The Minister of Education, Tunju Alausa, has expressed concern that inadequate funding may be delaying the implementation of the dual-mandate policy in colleges of education, thereby frustrating the needed expansion and improvement of teacher education.
The minister, who was represented by the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education, Angela Ajala, at the commemoration of sixty years since the declaration on the status of teachers, said both educators and teacher trainees must demonstrate good ethical conduct as custodians of learning.
The policy allowing colleges of education to award both the National Certificate in Education, NCE, and degrees was approved in 2025, after years of agitation by the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union and other stakeholders.
Today, a paucity of funds appears to be slowing down its full implementation.
Another concern for the colleges is the slow pace of implementation of the policy exempting prospective students of colleges of education from taking the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME.
But for Miss Paulinus, a teacher trainee from one of the colleges in southern Nigeria, who has just been named the best student by the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, dual mandate or not, exemption from UTME or not, her passion to become a classroom teacher is non-negotiable and not debatable.
As teachers, administrators and students gather to commemorate sixty years since the declaration on the status of teachers, calls continue to mount for improved welfare packages for teachers and a safe and conducive environment for learners.
(Follow AIT News on WhatsApp, AfricaIndependentTV on YouTube, ait_online on Facebook and X (Formerly Twitter), and officialait on TikTok, Instagram and Threads)
Editor: Ada Ononye
