The Committee of Provosts of Colleges of Education has called for stronger measures to protect learning institutions across Nigeria, warning that the country cannot prepare 21st-century teachers in environments where learners feel physically, emotionally or psychologically unsafe.
The committee also stressed the need for teacher-training institutions to equip educators with the skills required to prevent and respond to bullying, harassment, violence, exclusion and other threats that could negatively affect learning.
The call was made at a National Trainers’ Workshop on Safe Learning Environment, Gender-Responsive Pedagogy and ICT Skills for Educators in Teacher Training Institutions in Nigeria.
Speaking on behalf of the Committee of Provosts, the Provost of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba, Dr James Olisa, described the initiative as timely, stressing that safe learning environments should be a fundamental part of teacher education.
Olisa said teacher-training institutions must model the kind of safe, inclusive and respectful environments that future educators would be expected to create for their own students.
“We cannot train 21st-century teachers in an environment where learners feel unsafe — physically, emotionally or psychologically,” he said.
He added that campuses should be free from harassment, bullying and violence, allowing every student teacher to learn and thrive without fear.
Olisa also called for greater emphasis on gender-responsive pedagogy, urging teacher educators to identify and challenge gender stereotypes in teaching materials, classroom interactions and assessment.
He stressed that both male and female student teachers should have equal opportunities to excel, particularly in science and technology.
On digital education, the provost said traditional teaching methods alone could no longer adequately prepare learners for a rapidly changing world. He urged teacher-training institutions to move beyond theory and integrate information and communication technology into teaching and learning.
“The chalkboard era is gone. A teacher who is not digitally literate cannot prepare learners for a digital world,” he said.
Earlier, the Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Ahmad, said the Federal Government was concerned that simply recording school enrolment and attendance did not provide a complete picture of whether children were safe, participating and learning.
Ahmad, who was represented by the Director of Colleges of Education in the Federal Ministry of Education, Dr Uchenna Uba, said children could be physically present in classrooms while bullying, exclusion, ridicule and other unsafe conditions prevented them from fully participating in learning.
She said educational assessment must therefore go beyond access and attendance to determine whether learners were safe, included, engaged and making meaningful progress.
Ahmad noted that the Federal Ministry of Education had introduced the National Policy on Anti-Bullying in Nigerian Schools and its implementation guidelines. However, she stressed that the effectiveness of the policy would depend largely on how teachers and other responsible adults respond to bullying, abuse and exclusion.
She said teachers must be able to recognise signs of bullying, while children should understand how and where to seek help when they feel threatened or unsafe.
The minister also linked teachers’ ability to protect vulnerable learners to the conditions in which they work, noting that overcrowded classrooms, inadequate teaching materials and heavy workloads could limit their ability to identify and respond to learners in distress.
According to her, teachers must be adequately prepared and supported to translate education policies into practical action in schools and classrooms.
The workshop is training 45 master trainers from 15 colleges of education, who are expected to transfer the knowledge gained to approximately 500 teacher educators across the country.
The training covers safe learning environments, gender-responsive pedagogy, prevention and response to school-related gender-based violence, as well as digital teaching and ICT skills.
Ahmad also urged beneficiary institutions to ensure that ICT equipment provided with support from the Government of Japan and UNESCO resulted in practical improvements in teacher preparation and classroom learning.
She challenged the master trainers to replicate the training in their respective institutions, create opportunities for other educators to practise the approaches and monitor their impact on classroom outcomes.
The Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Japan in Nigeria, Kozaki Hitoshi, reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to supporting education development in Nigeria.
Kozaki said the success of the intervention would ultimately depend on how beneficiary institutions used the equipment and skills provided to strengthen teacher preparation and improve learning outcomes.
The workshop highlights the growing need for Nigeria’s safe-school agenda to address not only bullying, harassment and gender-based violence, but also wider security threats that can prevent students and teachers from learning and working in safe environments.
The Committee of Provosts maintained that teacher education must prepare educators not only to teach, but also to identify threats, protect vulnerable learners and create learning environments where students can learn and participate without fear.
