Nigeria to Train One Million Teachers Under New Program

The Federal Government of Nigeria has launched the Accelerated Teacher Professional Programme (ATPP) aimed at training one million in-service teachers to improve teaching quality and learning outcomes nationwide. Minister of Education Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa announced this initiative during a meeting with the newly appointed UNESCO Country Representative to Nigeria, Professor Isaiah Barreto Da Rosa, in Abuja on Tuesday.

Alausa emphasized that enhancing teacher quality is central to the government's education transformation agenda. He reported that over one million out-of-school children have been reintegrated into classrooms through various government interventions in the past 20 months, although he estimated that between seven and eight million children remain out of school.

The minister outlined six priority areas for education sector transformation, including quality assurance and girl-child education. He welcomed technical support from UNESCO but insisted that it must align with Nigeria's educational priorities, stating the importance of mobilizing domestic resources and collaborating with development partners for effective implementation of education reforms.