In pursuance of the ‘People’s First agenda’ of the present administration and in response to the urgent need to reskill teachers in the state, the Teachers Continuous Training Institute (TCTI), Cross River State is set to retrain as many as 10,000 new teachers as soon as the state government concludes it’s recruitment exercise.
When eventually employed, the new teachers are to undergo thorough training after which they will be incorporated into the state civil service as part of the state government’s resolve to rejig education through quality teaching and learning, and in tune with the mandate of the TCTI to do so.
Commending the state Governor, Senator Bassey Otu for his administration’s bold steps aimed at deliberately improving the quality of education in the state, pioneer Director-General of the TCTI, Professor Taoheed Adedoja, said the initiative would stand out the rookie teachers in the country in terms of readiness and pre-curricular organization.
Professor Adedoja praised Governor Otu for appointing a capable and thoroughbred educationist in the person of Senator Dr Stephen Odey to head the state’s ministry of education, a move he said is “a step in the right direction particularly at a time when Nigeria is most desirous of placing education in the front burner of economic and social development”.
In terms of preparations, the DG said the Institute is set to train an estimated 500,000 – 1,000,000 teachers across the country and as many as 10,000 new teachers in Cross River State, depending on the number the state government can hire.
“The new teachers to be recruited can not meet up with teaching and learning requirements for the standard of today’s vision for education and so it is most desirable that the state is deliberate about giving the recruits the best training pertaining classroom skills from the start.
“It is also pleasing to note that several other states and organisations now look up to Cross River State-owned training Institute for the fundamentals of learning, both in digital literacy and instructional skills”, the DG noted.
Continuing, Professor Adedoja described the TCTI as a landmark achievement for Cross River State that is receiving national and international visibility and recognition as a result of the outstanding performances of the Institution.
The TCTI boss, an exceptional educationist who had served as Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board and Commissioner for Education in Oyo State before serving as a Minister for Sports and Special Duties was one of the notable Nigerians who recently graced the reception ceremony organized in honour of Senator Dr Stephen Odey by the Yache Community in Yala Local Government Area of state.
