By Abdulsalam Haruna
The Federal Government recently announced plans to waive UTME for NCE candidates in a bid to boost teacher enrolment and close the “teacher quality gap” in our schools. The intention is noble. Nigeria desperately needs more teachers, especially at the basic education level. But intention without diagnosis will only give us more teachers, not better teachers.
I do not believe that lowering admission barriers will solve the teacher quality crisis in Nigeria. The problem was never a shortage of Nigerians willing to enter the classroom.
The real barrier is not UTME, it is neglect
Nigerians are not shying away from the teaching profession because NCE admission is too difficult. They are shying away because the teaching profession, the “mother of all professions”, is the most neglected in the country. The condition of service is nothing to write home about.
Take the Federal Capital Territory as an example. Primary school teachers there have faced years of unpaid salaries, poor remuneration, lack of instructional materials, and dilapidated classrooms. The result has been a cycle of strike actions that disrupt teaching and learning, dampen teachers’ morale, and directly reduce the quality of instruction children receive. No UTME waiver can restore a teacher’s morale when his/her salary is in arrears for months.
When politics replaces pedagogy
Even when teachers are employed, especially at the primary level, the process has been bastardized and politicized. Appointments are often handed to “party loyalists” and quacks who lack both qualification and passion for the profession. A classroom is not a political reward. It is where the future of a nation is shaped. Putting the wrong hands in charge will always produce poor learning outcomes, no matter how many new teachers we enroll.
The curriculum must be re-examined
If we truly want quality, then the NCE curriculum for teacher education must be reviewed. What kind of teachers are our Colleges of Education producing? Are they equipped with 21st-century pedagogy, classroom management skills, digital literacy, and the ethical grounding the profession demands? Waiving UTME without reforming what happens after admission is like widening a gate into a house with a leaking roof. More people will enter, but the house will still be uninhabitable.
Look at countries that value teachers
Other countries facing teacher shortages did not solve it by removing standards. Finland, Singapore, and South Korea attract and retain quality teachers by paying them well, giving them professional respect, providing continuous training, and involving them in policy decisions. In those climes, teaching is a competitive, prestigious career. In Nigeria, it is often treated as a “last resort” job. Until we change that perception through action, enrolment numbers will keep rising while quality keeps falling.
The way Forward
Government must shift from “quantity first” to “quality first”. That means:
1. Improve condition of service: Regular, living wages, prompt payment, housing, and career progression for teachers at all levels.
2. Depoliticize recruitment: Employ based on merit, qualification, and passion, not party cards.
3. Reform teacher education: Update NCE and B.Ed curricula, strengthen teaching practice, and mandate continuous professional development.
4. Restore dignity: Public campaigns and policies that reposition teaching as a respected profession.
Waiving UTME may fill Colleges of Education. But only dignity, decent pay, and professional standards will fill our classrooms with teachers who can truly teach.
Nigeria does not need more teachers on paper. Nigeria needs teachers who are qualified, motivated, and proud to stand before our children. Until we address the neglect of the profession, every policy shortcut will be just that — a shortcut that leads us back to the same crisis.
May Allah guide our policymakers to choose solutions that heal, not just solutions that announce.