Functions of National Teachers Institute (NTI)

Functions of National Teachers Institute | The National Teachers’ Institute, Kaduna is a single mode distance education institution dedicated to teacher training. It was established in 1976 by the Federal Government primarily because of the pressing needs in the country for trained and qualified teaching staff at all levels of the educational system.

Act No. 7 of 10^th April 1978 establishing the Institute charged it among others with the responsibility of: providing courses of instruction leading to the development, upgrading and certification of teachers as specified in the relevant syllabus using distance education techniques.

Vision

The vision of the Institute is to enhance the professional skills of serving teachers for high quality education delivery at primary and secondary education levels with a view to uplifting the standard of the education system of the country.

Mission Statement

To upgrade/update teachers knowledge and skills in curriculum implementation while instilling in them the virtues of dedication, loyalty, commitment, discipline and resourcefulness.

The Institute’s vision shall be realized through the pursuit of the following goals:

• producing teachers trained and oriented to meet the challenges of twenty first century Nigerian society;
• nurturing a commitment to lifelong learning that is creative, innovative, and responsive to changes in the world of knowledge and the changing needs;
• designing and enriching subject content to ensure that the teacher-trainees attain a high level of mastery of the subject matter;
• building the capacity of teacher- trainees in the use of  effective  communication  skills and relevant technologies for the delivery of quality education;
• strengthening the Institute’s monitoring , evaluation and feedback mechanism to ensure effective and efficient service delivery;
• developing capacity for effective selection and deployment of relevant technology including Information and Communication Technology for effective Distance Learning delivery;
• establishing effective research capability in order to ensure that all the Institute’s programmes are based on scientifically established grounds in terms of who needs training and the content of training required;
• reviewing and revitalizing in-service training and retraining programme for all categories of teachers, school administrators and school supervisors;
• regularly reviewing and restructuring curricula of all the Institute’s programmes to bring them in line with changing realities;

NTI Structure

The Institute, with its headquarters in Kaduna, operates through a network of 6 Zonal and 37 State offices and over 400 study centres. The organizational structure of the Institute comprises:

1. Office of the Director-General & Chief Executive.
2. Registry and Council Affairs
3. Department of Field Operations & Students Services.
4. School of Teacher Professional Development, Research and Examinations.
5. School of Undergraduate Studies
6. School of Postgraduate Studies
7. Bursary

The Zonal Offices are located in Abuja (North Central), Bauchi (North East), Benin (South South), Enugu (South East), Ibadan (South West), and Kano (North West).

The Institute has an office in each of the 36 States and FCT. Tutorials, examinations, tutor-student interaction, student-student interaction, counselling, etc take place in the Study Centres all over the country.

Functions of the Institute

The enabling Law mandates the Institute to:

1. upgrade under-qualified and untrained teachers.
2. conduct post-graduate courses and examinations in education for graduate teachers.
3. provide refresher and other upgrading courses for teachers.
4. organize workshops, seminars and conferences, which would assist in the improvement of teachers.
5. conduct examinations.
6. carry out research in conjunction with other bodies on any matter relevant to educational development in the country.
7. formulate policies and initiate programmes at all levels of education designed to improve by way of research the quality and content of education in Nigeria.
8. assess from time to time the training programmes offered by Institutions controlled by or associated with the Institute with a view to ascertaining the professional competence of those Institutions.
9. offer such assistance, either alone or in co-operation with educational bodies as may be required by the Institutions controlled by or associated with the Institute.
10. foster and enhance international co-operation in the education of teachers; and perform such other functions as are necessary or expedient for the full discharge of all the functions of the Council under this Decree.