How to Become a Teacher in Nigeria (2024)
Do you wish to be a teacher in Nigeria but are unsure how to proceed? Do you know what credentials or prerequisites you must meet in order to work as a professional teacher in Nigeria? We shall cover it all in this article.
I’m going to tell you all you need to know about becoming a teacher in this article, including how much salary you can expect to be paid as a teacher in Nigeria. If you know where and how to hunt for teaching positions or offers, the teaching profession can be quite rewarding.
HOW MUCH DO TEACHERS MAKE AS SALARY IN NIGERIA?
After receiving all of your credentials, a number of factors determine how much you are paid. It depends on how much negotiating power you have with your employer, the school administration you are dealing with, how you will present yourself in terms of appearance, and the kind of private schools you are interested in working at. As a new teacher in Nigeria, you can expect to earn a salary between #40,000 to #120,000. This is true of both public and private schools. But by diversifying, you might increase your revenue.
STEPS ON HOW TO BECOME A TEACHER IN NIGERIA
To become a teacher in Nigeria, follow these procedures.
STEP 1: PASS ALL TERTIARY AND O’LEVEL EXAMS
To become a teacher in Nigeria, you must first complete the O’Level exams. This test could be a GCE, WAEC, or NECO. Depending on the course you wish to take at the college or university of your choosing for your college of education, you must pass this exam in Mathematics, English, and any additional three courses. You can choose from a variety of courses at the university or College of Education.
Science classes like chemistry, biology, and physics as well as business courses like accounting, banking, and finance as well as creative arts courses like creative arts, music, mass communication, and more might all fall under this category. If you enrol in the university’s education programme, you will study any course of your choice for four years or longer.
If you’re enrolled in an education college, it will take you two to three years to complete the first half of the Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) and another two to three years to complete the second half.
STEP 2: DEVELOP YOUR TEACHING KNOWLEDGE
You will complete your teacher preparation for six to twelve months after completing your education programme at the university or institution of education. You can only complete your teacher training in a Nigerian school if you are a future teacher.
It varies whether this is a primary or secondary school, public or private institution, or even a tutoring facility. You have the option to work at the same school after completing your teacher training or to move to a different one.
STEP 3: COMPLETE YOUR COMPULSORY ONE YEAR NYSC
Whether you participated in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) depends on where you attended college. A B.ed (Bachelor in Education) will be awarded to you if you attended college. After that, you can start serving. In a nation like Nigeria, your NYSC certificate is not truly required to work as a teacher. However, you can go for it if you feel you need it or want to get service experience.
STEP 4: OBTAIN THE TRCN CERTIFICATE
The TRCN Act CAP T3 of 2004 authorised the establishment of the Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN). It was created to oversee and regulate the teaching profession at all levels of the public and private educational systems in Nigeria. No matter how many certificates you earn in school, if you don’t have your TRCN Certificate, Nigerians won’t consider you to be a qualified teacher.
You must take the TRCN exam in order to receive a TRCN credential. If you pass it after enrolling for it, a certificate with your name and a special number will be given to you. You can always retake the examinations till you pass if you didn’t pass the first time.
STEP 5: STEP IT UP AND SELL YOURSELF
If you want to succeed as a teacher in Nigeria, it takes more than just knowing the material. You must know how to conduct yourself professionally and interact with your students, parents, and other teachers. You should be able to communicate well both orally and in writing. You must be able to haggle over the amount of pay you will receive. Your school administration will take advantage of you and pay you peanuts if you don’t know all of this.
STEP 6: HOW TO MAKE MORE MONEY AS A TEACHER
As a teacher in Nigeria, there are various opportunities to diversify your income. You can start tiny companies, agribusinesses, or side hustles. You can earn more money as a teacher in Nigeria by taking on the role of a tutorial instructor and opening a centre where you can assist students after school. Your free time will be required for this, especially on weekends, but it will be worthwhile.
You can instruct them directly at home as well. You can start the following businesses or even a farm as a teacher:
1. Start School Lesson
2. Transportation Business
3. Poultry Business
4. Start Home Tutoring
5. Sell Digital Materials
6. Launch A Blog
7. Create A YouTube Channel
You can start other types of enterprises as well. Your choice of business will rely on your interests and level of comfort. Most of the teachers I know make money from two different sources. They primarily work in the clothes and home lesson industries. It doesn’t matter if your school pays you well or not; as a teacher, you need to have backup income sources in case you get fired.
CONCLUSION
In Nigeria, being a teacher can be a rewarding career; it all depends on your ability to market yourself and scale up. Even if you lack all of these credentials, you can work as a teacher in Nigeria and make a respectable salary. After retiring, you can receive a pension if you were a public school teacher.
Depending on the credentials you used to land a government job, your pension payment will vary. All teachers ought to be rewarded on this planet rather than in paradise.
