At the heart of every thriving education system lies a community of empowered, competent, and continually evolving teachers. They are the builders of minds, the architects of thought, and the channels through which knowledge flows to the next generation. Yet in Nigeria, a country that desperately seeks transformation through education, this cornerstone is cracking. While teachers are burdened with shaping the future, too often they are denied the support and learning necessary to grow themselves. The question that begs urgent attention is simple but critical: who teaches the teachers?
Teacher education in Nigeria begins with pre-service training in colleges of education, universities, and polytechnics, but the limitations of this system are well-known. Many education programmes are outdated, largely theoretical, and out of sync with the demands of 21st-century classrooms. Graduates emerge with certificates but little in the way of practical skills or exposure to innovations in pedagogy. In an age when learning is rapidly evolving, driven by digital tools, new psychology of learning, and differentiated teaching methods. Nigeria continues to produce teachers armed with chalk-and-board training in a tech-enabled world.
But it doesn’t end with pre-service education. The real work of becoming a better educator happens on the job, through continuous professional development. Unfortunately, for many Nigerian teachers, professional development is neither continuous nor effective. Across the country, stories abound of teachers who haven’t attended a single training workshop in years. Some have spent entire careers without ever updating their instructional methods. Others attend workshops, only to find them repetitive, theoretical, or designed simply to tick administrative boxes. The idea of professional development, so crucial to teacher quality, has become a shadow of what it should be.
What exists today is a system where in-service training is largely ad hoc. Workshops are frequently tied to donor funding or government policies that come and go with political cycles. Training opportunities, when they appear, often focus on general topics with no adaptation to specific needs of teachers in different contexts, urban vs rural, primary vs secondary, beginner vs veteran. It is common to see the same module delivered to teachers from vastly different backgrounds, without room for customisation or practical application. Worse still, many trainings are theoretical lectures, far removed from classroom realities and offer no post-training support or feedback mechanisms.
A major flaw in the system is the lack of institutionalised pathways for growth. In many developed education systems, teachers climb well-defined ladders of competence. They pursue certifications, mentor younger colleagues, engage in peer learning communities, and are evaluated for improvement. In Nigeria, there is little incentive to grow professionally. Promotions are mostly based on years of service or academic qualifications, not on demonstrated teaching excellence or student outcomes. The teacher who innovates in the classroom and improves learning outcomes is often treated no differently than one who remains stagnant.
There’s also the problem of access. Rural teachers, who often serve the country’s most disadvantaged children, are the least likely to receive any form of professional development. They are excluded not because they are less important, but because they are harder to reach. Training programmes tend to be concentrated in urban areas, with little consideration for transportation, accommodation, or even the relevance of the training to rural teaching contexts. As a result, the gap between what is taught and what is needed continues to widen.
Technology, which should be a bridge, has yet to live up to its promise. E-learning platforms exist, but they remain underutilised. Poor internet access, lack of devices, and digital illiteracy among some teachers mean that online training remains out of reach for many. Moreover, there is often no structured system for monitoring progress or validating learning in digital formats. Without these supports, the potential of technology to revolutionise teacher development remains largely untapped.
Another key issue is motivation. Teachers in Nigeria are among the most demoralised professionals, often working under poor conditions, earning meagre salaries, and lacking respect. When you combine this with an ineffective professional development system, you get a profession that struggles to attract or retain top talent. Those who genuinely want to improve often do so out of personal conviction, spending their own money and time to attend relevant training, with little support from their employers or recognition from the system.
And yet, the stakes have never been higher. Nigeria’s education crisis is worsening, with learning poverty on the rise and school enrolment not translating into learning. According to the World Bank, 70% of Nigerian children are unable to read and understand a simple sentence by age 10. This is not just a statistic; it is a reflection of a broken system in which teachers, through no fault of their own, are left unequipped to deliver quality learning.
Solutions are not impossible, but they require political will, policy clarity, and long-term commitment. Nigeria must invest in a well-coordinated, decentralised, and inclusive professional development framework for teachers. This should be driven by the needs of the classroom, informed by data, and continuously reviewed for relevance and impact. There must be clear standards for what constitutes effective teacher development, along with mechanisms for evaluation and accountability.
Partnerships can also play a critical role. NGOs, teacher training colleges, education technology providers, and the private sector must work collaboratively to scale up innovative models of teacher learning. Programmes that incorporate peer mentoring, lesson observations, coaching, and real-time feedback have proven effective in many low-resource settings. Such models can be adapted and localised across Nigeria.
Importantly, teachers themselves must be placed at the centre of their own development. They need to be seen not just as recipients of knowledge, but as active agents who can co-create and contribute to the training content. Involving teachers in designing, leading, and evaluating professional development will build ownership and ensure that the training is grounded in reality.
A well-supported teacher is not just a better educator; they are more confident, more motivated, and more capable of transforming the lives of their students. If we are serious about fixing Nigeria’s education system, we must begin with those who stand in front of the blackboard every day.
In a country where millions of children pass through the hands of teachers every year, it is not enough to build schools or roll out new curricula. The teacher is the medium through which all learning happens. And if the medium is outdated, unsupported, or invisible, then every reform effort is destined to fall short. That is why we must return to the question that matters most, who teaches the teachers?
