The Governing Council Chairman of the Federal College of Education, Ofeme-Ohuhu, Umuahia, Abia State, Hajjia Rabia Adamu, has raised the alarm over the rot in Nigeria’s education system, blaming it on a massive shortfall of teachers.
Speaking at the maiden matriculation ceremony of the institution on Friday, Adamu said the country requires at least 1.2 million teachers to meet up with global standards.
“We need 1.2 million teachers minimum for Nigerian classes to be adequately provided for,” she declared.
Adamu, who lamented the lopsided teacher–pupil ratio in most schools, said the situation has become shameful.
“The acceptable ratio is one teacher to 25 pupils. But in some schools here, one teacher is left with 300, 400, or even 500 children. How do you expect learning to happen in such a situation?” she queried.
Taking a swipe at the poor interest in core education courses among new entrants, Adamu disclosed that out of the 160 fresh students matriculating, most preferred business, political science, and social studies, while very few showed interest in teacher-training programmes.
“From my calculation, about 44 people are going for business, 20 in social sciences and related fields, and about 15 in political science. While this is commendable, it tells us something critical: Nigeria is on the edge of a serious education crisis,” she warned.
She, however, expressed optimism that the National Teacher Education Policy currently being pushed by the Federal Government, if fully implemented, would reposition the teaching profession and rescue the sector from collapse.