Okebukola says teachers’ promotion should be based on in-house training

Prof. Peter Okebukola, a former Executive Secretary of the National University Commission, on Saturday called for the promotion of teachers based on the in-house training they attended.

Okebukola made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

He said in advanced countries, teachers’ promotion was based only on evidence of the Early Childhood and Care education training.

Okebukola said if this was enforced in Nigeria, teachers would realise the need to update their teaching methodology for the benefit of their students.

According to him, this strategy will improve the implementation of the early childhood care education which will form the bedrock of children’s all round growth.

He said sanctions should be placed on any caregiver who had been trained on ECC but refused to implement the training.

Okebukola, however, urged government at all levels to create a child-friendly environment to enable teachers to implement the ECC training to enhance children’s learning.

He said that ECC was essential because its implementation was vital for national growth.

Also, a lead researcher on ECC, Dr. Tunde Owolabi of the Faculty of Education, Lagos State University, Ojo, said that foreign instructional materials had been domesticated at the pre-school level.

Owolabi said this would suit the nation’s pre-school system.

Owolabi said the Lagos State Government had established about 1,007 pre-school classes in the public primary schools.

He said that the academics and institutions owned by the state government were being under-utilised.

According to him, patronising government trained teachers, especially those that participated in the two-day capacity building workshop, will guarantee effective implementation of the ECC in schools.