The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN has raised an alarm over the shrinking number of teachers available to impart knowledge within Nigeria and by extension the global community.
A high-level panel on the teaching profession, set up by the United Nations revealed this in its report released in 2024.
This development has also been worsened by teachers leaving Nigeria en mass for greener pastures abroad due to dwindling fortunes in the profession.
Acting Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of TRCN, Dr Stella-Maria Nwokeocha confirmed the crisis on Monday, saying the situation is necessitating the 4th Annual Online Conference of Registered Teachers in Nigeria.
Nwokeocha recalled how the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, underscored this concern when in 2022 he convened the first-ever United Nations Summit on Education, tagged “Transforming Education Summit.” “Teachers, teaching and the teaching profession” which was one of the five tracks [sub-themes] of the Summit.
She said the report confirmed “a dramatic shortage of teachers worldwide” and the existence of millions of teachers who lack the support, skills and continuing training they need to meet the demands of rapidly changing education systems.”
“Its recommendations, further, call for urgent action to address serious issues in the teaching profession that pertain to pre-service teacher education and continuous professional development”.
At an interactive session with the media, she said Nigeria as the “Giant of Africa”, even in matters of education, has a huge share of the teacher shortage and need for continuous updating of the professional skills and competencies of teachers along the lines identified by these evolving global concerns and recommendations.
“This is why the 4th Annual Online Conference of Registered Teachers in Nigeria scheduled for October is a special response to the emerging global continental and national issues of interest to the teaching profession and education in Nigeria”.
She listed the theme for this year’s conference as, “Advancing Teacher Professionalization in Nigeria Towards Education 2030: Challenges, Strategies and Prospects”
According to the TRCN boss, the conference is directly linked to international concerns which is expected to deal with strategies for quality teaching and lifelong learning; national and international best practices in continuous professional upskilling of teachers especially with respect to knowledge, skills, attitudes, conduct and orientation of teachers.