Teachers last  Wednesday called on the Federal Government to improve the quality of teaching by re-establishing Teachers Training Colleges (TTCs) in the country.

 The National Publicity Secretary of the NUT, Mr. Suleiman Gambari made the call in Abuja in an interview with newsmen.

He said that one of the factors responsible for the decline in quality teaching in schools was because teachers no longer go through the required professional training at the TTCs.

Gambari said the issue of the decline in education could only be addressed from the root and that hinged on the training of teachers.

The publicity secretary said teachers who did not go through the basic rudiments of training were as good as empty and so, could not give what they didn’t have.

“The issue of Teachers Training  Colleges needs to be addressed first. That basic education training for teachers needs to be there and that is the best way to start tackling this problem.

“The issue is not just asking someone who has just finished secondary school to go for NCE, because the crop of very good teachers we have now all went through teachers training colleges,” he said.

Gambari, who also spoke on the development of education in the last 50 years, said: “Education in the country has no doubt matured, although it is moving at a slow pace, the government still needs to do more.

“More has to be done in terms of incentives to teachers, provision of instructional materials and conducive learning and teaching environment, among others,” he said.

Mr. Christopher Ezeuzo, a Principal from Abia State, told newsmen that the Teachers Training College was the best place to address the myriad of problems facing the education sector.

“The teacher had his respect in the past, but these days he is losing it due to the porous nature of the profession and the poor income.

“All these things affect the present condition of the teacher and it makes the society to look down on him and that ultimately affects his psyche and his productivity,” Ezeuzo said.