It has become common of late to hear people complain of fallen standard of education in our country.  Their worries no doubt, may not be unconnected with the poor yearly output of our tertiary institutions of learning. Surprisingly, these same tertiary institutions, citadel of knowledge as they were hitherto known, had been the sole platform through which the nobility of our founding fathers was cooked, baked and sampled for societal good. Then, it was very difficult to fault any product of these noble institutions because, like gold, every product of the university or any equivalent institution of learning, was believed to have passed through fire, haven satisfied every requirement to be adjudged noble.This, I believe, accounted for the euphoria that accompanied every graduation of students from the institution, having also been certified worthy in learning and in character by the institution. Like the proverbial proof of the pudding that lies in the eating, every contact and encounter with any output (graduate) of these institutions of learning attested to the fact that the role of education and teachers in terms of imparting on the child a number of social and intellectual knowledge required by society for stability and progress was achieved. That was in the past. However, while the society is always in a hurry to blame her educational woes on the citadel of knowledge, it is important it considers its level of fairness in judgement? Could a child be well groomed at the foundational stage only to deviate without reservation at the tertiary level?
For me, blaming the universities for the fallen standard of education in Nigeria is like knocking the head for the sins of the anus, even though the universities do have their own portion of the blame. According to Professor Benjamin A. Eheazu of the Federal Normadic Education Centre, in a lecture presented at the first faculty-wide induction of first degrees and PGDE graduates of the Faculty of Education, University of Port Harcourt, few years ago, going through various informed thoughts on child education and development, one would sure encounter the views of a renowned French social scientist, Emile Durkheim who believes that a child is born into the world as a tabula rasa which means blank- mind as it were, onto which society would have to engrave its values, norms, and culture. For Durkheim, the role of education and the teacher is to imprint in the child, a number of social and intellectual capacity required by society for stability and progress. Hence, the child would have to remain docile and simply serve as a receptacle to planned curricular. Amidst various theories and approaches to teaching and learning, what is paramount is the fact that it is the much that the teacher is endowed with that he imparts onto the child who naturally wears a posture of naivety.
No doubt, the educational foundation of a child to a greater measure spells out how stable or feeble he turns out eventually and this makes it expedient that we define who teaches the child. The definition of the child’s teacher is imperative given the fact that while not all teachers would adopt Durkheim’s view on child education, many also do not see reason to apply the pedagogical methodology and instructional processes advocated by other theorists. They are neither here nor there. If it be said that a poor teacher tells, an average teacher informs, a good teacher teaches, while a noble teacher inspires; then, there is indeed a need for noble teachers, professionally trained, who would make children internalise learning by operating within the three domains of educational objectives (the cognitive, affective and psychomotor) as expounded by the American education psychologist, Benjamin Bloom.
While we search for the teacher that we need, it is important we shop for the teacher who is abreast with the educational challenges of the 21st century which brings a lot of pedagogical burden to bear on the teacher.In an era of progressive advancement in science and technology, with greater negative influence on the attitude and behaviour of children towards education, the teacher is faced with serious challenges and so must be such that goes for more training and development in pedagogy to enable him respond positively to the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the teaching/learning process to meet curricular innovations. All the same, can the above be achieved when our own clime is such that has no place for teachers’ welfare? With backlogs of salary arrears not paid, promotion not implemented, and other necessary incentives denied Nigerian teachers, how could the best in them be released? While we clamour for noble teachers who can go for more training and development in pedagogy to enable them respond positively to the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the teaching/learning process to meet curricular innovations, this whole expectation can only be frustrated in a clime where teachers’ welfare is never considered at all.
Here in Nigeria, the Federal Government has promised an enhanced welfare package for teachers. Two years down the line, Nigerian teachers are still waiting to see it come to pass.

By: Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi