Sen. Aliyu-Wamakko

The Chairman, Northern Senators Forum, Sen. Aliyu Wamakko (APC- Sokoto) on Tuesday said that the teaching profession in the country should not be made a dumping ground.

Wamakko, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education, spoke at the 15th Annual National Conference of the Primary and Tertiary Teacher Education Association of Nigeria (PATTEAN) in Sokoto.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference has as its theme,” Education and National Values: Trends and Imperatives . ”

The lawmaker, who was represented by Prof. Musa Maitafsir said ” teaching should not be made a dumping ground where everybody can come in and participate without the requisite professional training.

”You may be a teacher, but not a professional teacher if you are not properly trained as a teacher ”.

The Senator further said it was only an adequately trained teacher that could meaningfully impart the right knowledge to his students at all levels.

He stressed the need for value reorientation of Nigerians, to move Nigeria forward as a united, peaceful and socioeconomically prosperous nation.

Also, the Vice Chancellor of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Prof. Abdullahi Zuru, represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor Administration, Prof. Mansur Sa’eed, said basic education was the foundation of all forms of education.

Highlight of the event was the conferment of Award of Excellence in Quality Basic Education in Nigeria on Sen. Wamakko and four others.

They include the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, Prof. Gidado Tahir, Executive Secretary, National Commission For Nomadic Education.

Others are Prof. A’isha Madawaki, the immediate past Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Sokoto State and Malam Muhammadu ‘Yar-Rimawa, a retired teacher in the state.

Responding on behalf of the awardees, Prof. Madawaki said that would continue to cherish the honour, which would spur them to sustain the effort, to further revamp the education sector in the state and Nigeria in general.