The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, has urged Nigerian women to pursue leadership training and equip themselves to take advantage of emerging opportunities in educational leadership.
The Minister made the call in Abuja when the Registrar of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Dr. Ronke Soyebo, led a delegation on a courtesy visit to her office.
Suleiman-Ibrahim noted the significant role women play in Nigeria’s education sector, saying they constitute between 70 and 80 per cent of the country’s estimated four million teachers.
She acknowledged that many women had progressed through the education system to become school principals, but challenged them to aspire to higher leadership positions and expand their influence beyond their current achievements.
The Minister also called for improved documentation and reporting of women’s contributions to national development, particularly in sectors where their participation is substantial.
She stressed the need to examine national gender-participation data against Nigeria’s nearly equal male-to-female population, citing education, agriculture and the care economy as areas where women make major contributions.
Suleiman-Ibrahim further encouraged women to use their numerical strength to participate more actively in politics and the electoral process, stressing that their involvement in decision-making was essential to effective governance.
The Minister pledged the Ministry’s cooperation with the TRCN, saying stronger inter-agency collaboration would help maximise available resources and build institutions capable of delivering better services to Nigerians in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
She identified the estimated 16 to 18 million out-of-school children as a major national concern requiring urgent intervention.
On child marriage, the Minister attributed the practice largely to economic challenges and warned about its long-term consequences for the girl-child and society.
She also called for greater attention to personal hygiene among schoolchildren and the teaching of sex education.
While acknowledging the controversies surrounding sex education in different countries, Suleiman-Ibrahim said Nigeria should develop an approach that reflects its cultural and moral values.
“With our own value system, we need to agree on how best to deliver sex education to our children,” she said.
Earlier, the TRCN Registrar, Dr. Ronke Soyebo, briefed the Minister on the Council’s activities and professionalisation efforts.
Soyebo confirmed that Nigeria has about four million teachers, with women accounting for an estimated 70 to 80 per cent of the teaching workforce.
She disclosed that the Council had uploaded the names of certified teachers to its database and advised employers to verify the registration status of teachers before engaging them.
The Registrar also announced plans for a six-month accelerated professionalisation programme for uncertified teachers who have been practising for at least two years.
According to her, the initiative is being developed in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Teachers’ Institute to provide qualified but uncertified teachers with a pathway to professional certification.
Soyebo warned that at the end of the six-month programme, teachers who fail to obtain the required certification should no longer be permitted to teach in classrooms.
She stressed that possessing an academic qualification, even a first-class university degree, does not by itself make an individual a professional teacher.
“Even if a person graduated with a first class from the university, it does not mean such a person can teach,” she said.
The Registrar appealed to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development to collaborate with the Council, particularly on data sharing and providing support for indigent candidates who may be unable to afford participation in the accelerated professionalisation programme.
