Nigeria’s Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) have voiced their opposition to the increasing trend of converting public colleges of education into universities. They expressed concerns over this development, emphasising the critical role that colleges of education play in producing teachers at the basic education level.
Speaking in Abuja at a three-day national conference and workshop organised by COEASU in collaboration with the Committee of Provosts, Sonny Echono, Executive Secretary of TETFund, and Dr. Smart Olugbeko, President of COEASU, highlighted the detrimental impact of such conversions.
Echono expressed dismay, questioning the rationale behind the conversions when existing colleges of education are already struggling to produce sufficient teachers for primary schools across the country. He urged both federal and state governments to prioritise education at the basic level.
“This penchant to want to convert colleges of education to universities—frankly, I see no need for it. Universities already have faculties of education. And many of the conventional universities have this already. Why don’t we produce enough for this basic level first? We can have some level of specialisation because improvements come. And some of them already have that. But do we want to convert all our colleges of education to universities?” Echono queried.
Dr. Olugbeko also warned of the negative consequences that could arise if there were no colleges of education in Nigeria. He criticised the situation in Lagos State, where all state-owned polytechnics and colleges of education have been converted to universities.