Last week, Nigeria joined other nations across the world to celebrate World Teachers’ Day.

It, however, came with mixed feelings, as teachers in Nigeria re-echoed their ugly fate in the country.

DAILY POST reports that the Federal Government restated its commitment to improving the welfare, recognition, and professional support of teachers across Nigeria as the country joined the global community to commemorate the 2025 World Teachers’ Day.

The Minister of Education, Maruf Olatunji Alausa, alongside the Minister of State for Education, Prof Suwaiba Said Ahmad, stated this during a symposium held ahead of the official celebration, on October 5.

The global theme for the 2025 edition is “Recasting Teaching as a Collaborative Profession.”

At various events held across Nigeria, teachers’ unions and education stakeholders lamented the slow pace of policy implementation, poor remuneration, and inadequate teaching facilities, which they said continued to undermine the quality of education.

They called on the federal and state governments to prioritise teachers’ welfare and ensure that promises made to the education sector are fulfilled.

The national president of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, Comrade Audu Amba, in a goodwill message read in states across the country, called on governments to adequately fund public education and invest in teachers.

“Without deliberate investment in teachers, the future of education is at risk. Governments must increase budgetary allocation to education and create a conducive learning atmosphere to ensure quality outcomes,” he said.

While extolling teachers across Nigeria, Amba assured them of continuous demand to the federal government that they be accorded their rightful status and pride of place in society.

“Comrades, I commend your courage, resilience, and patriotism in discharging your duties. Be assured that your success is our priority. We will continue to demand that teachers are accorded their rightful status and pride of place in society,” he added.

Meanwhile, various state governors praised teachers nationwide for their dedication, resilience, and invaluable contributions to the development of the state and humanity at large.

They noted that their tireless efforts and commitment to moulding the next generation of leaders, innovators, and productive citizens were truly commendable.

“To every teacher in our primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions, your impact is immeasurable.

“The foundation you lay in the lives of our children is what determines the trajectory of our state. I urge you to remain steadfast and committed to upholding the high standards of your profession,” the governors said.

In the same vein, the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, called on the government at all levels to address critical challenges facing private school owners and teachers across the country, especially in the areas of taxation, welfare, and access to financial support.

“We’re not competing with the public sector; rather, we are working hand-in-hand with it to ensure that quality education is available to all, especially in areas where public resources are stretched thin,” the Association said.

Some teachers in both private and public schools, who spoke to DAILY POST, said teachers are supposed to be the most valued professionals in every nation, lamenting that it is, however, appalling that the narrative is different in Nigeria as teachers are the most undervalued.

A chemistry and mathematics teacher, Michael Divine said, “To be frank, the World Teachers’ Day Celebration is not supposed to be observed by Nigerian teachers.

“This is because Nigerian teachers are not valued by the government and Nigerians. As far as reality is concerned, Nigerian teachers are not celebrated.

“I have been in the teaching profession for the past 12 years. As a private school teacher, I feel Nigerian teachers are the most underrated in the country.

“In the private schools, school owners treat us like slaves. Our dignity is trampled under the feet of school owners and parents. The ugly treatment sometimes drains the passion for the profession, but we remember we are moulding destinies, and that keeps us moving forward despite the plethora of humiliations and poor remuneration.

“I have worked in a school where students pay N200,000 as school fees but the highest paid teacher did not get up to N50,000 as a salary.”

Another teacher, simply identified as Victor Ngbede, said the poor remuneration, intimidation from school owners and parents, and poor policies that deny teachers certain rights in the private school, were really awful.

He added that parents who were supposed to appreciate the efforts of teachers in the lives of their children and wards, had also turned nightmares to teachers, stressing that the only time some parents appear in school to call for a teacher’s attention was to engage in an altercation with the teacher for probably a minor mistake or what the teacher was innocent of.

“They hardly appear to appreciate anything except a few of them who truly value humanity.

“From my statistics, only 5% of private school owners really have interest in the well-being and growth of their teachers,” he decried.

On his part, Samson Igwe stated that individuals in the community also underrate teachers, lamenting that as a young man in the teaching profession, it was now hard to marry a lady of his choice.

“On hearing that you are a teacher in Nigeria, ladies or parents bluntly turn down your marriage proposal,” he said.

According to him, corporate and charity-based organisations also neglect teachers in their philanthropic outings.

“You hardly see philanthropists helping teachers. They usually help professionals who are even having better work conditions than teachers. This is how much teachers have been undervalued in Nigeria,” he stated.

World Teachers’ Day: Stakeholders rue poor condition of Nigrian counterparts