Reintroducing Teacher Training Colleges: A National Imperative to Restore Quality in Primary Education

Opinion:

 BY ABU-SATAR HAMED

There is ample evidence that many teachers in Nigeria enter classrooms without the depth of training needed to deliver the curriculum well. For example: Studies show that teacher training programmes in Nigeria have “a gap between the curriculum taught to teacher trainees and the reality that exists in schools.” 

Some reports indicate that teachers “lack the basic information and computer technology skills needed for the implementation of the school curriculum.”

Teacher‑education curriculum is often considered outdated and mis‑aligned with current needs: “Another challenge … is the inadequate training provided to teachers. Many teachers in the country do not receive proper training before they enter the classroom…”

Also, it is noted that the current structure of many teacher‑education institutions places little emphasis on primary school teaching, yet many teachers end up in primary classrooms.

For example, “most of the colleges of education have their curriculum not in primary education but on secondary education … Consequently, most of the NCE teachers cannot cope in primary schools because the curriculum is not tailored towards the primary schools.”

This mismatch has real consequences: under‑prepared teachers lead to weaker instructional delivery, lower student engagement, and poorer learning outcomes.

Given the above challenge, revisiting and strengthening teacher‑training colleges (TTCs) with emphasis on a train‑the‑trainer system makes strategic sense.

Here’s why:

(a.) Multiplying impact through trainers:

Rather than simply increasing the number of teachers trained, by first focusing on training the trainers (i.e., highly competent educators who then train and mentor other teachers), the system can leverage quality at scale.

Well‑trained master educators in TTCs can disseminate good practices across many schools, rather than having each individual teacher start from scratch.

(b.) Ensuring consistency and curriculum fidelity:

If the training colleges and trainers themselves are aligned with national curriculum reforms, they can ensure that teachers understand not just content, but pedagogy, classroom management, assessment strategies, and how to adapt to the realities of Nigerian classrooms.

This helps bridge the theory‑practice gap. For example, the literature criticises that “teacher preparation programmes are deemed excessively academic and remote from the real challenges confronting classrooms.”

(c.) Addressing primary‑level specialization:

As noted above, many teacher‑training programmes focus on secondary‑level teaching, but Nigeria’s system continues to need strong primary‑level teachers.

By re‑emphasising TTCs and explicitly training trainers for primary education (and early childhood), the system can more appropriately target those needs.

(d.) Professionalising the teacher‑trainer role and elevating status:

By making trainer roles in TTCs prestigious, well‑remunerated and focused on continuous development, it can help attract talented educators into teacher‑training roles. This professionalisation helps lift the overall status of the teaching profession and the pipeline of trainers.

The government has an interest in improving educational quality because teacher quality is one of the strongest predictors of student learning outcomes.

Strengthening TTCs and a train‑the‑trainer system offers a cost‑effective leverage point: fewer resources may be needed to upgrade hundreds of trainers than to fully redo every teacher’s training from scratch.

It aligns with calls from education experts: for example, one provost argued that “a teacher can only teach what he or she knows,” and thus, “we need to retrain our teachers because … most of the training sponsored by the government is of no consequence on performance.”

It can serve rural and underserved areas: by having well‑trained trainers who can go into remote zones, train local teachers, and provide follow‑up support, the gap between urban and rural education quality may narrow.

If President Tinubu and his administration decide to pursue this path, here are key recommendations they should consider:

Audit and upgrade TTCs: Conduct a thorough audit of existing teacher‑training colleges (or equivalent institutions) to assess infrastructure, curriculum, trainer competence, technology, and links to real classrooms.

Design a train‑the‑trainer curriculum: The curriculum for trainers must include modern pedagogy (learner‑centred instruction, inclusive education, and digital literacy), subject‑specific pedagogy, classroom management, assessment design, and experiential/practicum components.

Focus on primary and early childhood education: Ensure that the training colleges produce trainers who understand the needs of primary/early years, integrated with Nigeria’s basic education curriculum.

Establish mentorship and cascade models: Trainers in TTCs should be equipped to mentor teachers in schools, and a cascade model (trainer → teacher → peer‑teacher) should exist with monitoring and support systems.

Continuous professional development: Training should not be “once off”, but ongoing. Trainers and teachers require refresher courses, exposure to new research and methods, and digital pedagogy.

Link training to practice and accountability: The trainers and teachers should be evaluated on real classroom outcomes, lesson observation, student achievement, and follow‑up support rather than purely credentialing.

Resource and infrastructure investment: TTCs need adequate funding, modern teaching aids, ICT, library resources, simulation labs, teaching practice sites, and well‑qualified teacher educators.

Policy coherence and coordination: The federal government, via the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), must ensure alignment between teacher training, curriculum reform, and school practice.

Incentivise the teaching profession: To attract and retain high‑quality trainers and teachers, improve remuneration, career progression pathways, recognition, and working conditions.

Risk of policy reversal or discontinuity: Education reforms often suffer from flip‑flopping. Mitigation: Secure bipartisan/professional support, set up long‑term frameworks rather than short‑term pilot programmes.

Trainer shortage: There may be insufficient qualified teacher‑educators to staff TTCs. Mitigation: Use international partnerships, short‑term bridging programmes, incentives to attract master teachers into training roles.

Infrastructure lag: Without adequate facilities, the plan may remain aspirational. Mitigation: Prioritise funding, public‑private partnerships, phased upgrades.

Implementation gap (practice vs training): Even trained teachers may struggle if the school environment is weak (overcrowded classes, poor resources). Mitigation: Combine teacher training with simultaneous investment in school‑level resources and support systems.

Unequal access: Urban vs rural disparities may deepen if not managed.

Mitigation: Ensure that TTCs or mobile training teams reach rural areas; use e‑learning/blended models; train local trainers.

With global education trends shifting towards learner‑centred instruction, digital literacy, inclusive education and lifelong learning, Nigeria cannot afford to continue with teacher‑training programmes that are heavily theoretical, outdated or mis‑aligned.

As one study stated: “The teacher training curriculum… is inadequate to meet the current demands of our educational system. … There is need for urgent upgrading of this curriculum.”

The country’s demographic growth and increased school enrolments mean more classrooms, more teachers, and more demand on teacher quality.

A renewed focus on education is aligned with sustainable development goals (SDG4) and Nigeria’s national development agenda.

Strengthening the foundational levels (primary, basic education) is critical for downstream outcomes in tertiary education, employment and national human‑capital development. As one commentary noted: “The teacher deficit undermines the foundation of our human capital development…”

President Tinubu should seriously consider elevating the role of teacher‑training colleges and adopting a robust train‑the‑trainer model for the following reasons:

Nigeria’s teacher workforce currently suffers from preparation gaps, especially in pedagogy, curriculum‑delivery and primary education.

A train‑the‑trainer system offers a scalable, efficient way to improve teacher quality.

By investing in well‑resourced TTCs, aligned curricula, trainer development, and practical classroom links, the government can tangibly improve instructional quality, student engagement and learning outcomes across the country.

While challenges exist, they are surmountable with strong policy, investment and sustained implementation. In doing so, this move would not only bolster education but strengthen Nigeria’s broader development trajectory.

* Abu-Satar Hamed is the Otun Baaroyin of Ilaro-Yewa, and Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, StarTrend Int’l magazine and online platform.