By Uchenna Eletuo
Some education specialists have expressed concern over students’ poor performance in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
They described the trend as systemic and reflective of broader societal failures that had resulted in the production of low-quality, unemployable graduates.
Speaking at the Upskill Workshop held in Lagos on Monday, the educationists emphasised the need to reform teacher training programmes to produce more qualified and effective educators.
The theme of the workshop was “Educating for Impact: Unleashing Teacher Potential for National Development.
The workshop featured a comprehensive review of existing teacher training curricula.
The experts introduced a new three-stage development framework, dubbed “Teacher Immersion,” which integrates digital, analytical, and critical thinking modules aimed at equipping teachers to meet national educational and labour market demands better.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the review addressed urgent social demands and the need for a workforce-ready generation of students.
Former Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo, who led the curriculum review at the event, linked the alarming drop in UTME scores to the country’s dysfunctional teacher training systems.
She noted with concern that 78 per cent of candidates scored below 200 in the 2025 UTME, stressing the urgent need for reforms.
“A society cannot develop beyond the capacity of its teachers,” Adefisayo said, calling for immediate investment in teacher education.
She added that the curriculum reform body would leverage private-sector Corporate Social Responsibility support to implement a five-year regional development plan tailored to the specific needs of different parts of the country.
“Organisations will be encouraged to sponsor teachers training in various areas of their interest and, in return, get their desired workforce developed by the system,” she said.
Speaking, Mr Foluso Philips said that the NYSC corps members being posted to schools should be trained to conform to the required standards.
Philips decried Nigeria’s lag in the UNESCO teacher-to-pupil ratio, stating that the corps members’ teaching scheme should be upskilled with the required training.
“As many of them may want to continue teaching after service year,” he said.
He said that the crop of teachers from the NYSC scheme would help meet the UNESCO teacher-to-student ratio requirement and upgrade the system.
Also speaking, one of the resource persons, Dr Grace Oluwatoye, decried the inadequate funding allocated to teacher training programmes in the country.
She said that part of the TETFUND should be used to fund teacher training programmes.
According to her, there are sufficient funds within TETFUND that could be effectively utilised to sponsor enhanced teacher training programmes, enabling Nigeria to produce the quality of teachers needed to meet contemporary social demands.
Additionally, the Founder of Upskill Educational Initiative Ltd, Mrs Olapeju Sofowora, emphasised the need for continuous in-service training of teachers to keep them aligned with current educational trends and societal realities.
According to her, the lack of competent graduates to fill vacant job positions necessitated the formation of upskilling programs to address the shortfall.
Sofowora stated that the organisation, in collaboration with other partners, aims to raise ₦100 million by October 2025 to support teacher training programmes.
She appealed to government agencies and corporate organisations to support the initiative to advance the nation’s educational development.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, Mr Ademola Aladekomo, urged individuals to sponsor teacher training programmes in their alma mater.
