Lack of Gender-Responsive Teacher Training: An Assessment of the Oyo State Teachers Workshop
By Lawal Sofiyyat Bolanle
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Ibadan, Oyo state - The Oyo state government in their roadmap for sustainable development designed for 2023 to 2027, promised to strengthen the workforce by organising training and upskilling programmes, especially for teachers in rural areas and other underserved populations.
In the last few years, the Oyo state government has organised training to empower the teachers with needed skills in order to improve teachability and enhance learning in students through the Oyo State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM).
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Oyo TESCOM was established in 1992 to oversee the recruitment and management of human resources of the post-primary schools in the state, with a vision to revive and sustain teaching and learning standards in public secondary schools and to meet the best global practices.
Teachers’ training program is a program that equip teachers with the modern/new pedagogy and technology that helps to manage and teach students in such a way that all students are benefitting. In the 21st century, teachers’ training programs are essential due to the advancement in technology which has rendered most of the traditional ways of teaching useless.
In a bid to fulfil the promise made by the government, TESCOM, in association with the Education Advancement Center (EAC), organised a Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics related training for principals across the state. According to a report from the EAC, training was held in Ibadan, Iseyin, Saki, Ogbomosho, and Eruwa around May 2024 with about 600 participants in attendance, who were lectured by six resource persons.
However, checks on the participation of girls-only schools in Ibadan confirmed that three of the six girls schools PEN PRESS visited were absent from the training, while the other three schools rejected interview requests due to what the reporter depicts as fear of the government.
Oyo has about 806 public secondary schools in the state with about 8 girls-only schools in Ibadan alone. Most of the girls schools were established in the 80s and 90s. Girls’ schools were founded to eradicate stereotypes and boost girls' confidence. Though the learning ability of female students is not different from their male counterparts, the learning needs and preferences of females, especially in the adolescent stage are different and need ultimate attention.
Speaking with the Vice Principal Academics of St. Claire Girls High School, Ibadan, Dr Adeniji, he revealed that the school has not been invited to any training this year, since training by TESCOM is only based on select schools. She said the poor condition of the school facilities was adversely affecting the students. However, she maintained that it doesn't stop teachers from transferring knowledge to the students.
“The school has not participated in any training organised by the state government since 2015 and most of this training and workshops are based on connections of the selected schools. We (teachers) are parents as well and the inadequate training does not stop us from imparting knowledge on the children,” she added.
It was gathered that Oluyoro Grammar School benefits from training organised by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for staff and students from time to time, unlike the government training workshops which rarely come up.
"Every term, we have two or three NGOs that do come to train the students and one of them has established a training center in the school in which trained teachers in collaboration with the NGO personnel select students regularly with the hope that the selected students will disseminate information and share knowledge among their peers and other students of the schools. These students serve like a local coordinator,” Mr Adigun Adeniyi, the Vice Principal Academics of Oluyoro Grammar School told PEN PRESS.
He added that some of the training held was based on sex talks, adolescent talk, bullying and academic excellence.
“An NGO has also come to support students with equipment like hand dryers, tailoring machines and even money that helps them with their vocational studies. The state government also invites students and teachers for training, once in a while, not so regularly - once in a term, especially the ministry of health, and the ministry of education,” Mr Adigun concluded.
Though the Principal of People's Girls School turned down our request for an interview, she mentioned that the school has not been invited for any training by the government this year.
Attempts to get the reaction of TESCOM proved futile as the Chairman, Pastor Akinade Alamu, referred PEN PRESS to the press officer of the Commission who as at the time of filing this report is unreachable.
The Sustainable Development Goals 4 aims at ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all. This aim extends to providing access to affordable vocational training and eliminating gender and wealth disparities to ensure a sustainable and inclusive education which involves all learners. The Oyo state government has always advocated inclusion and support of SDGs, however, the action is not felt in the part of teachers’ training.
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Mrs Ibukun Akangbe, a girl-child advocate that works with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting emphasises the need to train teachers in girls' schools to improve learning outcomes and boost the students' self-esteem. Owing to the fact that there are more female teachers than male in girls' schools, she laid more emphasis on training female teachers.
“Training of female teachers in girls’ schools is important because data has proved that teachers, especially female teachers improve learning outcomes in Africa at large,” she stated.
She continued:
“When female teachers are trained and equipped with knowledge, it brings about positive outcomes because teachers empower learners and inspire female students. Female teachers are not just instructors but also stand as role models to girl-child, to show her the opportunities she can lay hold of and tremendous impacts she can make,” she added.
Furthermore, she related the benefits of teachers' training to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 and 5.
“Generally, teacher training will contribute to the achievement of the SDGs 4 and 5 which are about quality education and gender equality respectively. Training of teachers helps to empower the girl-child which in turn attracts quality education and the inclusion of girls’ schools brings about gender equality. Therefore, priority should be placed on training and equipping teachers in girls only schools,” she concluded.
This report is supported by ImpactHouse Centre for Development Communication and System Strategy and Policy Lab (SSPL)
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