Tai Solarin University Consultancy Limited, in conjunction with Ogun State Ministry of Education Science and Technology in commemoration of Teachers’ Day 2023, called for improved remuneration and professional development for teachers.
The call for teachers’ welfare and development was made during a colloquium held in TASUED, Ijagun Ogun State.
The key speakers at the event emphasised the need for the government and other stakeholders to provide teachers with the necessary atmosphere that promotes or guarantees their self-worth and professional development.
The colloquium, themed ‘Teachers, Rethinking Nigeria’s Development and Stability’, was organised by the TASUED Consultancy Limited in conjunction with the Ogun State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, commemorating the 2023 Teachers’ Day.
The convener of the event and Director of TASUED Consultancy Ltd, Prof Bayo Akinsanya, in his opening remarks, said no nation can rise beyond its teachers, and that TASUED would continue to do what it has to do to ensure that teachers are given their due regard.
In his welcome remarks, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Oluwole Sikiru Banjo, said the university organised the event to commemorate this year’s Teachers’ Day celebration because of the central role TASUED plays in the production of teaching personnel in Nigeria.
“It is our modest contribution as a critical stakeholder towards uplifting the standard celebration of Teachers’ Day in our state and the nation through a robust discussion session that’s capable of setting agenda for uplifting the profession globally,” he said.
According to him, the more good teachers a country has, the more stable its citizens will be, and consequently, the more development it will record.
Professor Banjo said it was worthwhile always to create a special moment to appreciate teachers “who are saddled with the task of knowledge transfer, instruction, leadership cultivation, educational foundation, ethics and values to the entire society.”
He said TASUED, as a model institution, would continue to promote teacher development and propel discussions and research to ensure the national focus on teachers is redirected.
A former vice-chancellor of the institution and current Special Adviser to the Ogun State Governor on Education, Professor Abayomi Arigbabu, one of the discussants, stressed the need for massive investment in the professional development of teachers.
Arigbabu, who attended the event virtually, said teachers are the architects of national progress and development; hence, they must be empowered by providing them with the necessary tools to do their jobs and be adequately remunerated.
Another discussant and chairman of the Nigeria Teachers Union in Ogun State, Comrade Abiodun Akinola, noted that teaching is a calling, and that “those that are not called cannot impact positively.”
Akinola decried the unfortunate incidence of examination malpractice in Nigerian schools and public examinations, which he stressed is perpetrated, aided or abetted by those he called ‘cheaters’ who have no passion for the noble profession but are in it only for financial gain.
Comrade Akinola stressed that for there to be development and stability in the nation, teachers must be well remunerated.
If teachers are well remunerated, he said, they will be well respected in the society.
He accused the government and its policymakers of contributing to bringing down the status of teachers in society through the lowering of requirements for admission into education courses in tertiary institutions.
Akinola, however, stressed that teachers must also be ready to sacrifice through aggressive knowledge acquisition.
“The collapse of education is the collapse of the nation. Now is the time to rethink Nigeria’s development and stability by providing quality education for the populace through quality teachers,” he noted.
Mr Isiaka Adekunle Okunuga, who represented the principal of Mayflower School, Ikenne, Ms Corin Solarin, another discussant, simply enjoined teachers to “rejoice” because they are “builders of nations”.
He also spoke on the need for the government and other employers of teachers to empower them to make a lasting impact on their students.
Akinola also called for adequate remuneration of teachers, but decried the incidence of overcrowded classrooms in many schools, particularly public schools.
Highlights of the event included cultural displays by TASUED’s cultural troupe and students from the Yoruba Department.
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