DEVELOPMENT AND CHALLENGES OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Teacher education is a programme that is related to the development of teacher proficiency and competence
that would enable and empower the teacher to meet the requirements of the profession and face the challenges
therein. In this era of global competitiveness, it is imperative that teachers are adequately prepared to function
effectively in a challenging global environment. The article discussed history of teacher education in Nigeria,
classification of teacher education, goals of teacher education as stated in National Policy on Education. Some
of the challenges discussed are in the area of societal and economic/financial values, fall in standard of
education, poor quality control, brain drain syndrome are attributable to a large extent, to lack of incentives to
improve performance of teachers’, inadequate provision of teaching facilities, textbooks and library facilities to
equipped the teachers’, mass production of poor quality of teachers dominates academic contents realm, poor
recruitment, screening and selection of teachers for job among others. The following recommendations are
government should make funds available to revive teacher education in Nigeria, provide teaching facilities that
would enable the teachers to keep abreast on the latest technologies in education, strict adherence to rules and
regulation on recruitment, selection and retention of teachers and follow up on the agencies that manage quality
control management on Teacher Education