Mbah says technology, AI drive effective teaching as NUT demands better welfare, secured environment

Governor of Enugu state, Dr Peter Mbah, says technology and Artificial Intelligence will make teachers more effective rather than replace them, just as the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has called for better pay, improved welfare, and safer school environment across the country.

They made these known on Tuesday at the 59th National Conference of Delegates of the NUT held in Enugu, where teachers and education stakeholders examined the future of the profession amid growing technological advancement.

Addressing the conference with focus on the theme of the conference, “Deployment of technology and Artificial intelligence (AI) in education will erode the place of teachers in the classroom: A myth or Reality”, Governor Mbah said Artificial Intelligence should be deployed as a tool to improve teaching and learning rather than viewed as a threat to teachers’ jobs.

According to him, AI can assist teachers with lesson preparation, personalise learning, identify learning gaps and expand access to knowledge, but cannot replace the human qualities of a teacher.

Gov Mbah addressing the conference

“The future is therefore not teacher versus technology. The future is teacher with technology,” Mbah said.

The governor stressed the need for ethical standards, data protection, responsible regulation and continuous capacity-building for teachers as AI becomes integrated into education.

He said teachers should be positioned as principal beneficiaries and drivers of technological transformation.

Mbah also highlighted his administration’s investment in education, disclosing that 6,850 teachers and other education personnel had been recruited within the last 40 months to address manpower shortages and improve the student-teacher ratio.

Participants at the 59Th conference

He said education had received 33 per cent of the state’s total budget across three budget cycles, while Smart Green Schools had been established across the state’s 260 wards.

In his address, the NUT National President, Comrade Audu Titus Amba,called for improved remuneration and welfare for teachers.

He said education is no longer confined in the traditional classroom, chalkboard and textbook, adding that technology has changed how knowledge is accessed, delivered, assessed and managed.
The NUT president noted that ,”AI and other digital platforms are creating new opportunities for teaching and learning.”

He expressed worries on the poor condition of service, attacks on schools, shortage of teachers, decay infrastructure, inadequate instructional materials, underfunding, insecurity and poor implementation of education policies and the digital divide as major challenges confronting Nigeria’s education sector.

The NUT president also opposed the concession of King’s College, Lagos, to the King’s College Old Boys’ Association under a public-private partnership arrangement, calling for its suspension and reversal and wider consultation with teachers, parents and other stakeholders.

He said 4,042 State Wing Executive Council members had been trained across 32 states and the Federal Capital Territory under the Study Circle programme between 2023 and 2026, while 70 classroom teachers had been trained as Study Circle conveners

The president called on governments at all levels to implement the welfare packages approved for teachers, including a special salary scale, bursary awards for education students, a special teachers’ pension scheme, career-path policies, low-cost housing for teachers in rural areas and loan facilities for housing, agriculture and other needs.

He said implementation of the incentives would help attract motivated young Nigerians and qualified professionals into the teaching profession.

He also called for increased budgetary allocations to education, stressing that poor funding remained at the root of many of the problems confronting the sector.

On school safety, Amba expressed concern over the killing, abduction and maiming of teachers and learners, urging governments to strengthen security around schools and fully implement safe-school initiatives.

He called for full implementation of the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022, which provides for teachers to retire at 65 years or after 40 years of service, whichever comes first.

In his speech, the governor of Kebbi State Comrade Nasir Idris, highlighted teachers’ welfare as one of the challenges facing the Nigeria’s teachg, saying his administration had prioritised the payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities.

Idris said Kebbi was not owing teachers and other workers’salary arrears, pensions or gratuities, while also pointing to measures taken by his administration to strengthen the education sector and improve teachers’ conditions of service

The governor said his administration had recruited thousands of workers, including teachers and health personnel, and had invested in school infrastructure.

The NUT conference also reviewed the union’s Study Circle programme, early childhood education initiatives, gender policy and teachers’ social security schemes.

The conference, which began on September 28 and ends on September 30 in Enugu, is expected to further deliberate on teachers’ welfare, education funding, school security, professional development and the implications of technology and Artificial Intelligence for the teaching profession.