Review NCE to incorporate TC curriculum says Registrar

Prof. Josiah Ajiboye has called for the review of the National Certificate of Education to incorporate the Grade Two Teachers Certificate curriculum.

Ajiboye, who is the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) Registrar, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.

“I am of the opinion that the National Policy on Education is very clear. As at today, the National Policy of Education states that the minimum teaching qualification in Nigeria is the National Certificate in Education.

“I think what was done was to look at the curriculum of the teachers Grade two and it was upgraded to that of the College of Education.

“So the idea of reintroducing teacher grade two does not arise at all, because the national policy is very clear. We cannot reverse ourselves. That will amount to what you call policy summersault. We cannot continue to do flip flop with our education system.

“I think what we need to do, if we have to look at the curricular of the NCE, we can look at that curricular and rejig it to reflect what was there in the past teachers Grade two curricular that we think are now missing. For example, principles and practices of education, we enjoyed those things in those days.

“We can also look at the period of their teaching practice and other components can be looked at to make it more robust and to reflect current realities.

“Yes the past is very useful in order to rejig the present for a better future but we do not need to return to grade two to be able to achieve standards.’’

Ajiboye said that the education sector would be enhanced by placing emphasis on the quality and professionalism of teachers.

He said that good teachers would handle any type of system introduced by government towards improving standards.

“It is not about the system we are running, whether it is six 6-3-3-4 or 9-3-4.

“It is about the goals, the input, the process and then the output. All these things need to be factored together and you look for key indicators.

“What are the major inputs that we require to make sure we achieve what we want to achieve.

“For example, what we deal with is the quality of the teacher because we believe that no matter the material you put in the school system, no matter how beautiful the classrooms are and everything, if the teacher factor is not right you cannot get the education system right.

“Whether you adopt 9-3-4 or 6-3-3-4, quality teachers will be able to drive the system. That is what the focus of the Federal Ministry of Education is now.’’

The registrar said that teaching had moved from being teacher-centred to learner-centred, saying that the teacher was now a guide in the classroom context.

“We are in the era when the learners themselves are supposed to actively participate in the learning environment."