By Funmilayo Adeyemi
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has called for adequate motivation of teachers, saying they are regarded as the determining factors of every educational policies of any country.
The Policy Advisor, Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA), Mrs Odinaka Ahanonu, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
Ahanonu said that the motivation level of teachers all over the world had been found to be a significant factor in influencing the delivery of quality education.
She said that this invariably affected the attainment of learning outcomes in classrooms internationally.
“Teachers determine what ultimately happens to educational policies, to curriculum guidelines, the use which teaching-learning materials are put, and in fact, it determines the fate of a nation’s huge investment in education.
“The fundamental objectives and principles of state policy (Chapter two of the Nigerian Constitution , Section 16) expressly states this.
“It states that it shall be the duty and responsibility of all organs of government to ensure that the control of state economy is directed to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice, equality of status and opportunity and a reasonable minimum wage.
“This underpins Nigerian teachers long drawn demand for the implementation of the Teachers Salary Structure,” she said.
Ahanonu said that low salaries, lack of fringe benefits, poor working conditions, poor teachers’ public image, lack of job satisfaction, lack of retirement benefits, among others contribute to lack of motivation for teachers.
According to her, all these underscored the fact that no education system can rise above the quality of its teachers.
“No nation can rise above the quality of its education and the fate of this nation depends on the education of its people and hence the quality of its teachers.
“Achieving the SDG 2030 goals will depend on achieving basic education of good quality that will depend on retaining and recruiting well qualified and good remuneration for teachers,” she said.
She said of importance was also education infrastructure as an important factor in determining the quality of learning and students being churned out.
Ahanonu said that most public schools lacked basic infrastructure such as laboratory, library, classrooms, electricity and quality learning environment.
According to her, these are crucial elements of learning environments in schools and a strong evidence that high-quality infrastructure facilitates better instruction, improves student outcomes, and reduces dropout rates, among other benefits.
“Poor learning environment can be a direct barrier to attendance for some marginalised groups of children including girls and children with disabilities.
“This negative perception of the school’s social climate contributes to high absenteeism. In turn, that contributes to low test scores and poor academic achievement.
“School buildings that are in good condition and attractive may signal to students that someone cares and there is a positive social climate, which in turn may encourage better attendance,” she said.
She noted that Nigerian education was in an emergency situation that required an urgent intervention.She said the government both federal and state must commit at least 15 to 20 per cent of their annual budget to improve the standard of education.
“Education is a basic minimum for the development and sustenance of democracy, therefore governments’ initiatives in this sector should prioritise the needs of those who run the programme – the teachers ahead of quick win political gains.
“Government at all levels should professionalise teaching in Nigeria by ensuring the newly approved special teacher’s salary scale is fully implemented.
“States should make conscious effort to access the intervention fund from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC),” she said.
Ahanonu advised that a monitoring team should be set up that would ensure that education fund was spent in a transparent and accountable manner.
She said this would amount to a strong coordination, communication and consultation between different government line agencies such as development partners, CSOs and the media to ensure policy coherence across all sectors. (NAN)
