President Muhammadu Buhari amid the eight-month-old strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said Nigeria’s future relied heavily on education, noting that no society could grow beyond its educational attainments.
Buhari, who was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, made this statement at the commemoration of the 2022 World Teachers’ Day in Abuja, on Wednesday, October 5, 2022, noting that one of the major differences between healthy, well functioning and prosperous and poorer societies were education.
The President said it was in consideration of such development that his government was determined to return teachers, teaching, and the teaching profession to their rightful places.
“We owe so much of our well-being as a nation to our educators at every level,” he said.
He explained that his government was fully implementing the professional teaching and teacher qualification framework standards that would invariably impact on education outcome and teachers’ performance at the pre-school, basic, secondary and tertiary levels.
He said: “We are also developing a verifiable database of teachers in Nigeria. Already, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN, has registered 2, 108, 342 teachers and licensed 1,250,000 teachers.
“Indeed, our future as a nation is so heavily dependent on education and our educators. This explains why the federal government is determined to return teachers, teaching and the teaching profession to their rightful places.
“October 5th is a very special date. It is the day we celebrate the very best of us and perhaps the most important persons in our nation, teachers.
“Those men and women who daily go into classrooms to banish ignorance, imbue knowledge, inspire and nurture the minds of millions of young people one school day at a time.
“It is the day in the year when we say what we should say everyday to our teachers – thank you. Thank you for your patience, commitment, your sacrifice, your hardwork amid many challenges.
“No society can grow beyond its educational attainment. One of the major differences between healthy, well functioning and prosperous societies and poorer societies is education. We owe so much of our well-being as a nation to our educators at every level.
“Indeed, our future as a nation is so heavily dependent on education and our educators. This explains why the federal government is determined to return teachers, teaching and the teaching profession to their rightful places.
“Our new teachers’ policy is already being implemented at the federal level and in some states. It emphasizes the importance of teachers to educational transformation but also introduces the important responsibility that teachers themselves have.
‘That is to be at the cutting edge of advancements in education and especially the use of technology and modern teaching methods.
“Education must respond to the dynamism, speed of development, and massive changes in society.
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