TEACHER EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: THE NIGERIAN AND ZAMBIAN EXPERIENCE

Abstract

The paper adopted a comparative analysis theory to appraise the teacher education programmes in Nigeria and Zambia. The former, an amalgamation of Northern and Southern protectorates of the British Colonial Empire in West Africa with a population of 218,521,780 as of Tuesday, December 6, 2022 (Worldometer, 2022)    while the latter is a land locked country in Southern Africa with a total estimated population of 19,630,460 as of Monday, December 5, 2022. The two countries have put in place transformative processes aimed at developing teacher education policies towards rapid development of their various nations. Nigeria has a well-structured curriculum for pre-service and in-service training of teachers through the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) and National Teacher’s Institute (NTI) and Zambia equally has a well-organized institution that handles the in-service training of teachers known as National In-Service Training College (NISTCOL). The challenges faced by the two countries in the provision of teacher education programmes are highlighted in the paper and their corresponding remedies to bring about robust improvements. The study revealed that there is a gap between what the educational planners expected in theory and what they work towards to achieve in practice. Recommendations such as the need for provision of adequate facilities, funding, capacity building (Pre-service and In-service teachers) and sensitization of the public on the objectives of National Teacher Education Policy in Nigeria and Zambia among others have been advanced in the paper.