The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) have opposed the growing trend of converting public Colleges of Education to universities.
They described the development as disturbing, considering the important role colleges of education play in producing teachers at the basic education level for the country.
The Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc. Sonny Echono, and President of COEASU, Dr Smart Olugbeko, stated this in Abuja at a three-day national conference and workshop on Digital Pedagogy and Fundable Research Proposal Writing organised by COEASU in collaboration with the Committee of Provosts.
Echono, who expressed dismay at the development, questioned the rationale behind it when existing colleges of education are not producing enough teachers for primary schools in the country.
He urged federal and state governments to prioritise education at the basic level, citing examples with Germany and Japan where teachers at the basic level earn more than their counterparts at the tertiary level.
“This tendency to want to convert colleges of education to universities, frankly I see no need for it. Universities already have faculties of education. And many of the conventional universities have this already. Why don’t we produce enough for this basic level first? We can have some level of specialisation because improvements come,” he said.
He said: “Do we want to convert all our colleges of education to universities when we are not producing enough for our primary schools?”
Speaking, Dr Olugbeko warned that there would be negative consequences if there are no colleges of education in the country, saying the conversion is a misplaced priority on the part of the government.