By New Telegraph,Oladipupo Awojobi

Copyright newtelegraphng

The Anwar-ul-Islam Old Students Association (ACAOSA) Global on Monday advocated regular training, better remuneration and incentives for teachers to attract the best hands into the profession, and secure Nigeria’s future.

ACAOSA organised a One-Day Capacity Building for 50 teachers drawn from Anwar-ul-Islam College (Formerly Ahmadiyya College), Agege and Anwar-ul-Islam Girls’ High School, Ojokoro, at the college in Agege, Lagos.

The training, entitled “Transforming Teaching with AI: Digital Integration for Smarter Classrooms and Professional Excellence, was facilitated by Brainy Oaks Educational and Professional Consultants.

In his address, Dr Abdulfatai Afolabi, the President-General of ACAOSA Global, said that the decision to embark on the initiative was informed by the direct performance of students and grades in final examinations.

Afolabi, who graduated from the school in 1975, noted the old students had discovered a decrease in school enrollment, hence the need to beef up and enhance teachers’ capacity to raise standards and attract more students.

“The enrollment will be informed by the record of performances of our students. If, delightedly, our schools publish results of the school scoring 90 success in the external examinations, then enrollment would begin to rise.

“We need to do this because we know doing that will also mean sustaining the life of our old students association,” Afolabi, the Convener, said.

Stressing the importance of teachers’ training and remuneration, Afolabi said that teachers deserved more than. What they were getting in Nigeria.

He added: “It (poor reward system) has been an age-long phenomenon that teachers are not commensurately or adequately well rewarded.

“It has been an age-long phenomenon that teachers’ rewards are in heaven. I think we need to change that axiom now, such that everyone should be able to receive their rewards here.

“That is why we are doing this training to motivate the teachers to let them know that they are also important in the lives of the students.

“We also want to showcase ourselves to them as old students for them to see that we are the makings of teachers then, and we can look back.”

According to him, teachers are important and except they are motivated, the performances of the students will continue to go down.

Noting that the outcome of the training evaluation would determine the frequency, Afolabi assured ACAOSA’s readiness to constantly impact students and teachers of schools under the Anwar-ul-Islam Movement.

“We will be having more and more training, addressing thematic and germane educational issues and of course, social issues that are desirable for our students.

“Not only do we want to turn out outstanding students academically, we also want to turn out socially desirable students, coming out of our school,” he added

Also, Mr Abdulsatar Omolola, Deputy National President of ACAOSA, said that the old students’ association had invested so much money to bring in consultants and experts to come train them in a relaxed atmosphere.

Omolola, a legal practitioner, said, “We have taken 50 teachers from our school and sister school belonging to the Anwar-ul-Islam Movement to be trained so that they can go back and be training the trainers.”

Delivering a seminar on “Enhancing Lesson Preparation and Delivery,” Mr Jamiu Mustapha, an educational and professional consultant, stressed the need for clear, measurable and time-bound personal and learning objectives on each concept taught in class.

Another facilitator, Mrs Oyinkan Afolabi, who spoke on Classroom Management, noted the need for teachers to create and maintain a safe, organised and productive learning environment, calling for the creation of a positive classroom culture.

Speaking on Digital Integration in Teaching and The Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Dr Joy Isa, said that technology keeps evolving, but academia was lagging behind and at the bottom of the ladder, tasking teachers with critical thinking, creativity and innovation.

“We cannot use an antiquated system to deliver 21st-century learning. Teachers must upgrade and embrace technology. A teacher is the bridge between success and failure,” she said.

Speaking, Mr Abdulwaheed Soyebo, the Principal, Anwar-ul-Islam College, Agege, who applauded ACAOSA for being sensitive to teachers’ training, described it as impactful and an eye-opener on how to handle different categories of students.

Soyebo said, “This training will not only help the participants but the whole school. We want ACAOSA to continue training teachers, if possible annually.”

The participants were taken through various sessions, including Professional Development, Enhancing Lesson Preparation and Delivery and Classroom Management.

Other sessions include Digital Integration in Teaching and The Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Instructional Strategies, among others.