The National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) Kaduna says its fully committed to ensuring that Nigerian teachers perform their duties in line with extant international standards.

Its Director and Chief Executive, Prof. Musa Garba-Maitafsir, disclosed this in an Interview with the media in Abuja on Tuesday.

Garba-Maitafsir, who is also the Chairman of the Institute’s Academic Board further said that it was preparing to commence a Teacher Training Internship Programme aimed at improving the quality of teachers in the country.

Clarifying more on the programme, the director said that it would serve as a bridge-builder for all those who want to be certified as qualified teachers by the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).

“If lawyers have to go to law school, medical students have to go through internship, pharmacy students, etc, all have to go through a period of additional knowledge, then why do we leave out teachers?” he asked.

According to Garba-Maitafsir, the teachers are the ones that guide everyone from primary school till graduation.

He said, "If the Institute is to consolidate its position as the largest single teacher training Institute in Sub-Saharan Africa, then it has to develop new innovations and evolve with emerging global trends in education delivery.”

The director lamented the low enrollment into NTI programmes in the country, expressing the necessity for the Institute to devise new ways to adapt to the changing times.

“The world has become more advanced and what was obtainable 40 years ago when the Institute was set up has changed drastically,” Garba-Maitafsir said.