Teachers training, retraining a must for qualitative national education – DG NTI

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The training and retraining of teachers through upgrading of their qualification, capacity building through workshop and seminars is a must for a nation like Nigeria to have the best in the educational sector, the Director General of National Teachers Institute (NTI), Kaduna, Dr. Aminu Ladan Sharehu has said.

He made this assertion while declaring open a two week 4th Cohort Cycle II Strengthening Mathematics and Science Education (SMASE) training programme for teachers from Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Imo and Yobe state holding at the NTI headquarters, Kaduna.

Sharehu said the institute is concerned about the welfare and wellbeing of every teacher in the nation and would do all within its mandate to ensure teachers nationwide get the best of everything they deserve to make their job easier and deliver the best method of classroom and out of classroom teaching techniques.

The institute, he revealed, has so far trained 413 teachers in the whole federation with the exception of Lagos State in seven cohorts of the first cycle of the SMASE programme. The current one he declared opened is the 4th cohort of the second cycle, he added.

To improve on the SMASE programme, Sharehu said the institute has introduced computer training into it with a fully equipped computer laboratory for the use of the trainees. He assured that a fully equipped science laboratory for the use of science teacher-trainees under the same SMASE is in the offing and would soon come on board.

Stressing the importance the institute attaches to improving the quality of science and mathematics teachers across the country, the DG said, “we have conducted the first cohorts with seven cycles. We are into the second cohorts with three cycles done and we are now conducting the fourth cohorts of the second cycle. We hope to continue this training until when we get the best and improve the quality of science and mathematics teachers in the country”.

He urged the participants to take the programme serious and ensure the cascading of SMASE down to the most remote part of the country is made a reality when they get back to their various states.

Also speaking, the representative of the Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, Dr Joseph Chimezie Aguiyi said other countries implement the SMASE programmes from Secondary School level, but Nigeria implements hers from the primary school level to ensure the best is given to the young ones earlier and prepare them for a better future.