Teachers Quality and Acdemic Perfiormance of Students

2.1 TEACHERS QUALITY AND QUANTITY
The issue of poor academic performance of students in Nigeria has been of much concern to all and sundry. The problem is so much that it has led to the widely acclaimed fallen standard of education in Nigeria at large. The quality of education depends on the teachers as reflected in the performance of their duties. Over time pupils’ academic performance in both internal and external examinations had been used to determine excellence in teachers and teaching (Ajao 2001). Teachers have been shown to have an important influence on students’ academic achievement and they also play a crucial role in educational attainment because the teacher is ultimately responsible for translating policy into action and principles based on practice during interaction with the students (Afe 2001). Both teaching and learning depends on teachers: no wonder an effective teacher has been conceptualized as one who produces desired results in the course of his duty as a teacher (Uchefuna2001). It is very vital to have sufficient and adequate human resources in terms of teacher quality for the teaching of all subjects in the school curriculum. Without the teachers as implementing factors, the goals of education can never be achieved. In order to achieve a just and egalitarian society as spelt out in the Nigerian National Policy of Education (2004), various educators for example, Ukeje (1970) and Fafunwa (1969) have written extensively on the prime importance of teachers to the educational development of any nation be it simple, complex, developed or developing. From the writings of these educators, one can infer that whatever facilities are available, whatever content is taught, whichever environment the school is situated and whatever kind of pupils are given to teach, the important and vital role of the teacher cannot be over-emphasised. Assuming that necessary facilities are adequately provided for, the environment is condusive to learning, the curriculum satisfies the needs of the students and the students themselves have interest in learning, learning cannot take place without the presence of the teacher. Teachers represent a large proportion of the input of an educational system. Coombs (1970) observed that “the problem of teacher supply is not one of simple numbers. It is first and foremost a problem of quantity and of getting the right quality. Fayemi (1991) also observed that “it is a truism that teachers are the hubs of any educational system” that upon their number, their quality and devotion depend the success of any educational system”.

Fafunwa (1979) in his paper “The purpose of teacher education” commented on the importance of teachers when he said:

“The demand for more and better schools, the need to relate curriculum to the needs of the child and the environment,

the crying needs of the child and his other instructional materials,

the desirability of training in vocational and technical skills, and

indeed the overall problem of preparing the future citizens of Africa

who will be fully oriented to their environment cannot be fully

accomplished without the aid of competent teachers” (page 36 – 37).

Fagbamiye (1977) noted that schools with stable, experienced and qualified teachers usually have better school facilities in terms of school buildings, books and equipments than those schools which have difficulty in attracting experienced and qualified staff.