By Funmi Ojo
The Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, ASUSS, says collaboration among teachers, governments, parents, and communities is the only way to save Nigeria’s ailing education sector.
Speaking ahead of the 2025 World Teachers’ Day, the National President of ASUSS, Mr. Sola Adigun, said the theme of this year’s celebration, “Recasting Teaching as a Collaborative Profession,” underscores the urgent need for unity in tackling the nation’s education challenges.
He said teaching has never been a job for lone rangers, noting that the progress of a child is determined not by the teacher alone, but also by parents, policymakers, communities, and government.
“True collaboration gives teachers a voice in shaping the future of education.”
Mr. Adigun commended the Federal Ministry of Education for including ASUSS representatives in the expanded Governing Council of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN, and praised the tuition-free Technical and Vocational Education and Training, TVET, programme as a model of effective partnership between policy and practice.
He also recognised states like Ekiti and Bayelsa for pioneering tuition-free technical education, while applauding governments that respect teachers’ right to associate with ASUSS.
The ASUSS President, however, decried the failure of 16 states to implement the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022, despite court rulings, warning that such neglect undermines collaboration.
He further criticised the hurried implementation of the new 9-year Basic Education Curriculum without adequate teacher training or resources.
Other pressing challenges, according to him, include examination malpractice, poor welfare, decaying infrastructure, and insecurity in schools, problems that cannot be solved in silos.
Mr. Adigun called on states yet to establish Senior Secondary Education Boards to do so urgently, recruit more qualified teachers, and ensure teachers’ welfare is protected. He also renewed the demand for ASUSS’s trade union certificate, approved 17 years ago but still withheld.
He pledged that ASUSS would continue to support the TRCN registration policy, noting that professional certification enhances dignity and competence.
World Teachers’ Day is celebrated globally on October 5 to honour educators and spotlight the challenges facing the profession.
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