in public schools but also poor
academic performance as shown by West African
Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination
Council’s (NECO) results, where national performance norm
is terribly below average. It has always made public schools
unfashionable for many parents who prefer fee-paying
private schools for their wards." Prof. Aremu added: ‘’With
these cautionary notes, it is instructive to advise the Federal
Government not to make the employment of 500,000
teachers an all-comers affair. One, it should be phased by
first considering graduates of universities and colleges of
education who studied education or who have had
postgraduate diplomas in education, irrespective of their
first degrees or Higher National Diploma certificates. "The
second phase is to consider others who are without
certification in education pedagogy.
This category of unemployed youths should be exposed to a
stop-in-the-gap abridged training in education and should
also be made to go through a mock teaching practice. This
could be for a month and with a condition that such people
be made to go for postgraduate diplomas in education on
Open Distance Learning platform. Aremu further advised;
‘’Logistics of stop-in-the-gap training should also be worked
out by the Federal Ministries of Education and Labour in
conjunction with state ministries and zonal offices. Lastly,
the recruitment should pass integrity test so as not to be
hijacked by politicians.’’
Also reacting, the Dean, School of Education, Adeniran
Ogunsayan College of Education, Ijanikin, Dr. Deborah
Delegiwa urged the Federal Government to reconsider its
proposed plan. According to her, the decision to recruit
graduates without training as teachers will spell doom for
the sector, stating that teaching is an art, not a mere
vocation. Necessary knowledge She said:”Teaching is an art
that requires a person to acquire basic and necessary
knowledge before being qualified. If one then desires to go
into teaching without being trained, it connotes disrespect of
the teaching profession.
The action also suggests that the colleges and faculties of
education should cease to exist.” On his part, the Head of
Department, Early Childhood Care and Education, AOCOED,
Mr Sunday Fowowe, stated that the decision of the President
on recruiting graduates with no formal education as
teachers amounts to passing no vote of confidence on
Teachers ‘Education.
Said he: “No matter how brilliant an individual is, he may
not be able to do well in class if he is not made to pass
through teacher training programme. ‘’The President’s
pronouncement is like passing vote of no confidence on
teachers’ education, hence, all colleges and faculties of
education should be scrapped.”added Mr Fowowe. If you are
considering 500,000 graduates into the teaching sector, they
should be tested and trusted.
“Those who have been trained for three years in colleges of
education or four years in faculties of education are the
ones saddled with the sole responsibility of teaching
because, they have been equipped with innovative and basic
skills. |
Re: Buhari Should Not Offer 500,000 Unemployed Graduates Job -- Professor Florence by Nobody: 12:46pm On Jan 28, 2016 |
Is too long but from the headline, i believe at her age, the brain is diminishing |
Re: Buhari Should Not Offer 500,000 Unemployed Graduates Job -- Professor Florence by Mayour11(m): 1:40pm On Jan 28, 2016 |
She makes a whole lot of sense |
Re: Buhari Should Not Offer 500,000 Unemployed Graduates Job -- Professor Florence by adekhingz(m): 1:40pm On Jan 28, 2016 |
[color=#550000][/color]
I concur |
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