CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. PREAMBLE

Teaching is the oldest and noblest of all professions. The Engineers Lawyers, Pharmacists, Medical Doctors and others are all made by the teacher. The teaching profession has more members than any other. These are unique features that make the profession the most indomitable profession in the world. Indeed, the history of education in Nigeria show that teachers occupied the position of great honour and influence in their communities. They epitomized integrity, knowledge, leadership, moral rectitude and selfless service. They spearheaded the development of their communities and country. But over the years things appeared to have changed for the worse. In order to maintain and restore the teacher's enviable status and qualities, there is the need to enact this code of conduct to define the minimum standards expected of professional teachers in terms of their thoughts, words and actions. Consequently, this code is produced for widest circulation among teachers and it is hoped that it will meet the yearnings and aspirations of the nation to build a veritable standard of education through dedicated, competent and dependable teaching force.

2. OBJECTIVES OF TEACHERS CODE OF CONDUCT (TCC)

The objectives of the Teachers Code of Conduct, among others, are to:

•  Re-awaken the sense of self-esteem, dignity, honour, selfless service and moral rectitude in the teacher.

•  Protect the teachers' age-long position of nobility and leadership in the social, moral, and intellectual world.

•  Build a strong moral foundation for the actualization of an educational system that can compete favourably in the global community.

•  Boost public confidence in the ability of the teaching profession to regulate itself and to bequeath to the nation products that are capable of making maximum contribution towards the development of the nation in particular and the World in general.

•  Provide objective yardstick for the assessment of the teachers' conduct and discharge of professional duties. Help to guarantee the safety of the professionals and sustenance of the desired prestige of the teaching profession.

•  Spell out the type of relationship that should exist between the teachers on one hand and severally their colleagues, students and other persons who would interact with them from time to time.

(g) To clarify teachers' rights, privileges, and obligations and their legal bases.

3. UNESCO/ILO POSITION ON STATUS OF THE TEACHER

In 1984, the International Labour Organization and UNESCO issued a document titled: THE STATUS OF TEACHER: An Instrument for its improvement: The International Recommendation of 196 Joint Commentaries by the ILO and UNESCO . The document has more than 142 recommendations, covering guiding principles, educational objectives and policies, preparation for the profession, further education for teachers, employment and career, rights and responsibilities of teachers, conditions for effective teaching and learning, teachers salaries and social security, among others. Below are selected recommendations (Rec.) on professionalisation, discipline, rights and responsibilities of a teacher:

•  Professionalisation:

Rec 6: Teaching should be regarded as a profession: it is a form of public service which requires of teachers expert knowledge and specialized skills, acquired and maintained through rigorous and continuing study; it calls also for a sense of personal and corporate responsibility for the education and welfare of the pupils in their charge.

Rec. 11: Policy governing entry into preparation for teaching should rest on the need to provide society with an adequate supply of teachers who possess the necessary moral, intellectual and physical qualities and who have the required professional knowledge and skills.

Rec. 13: Completion of an approved course in an appropriate teacher-preparation institution should be required of all persons entering the profession.

Rec. 21(1) : All teachers should be prepared in general, special and pedagogical subjects in universities, or in institutions on a level comparable to universities, or else in special institutions for the preparation of teachers.

Rec. 23: Education for teaching should normally be full time; special arrangements may be made for older entrants to the profession and persons in other exceptional categories to undertake all or part of their course on a part-time basis, on condition that the content of such courses and the standard of attainment are on the same level as those of the full-time course.

Rec. 28: Teacher preparation institutions should form a focus of development in the education service, both keeping schools abreast of the results of research and methodological progress, and reflecting in their own work the experience of schools and teachers.

Rec. 46: Teachers should be adequately protected against arbitrary action affecting their professional standing or career.

•  Discipline

Rec. 47: Disciplinary measures applicable to teachers guilty of breach of professional conduct should be clearly defined. The proceedings and any resulting actions should only be made public if the teacher so requests except where prohibition from teaching is involved or the protection or well-being of the pupils so requires.

Rec. 48: The authorities or bodies competent to propose or apply sanctions and penalties should be clearly designated.

(c) Rights

Rec. 61: The teaching profession should enjoy academic freedom in the discharge of professional duties. Since teachers are particularly qualified to judge the teaching aids and methods most suitable for their pupils, they should be given the essential role in the choice and the adaptation of teaching material, the selection of textbooks and the application of teaching methods, within the framework of approved programmes, and with the assistance of the educational authorities.

Rec. 62: Teachers and their organizations should participate in the development of new courses, textbooks and teaching aids.

Rec. 63: Any systems of inspection or supervision should be designed to encourage and help teachers in the performance of their professional tasks and should be such as not to diminish the freedom, initiative and responsibility of teachers.

Rec. 64: (i) Where any kind of direct assessment of the teacher's work is required, such assessment should be objective and should be made known to the teacher.

(ii) Teachers should have a right to appeal against assessments, which they deem to be unjustified.

Rec. 65: Teachers should be free to make use of such evaluation techniques as they may deem useful for the appraisal of pupils' progress, but should ensure that no unfairness to individual pupils results.

Rec. 66: The authorities should give due weight to the recommendations of teachers regarding the situation of individual pupils for courses and further education of different kinds.

Rec. 67: Every possible effort should be made to promote close co-operation between teachers and parents in the interests of pupils, but teachers should be protected against unfair or unwarranted interference by parents in matters which are essentially the teacher's professional responsibility.

Rec. 69: While teachers should exercise the utmost care to avoid accidents to pupils, employers of teachers should safeguard them against the risk of having damages assessed against them in the event of injury to pupils occurring at school or in school activities away from the school premises or grounds.

(d) Responsibilities

Rec. 70: Recognizing that the status of their profession depends to a considerable extent upon teachers themselves, all teachers should seek to achieve the highest possible standards in all their professional work.

Rec. 71: Professional standards relating to teacher performance should be defined and maintained with the participation of the teachers' organizations.

Rec. 72: Teachers and teachers' organizations should seek to co-operate fully with authorities in the interests of the pupils, of the education service and of society generally.

Rec. 73: Codes of conduct should be established by the teachers' organizations, since such codes greatly contribute to ensuring the prestige of the profession and the exercise of professional duties in accordance with agreed principles.

Rec. 74: Teachers should be prepared to take their part in extra-curricular activities for the benefit of pupils and adults.

Rec. 75: In order that teachers may discharge their responsibilities, authorities should establish and regularly use recognized means of consultation with teachers organizations on such matters as educational policy, school organization, and new developments in the education service.

Rec. 76: Authorities and teachers should recognize the importance of the participation of teachers, through their organizations and in other ways, in steps designed to improve the quality of the education service, in educational research, and in the development and dissemination of new improved methods.

Rec. 77: Authorities should facilitate the establishment and the work of panels designed, within a school or within a broader framework, to promote the co-operation of teachers of the same subject and should take due account of the opinions and suggestions of such panels.

Rec. 78: Administrative and other staff that are responsible for aspects of the education service should seek to establish good relations with teachers and this approach should be equally reciprocated.

Rec. 79: The participation of teachers in social and public life should be encouraged in the interest of the teacher's personal development, of the education service and of society as a whole.

Rec. 80: Teachers should be free to exercise all civic rights generally enjoyed by citizens and should be eligible for public office.

PROVISIONS OF NATIONAL POLICY ON EDUCATION FOR PROFESSIONALISATION OF TEACHING

The National Policy on Education (4 TH Edition 2003) has the expectation that

teaching in Nigeria shall attain the highest standards possible. Therefore, the following are excerpts from its statements on teacher education and professionalisation in Nigeria :

•  Since no education system can rise above the quality of its teachers, teacher Education shall continue to be given major emphasis in all educational planning and development.

•  The goals of teacher education shall be to:

(i) Produce highly motivated, conscientious and efficient classroom teachers for all levels of our educational system;

(ii) Encourage further the spirit of enquiry and creativity in teachers.

(iii) Help teachers to fit into the social life of the community and the society at large, and enhance their commitment to national goals.

(iv) Provide teachers with the intellectual and professional background adequate for their assignment and make them adaptable to changing situations; and

(v) Enhance teachers commitment to the teaching profession.

(4c) All teachers in educational institutions from shall be professionally trained. Teacher education programmes shall be structured to equip teachers for the effective performance of their duties. The following institutions, among others, shall give the required professional training, provided they continuously meet the required minimum standards:

•  Colleges of Education

•  Faculties of Education

•  Institutes of Education

•  National Teacher Institutes (NTI)

•  Schools of education in the polytechnics

•  National institutes for Nigerian languages (NINLAN);

•  National Mathematical Center (NMC)

•  Teaching is a legally recognized profession in Nigeria ; in this regard, Government has set up the Teachers' Registration Council to control and regulate the practice of the profession.

•  Those already involved in teaching but not professionally qualified shall be given a period of time within which to qualify for registration or leave the profession

•  Newly qualified teachers shall serve a period of internship - one (1) year for degree holders and two (2) for NCE holders.

5. TEACHERS REGISTRATION COUNCIL OF NIGERIA (TRCN)

ACT. NO 31 OF 1993

(a) The Functions of TRCN

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria was established by the Act No 31 of 1993. The Act charges the Council with the following functions, among others:

(I) Determining who are teachers for the purpose of this Act.

(ii) Determining what standards of knowledge and skill are to be attained by persons seeking to become registered as teachers under this Act and raising those standards from time to time as circumstances may permit.

(iii) Securing in accordance with the provisions of this Act the establishment and maintenance of a register of teachers and the publication from time to time of the lists of those persons.

•  Regulating and controlling the teaching profession in all its aspects and ramifications.

(v) Classifying from time to time members of the teaching profession according to their levels of training and qualification.

•  Performing through the council established under this Act the functions conferred on it by this Act.

(b) Teachers Code of Conduct

The TRCN Act section 9 (6) empowers the Council to make rules which are not inconsistent with the Act as to acts which constitute professional misconduct.

(c) Teachers Investigation Panel (TIP)

The TRCN Act in section 9 established a Teachers Investigation Panel with the following responsibilities:

(i) Conducting a preliminary investigation into any case where it is alleged that a member has misbehaved in his capacity as a professional teacher, or should for any other reason be the subject of proceedings of the committee, and

(ii) Deciding whether the case should be referred to the Teachers Disciplinary Committee

The Panel shall be set up in each state of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Members of the Panel shall be appointed by TRCN after consultation with the state Ministries of Education or the Federal Ministry of Education in the case of the FCT. The Panel shall consist of five members one of which shall be a legal practitioner.

(d) Teachers Disciplinary Committee (TDC)

The TRCN Act section 9 equally established the Teachers Disciplinary Committee. The TDC is a tribunal which is responsible for considering and determining any case referred to it by the TIP. The TDC consists of the chairman of TRCN and ten other members appointed by the council.

(e) Penalties for Unprofessional Conduct

The TRCN Act section 9 empowers the TDC to punish a member where:

(i). He is judged by the committee to be guilty of infamous conduct in any professional respect or

(ii) He is convicted by any court or committee in Nigeria or elsewhere having power to award imprisonment, or of an offence ( whether or not punishable with imprisonment) which in the opinion of the committee is incompatible with the status of a teacher

(iii) The committee is satisfied that the name of any person has been fraudulently registered.

To erring members, the TDC may award penalties such as:

(a ) advice (b ) reprimand, (c ) suspension for months , and

(d) deletion of name temporarily or permanently from the Teachers Register.

Chapter 2