EDUCATION AND TRAINING:
A Key feature of the teaching force in most Nigeria is its heterogeneity with
respect to educational attainment and professional training, Teachers rouge
from those with post-graduate qualifications to secondary school leavers with minimal
levels of pre-service training. In most private primary schools in Nigeria,
teachers with certificate level pre-service training predominate. Consequently,
as an
occupational group, teachers do not have the equivalent level of
education and training nor the cohesiveness as well established professions,
such as medical doctor, engineers, and lawyers which have uniformly high
academic entry qualifications.
ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE
SIZE: Teaching is a mass occupation, which
also militates against professional exclusivity. The teaching force accounts
for one half to two –thirds of public sector employment however public sector
recruitment freezes in Nigeria
have seriously constrained the remunerations of teachers.
SELF-REGULATION: The established
professions enjoy a high degree of self-regulation and are successful in maiming
high barriers to entry in terms of qualification requirements and registration,
teachers on the other hand tend to have weak, and state dominated professional
organizations with factions.
PUPIL-TEACHER RATIOS; The weak
correlation between school enrolments and the numbers of teachers employed in
each school is the most obvious indicator of poor deployment. Variations in
pupil-teacher ratios between schools are typically very large in most
countries. For example, in the mid-late 1990s, they ranged from 50 to 70 pupils
to one teacher. Recently, however improvements are being made to balance
pupil-teacher ratio to 30-40 pupils to one teacher.
THE TEACHING CAREER: The concept of
career implies both the notion of, a commitment to a form of life- work or
calling? And the process where by an individual progresses up wards through a
hierarchy of professional roles. Upward mobility in the teaching profession
often requires teacher to leave the class room for an administered role in the
school or within local authority, for college or university lecturing, for inspectorate,
for a research post, or for anyone of a number, of other possibility. Unfortunately,
the prospect for minority of the teachers to reach this peal is very limited since
there are only few positions at a time. Majority thus retired without getting
to the top