Teachers' Voice – Nigeria - VSO

The teachers highlight that due to the scarcity of resources they cannot make or produceteaching aids that would enhance students’ uptake of knowledge, reinforce their learning andhelp to make lessons more interesting. This problem is aggravated when students cannot afford,or their parents are not interested in purchasing, the necessary materials for their education.Most teachers are critical about the appropriateness of the present primary curriculum. Manysee the subjects as irrelevant, overly factual, too much based on rote learning, too moralistic andnot suitable for the grades it applies to.They call for a curriculum review, and adaptation to the level of the children and the Nigeriancontext. VSO volunteers working in the field, too, recommend a more practical and participatorycurriculum to develop the child’s natural curiosity, eagerness to investigate, critical thinkingand experimentation skills. This should result in a more manageable and effective curriculumfor delivery of quality education, stimulating to both teachers and children.6.1.3 TEACHING AND LEARNING MATERIALS: STAKEHOLDERS’ VIEWSStakeholders and education officials at central and regional levels corroborate the teachers’opinions about TLMs. Officially, the quantity of TLMs is based on the number of pupils perschool. In reality, this is hardly ever the case. Materials are inadequate or non-existent.The SUBEBs are responsible for the supply of sufficient TLMs. But, they claim they lack fundsto carry out this mission. One SUBEB revealed that the state government had released onlyone-quarter of the yearly assigned funds.The planning, statistics and research departments of SUBEBs hold the crucial statistics todetermine how much a school will receive. What schools receive is often determined by whatthey consider measurable. Sometimes, TLMs are not considered measurable or as weighty instatistical terms as furniture. Hence they are seen as insignificant and therefore not supplied.6.1.4 TEACHING AND LEARNING MATERIALS: RECOMMENDATIONSVSO recommends the following:• The delivery system of school materials needs to be improved and streamlined by SUBEBs,through the setting up of regional networks for storage and distribution.• SUBEBs should insure that teachers are confident about the subjects they teach and must beassisted by the provision of ample TLMs for themselves as well as for their students.• SUBEBs should use low cost and locally available and produced materials. Teachers must beencouraged to develop TLMs themselves.• The national curriculum needs to be overhauled by the FME, ensuring its relevance to theNigerian cultures and to children’s needs and development. It must put the emphasis onbuilding children’s investigative, experimental and critical thinking abilities and be appropriateto their age.• Stakeholders at all levels must be invited to take part in the development of the new curriculum.• The FME should ensure all changes in the national curriculum are effectively and timelycommunicated to all parties concerned.6.2 SCHOOL FACILITIES“The staff room looks like where pigs are reared.”(Teacher)6.2.1 SCHOOL FACILITIES: POLICY FRAMEWORKConstruction and maintenance of schools and their environment – including toilets, water andelectricity – are the responsibility of the SUBEBs. The planning, statistics and researchdepartments compile the data on which the needs for buildings, extensions and maintenanceare decided.38