In a significant announcement made by Prof. Musa Maitafsir, the Director General of the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) in Kaduna, Nigeria, plans are underway to introduce a mandatory one-year Teacher Internship Programme by January 2024.
Prof. Maitafsir revealed this initiative during a press conference held on Thursday in Abuja to commemorate the 2023 World Teachers’ Day. The event, celebrated annually on October 5 since 1994, carries the theme ‘The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage.’
The World Teachers’ Day also serves as a platform to honor the adoption of the 1996 ILO/UNESCO recommendation concerning the status of teachers, with a focus on the rights, responsibilities, and standards of teachers’ initial preparation, further education, recruitment, and employment.
Expanding on the forthcoming internship program, Prof. Maitafsir emphasized that it would be introduced in collaboration with the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN). This initiative aligns with Section ‘C,’ sub-section (1), page 21 of the National Teacher Education Policy (NTEP) (2014).
It states: ” After graduation from any Teacher Education Programmes, every new teacher shall be registered by the TRCN after at least one year of successful Internship and Mentoring to qualify for licence.”
Maitafsir emphasized that the internship is a compulsory program intended to span a duration of one year, targeting individuals holding qualifications such as NCE, B.ed, PGDE, M.ed, and PhD within the education sector.
He added:
” The duration of one year is similar to Internship Programmes of other professions like Law and Medicine.
“This will be operated in two diets, March and November of each year before or after the commencement of NYSC by those with Degree Certificates.”
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However, Maitafsir clarified that the program would exclusively apply to prospective teachers and would not be open to those who have already received TRCN certification through induction.
He further elaborated that the program’s primary objective is to familiarize “Trainee-Teachers” with practical insights into effective teaching methods, encompassing areas such as e-facilitation, teacher integration in teaching skills, psycho-principles related to teaching commitment, as well as delivery and retention techniques.
“They include e-facilitation and teacher integration in teaching skills, psycho–principles of commitment of teaching and delivery and retention techniques.
“Others are aesthetics and conventional wrong skills, entrepreneurship education skills and monthly teachers’ acculturation lectures.”
According to the Director General, if the program proves successful, trainees will receive a ‘Teacher Internship Certificate’ enabling them to qualify for TRCN ‘Induction and Certification.’
Maitafsir explained that all prospective interns will be required to pay an application fee of N7,000 and an internship fee of N50,000.
Furthermore, he mentioned that the program will be conducted at the Institute’s central office in Kaduna and across the six geopolitical zones in the nation.
Maitafsir expressed his belief that this initiative would significantly contribute to the improvement of teaching and learning standards in Nigeria.
He added:
“It will certainly help in producing highly motivated, efficient and effective teachers for our schools.
“FME, NTI, TRCN and all other relevant stakeholders should have their hands on deck to ensure successful implementation of the programme as enshrined in NTEP.
“The teaching profession in Nigeria had over the years been intruded on by unqualified individuals making it an all-comers job and just a stepping stone to other jobs.
“There is the need to ensure that only qualified individuals are engaged as teachers to teach in schools.”
According to Maitafsir, for teaching to be fully professionalised in Nigeria, there is a need for such a compulsory internship programme for the teachers.
He explained:” The programme will ensure that only individuals that have passed through it would be licenced and called ‘Teachers’ and then be allowed to practice the profession.”
