COE Lecturer task govts to prioritise teachers’ welfare to fast-track socio-economic development

International Director of Africa Campus Transformation Initiative, ACTI and senior lecturer with TCNN College of Education, Bukuru, Jos Pastor Hankuri Gaya has urged governments at all levels to prioritise teachers’ welfare to fast-track Nigeria’s socio-economic development.

Gaya stated this at the closing of the one-week Bukuru Teachers Summit 2023, within the theme, “A Teacher with a Mission held in Jos said teachers were the key to any country’s development.

According to the educationist, if every country goes the way of its teachers, and they are well equipped to practice their profession, such a country will have a direction.

He also said that education was no doubt the key to success in the life of every individual, especially if teachers made a lasting impact in the lives of those they were given the responsibility of imparting knowledge.

He said sadly however, teachers were not valued in Nigeria, considering their poor remuneration and welfare.

“If teachers are not valued, there will be no values in our society, hence the moral decadence that we witness today in this country. There is a popular saying that a gun can kill terrorists, but only education can kill terrorism.

“So, if you value teachers, you will pay them well, you will respect them, you will give them good accommodation where they can be stable. And with that setup, what will happen to them, they will teach well, they will invest better in our students, and you are sure to have a better future.

“Just imagine that somebody is teaching for a month, and he/she is paid N9,000, even N7000, how much would he/she use for transportation alone?

“Many of them have children and they can’t take care of them, how do you expect them to give their best,’’ he asked.

Deputy Provost of the college, Mrs Tarphena Dashan, in her address at the event, said that the Bukuru Teachers Summit was anchored on one of the courses in the college, known as Teaching for Transformation.

According to Dashan, the summit was aimed at helping teachers rediscover themselves and their dignity in the teaching profession.

The deputy provost further stated that the summit was also to equip them with hands-on skills in teaching and also creating wealth.

“The programme also focuses on raising teachers with a mission; teachers that will transform the teaching profession in Nigeria.

“We believe we are training teachers with a difference because we focus on spiritual values that would impact young students and pupils.

“We realise that the teaching profession has been bastardised; we realise that there are many people who are teaching, but don’t have any business being in the classroom.

“But here we are intentionally trying to redirect the thinking of this young student that we have, that teaching is a noble profession.

“And that teaching is a calling and they should embrace the profession with a passion. They should aim to make a great difference in the lives of the learners that they’re going to come into contact with,’’ she added.

One of the students Mr Samuel Nansel,
who participated in the summit, said he had learnt a lot from the event, and thanked their teachers for the initiative.

Nansel said that in addition to the teaching profession, he had acquired a skill in how to make shoes.

“I believe this will serve as another source of income for me, and I will help others while I practice my profession as a teacher,” he stated.