REJUVINATING TEACHER EDUCATION THROUGH MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The teacher plays a vital role in the success of all classroom educational interventions that contribute to national development. The Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN, 2004:39) emphasised that the quality of school teachers is crucial for the success of any education system. Therefore, teacher education should remain a primary focus in all educational planning and development. Therefore, it is an established reality that all teachers must be committed to fulfilling their responsibilities adequately. In order to revitalise teacher education for sustainable development, it is necessary to alter people's perspective on teachers and the teaching profession. The government and the public should acknowledge the profession to attract young individuals to it. Additionally, there is a need to enhance the quality of infrastructural facilities in teaching institutions. The outcome is heavily contingent upon the amount of financial resources allocated to the system. Sustainable national development refers to the process of achieving development that fulfils the current requirements without jeopardising the abilities of future generations to fulfil their own demands. This entails incrementally and judiciously advancing in life. The function of education in sustainable national development is to instruct and prepare citizens to live responsibly and consider the well-being of society and future generations in their pursuits. This involves including pressing sustainable development concerns such as climate change, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity, poverty reduction, and sustainable consumption into educational curricula. Only by preventing environmental degradation, ensuring equitable distribution of national prosperity, and prioritising the development of human resources can any country attain sustainable economic growth and development. Application of participatory teaching and learning approaches that inspire and enable learners to modify their behaviours and engage in actions leads to sustainable development. Only by providing sufficient teacher training can this be accomplished. This research thus suggests the need of increasing awareness through mobilisation and advocacy, as a significant number of interested learners lack knowledge about the presence of teacher education courses and the specific programmes they are required to participate in.