Education expert calls for teacher training to bridge gaps

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Secondary Education Board Desk Officer for Robotic Education, Aishatu Jafaar Suleiman, has called for extensive teachers’ training and retraining to bridge the educational gaps between teachers and students in the FCT.

Sulaiman spoke in Abuja on Monday during a sensitisation programme organised by Change a Child Community Initiative, at the Government Day Secondary School, Dutse Alhaji and Government Secondary School, Kubwa, in the Bwari Area Council.

She said the administration of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, is doing its best in terms of renovation of schools, provision of materials and infrastructure, but more needs to be done in teachers’ development.

According to her, “The government is doing its best, and there has been so much improvement in the renovation of schools and the provision of learning materials, but teachers are in dire need of training.

“We are not asking for too much, but for training and retraining so that we can give our best.

“Despite not being in the class at the moment, I still train and pay for online courses that I believe will be beneficial to my profession because once a teacher, you’re always a teacher,” she said.

Similarly, Founder and Lead Educator, Change a Child Community Initiative, Blessing Okwuchukwu Awamba, said the Initiative was birthed with the mindset of catching school children young and inculcating values that are needed for national development as the vices in society have continued to surge.

She disclosed that the programme, which is set to run for five years, has been designed for expansion to various states, with a few states already in the kitty as beneficiaries.

She said the themes, which are all-encompassing, have been well thought of and carefully selected to tally with the socioeconomic challenges being experienced within the particular geographical locations.