How to Become a Teacher in Nigeria: Pro Tips

Do you want to become a teacher in Nigeria and you do not know how to get about it? You do know the basic requirements or certificates you need to become a professional teacher in Nigeria? Read this article to the end.

In this article, I am going to be sharing with you everything you know about becoming a teacher and how much you will be paid as salary teaching in Nigeria. The teaching profession is a lucrative profession if you know where and how to look for teaching jobs or offers.

How Much Do Teachers Earn in Nigeria?

How much you are paid after getting all your qualifications depends on so many things. It depends on how much you are able to bargain with your employer – the school management you are working with, how will you dress and groom yourself, and the kind of private schools you apply to for jobs.

Averagely you can be paid a salary of #40,000 – #120,000 both in public or private schools as a teacher in Nigeria just starting teaching. However, you can increase your income by diversifying.

How to Become a Teacher in Nigeria

Here are steps on how to become a teacher in Nigeria.

1. Pass O’Level Exams and Tertiary Exams

The first step to becoming a teacher in Nigeria is to pass your O’Level exams. This exam could be WAEC, NECO, or GCE. In this exam, you must pass Mathematics, English, and any other three other subjects depending on the course you want to study in the College of Education of your choice or university.

There are different courses you can study in the College of Education or university. These courses could range from science courses like chemistry, biology, and physics to commercial courses like accounting, banking, and finance, to art courses like creative arts, music, mass communication, and more.

If you are going to the education department in the university you will spend 4 years or more studying any course of your choice. If you are attending a college of education you will spend two to three years for the first Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) and two to three years for the second half.

2. Gain Teaching Experience

After finishing your education course in the university or college of education you will then do your teacher’s training for a period of 6 – 12 months. As an aspiring teacher, you can only do your teacher’s training in a school in Nigeria. This could be a primary school or secondary school, a public or private school it could even be a tutorial center, it depends.

After doing your teacher’s training you can decide to stay in the school or you move to another school to work.

3. Attend your One Year NYSC

Doing your National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) depends if you went to the university. If you went to the university you will be given a B.ed (Bachelor in Education). It is after then you can serve. Your NYSC certificate is not really necessary when it comes to getting a teaching job in a country like Nigeria.

However, if you feel you need it or you want to gather the experience of serving, you can go for it

4. Get your TRCN Certificate

The Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) was established by the TRCN Act CAP T3 of 2004. It was established to regulate and control the teaching profession at all levels of the Nigerian education system both in the public and private sectors.

No matter the certificates you acquire in school if you do not get your TRCN Certificate you will not be regarded as a professional teacher in Nigeria. To get a TRCN certificate you need to sit for the TRCN examination. After registering for it, if you pass, you will be issued your certificate with a unique number tagged to your name.

If you did not pass the exams, you can always re-sit for the exams till you pass.

5. Level Up and Package Yourself

As a teacher in Nigeria, it is not only about what you know if you really want to be successful. You need to know how to dress well and communicate with your fellow teachers, parent, and pupils. You should be able to speak and be understood and to listen and to understand. You need to know how to bargain how much you will be paid.

If you do not know all this you will be cheated and be paid peanuts by your school management.

6. Increasing your Income as a Teacher

There are many ways you can diversify and increase your income as a teacher in Nigeria. You can start side hustles or small-scale businesses or agribusiness. As a teacher, you can increase your income by becoming a tutorial teacher – establishing a tutorial center and teaching children after school. 

This will take your spare time, especially on Saturdays and Sundays but it’s worth it. You can also teach them at home personally. Other businesses or agribusiness you can start as a teacher are:

1. Poultry farming

2. Logistics/Transport business

3. Stationery business

4. Provision business

5. School lessons business

6. Clothing Business

7. Kitchen Utensils Business

There are other businesses you can also start. It depends on your passion and which business you can do easily. Most teachers I know have about two sources of income. They are mostly in the clothing business and home lesson business. Whether your school is paying you well or not you have to have other sources of income as a teacher so that you can have back-ups just in case you are sacked.

Conclusion                                             

The teaching profession is a lucrative profession in Nigeria it just depends on how you are able to package yourself and scale up. Even if you do not have all these qualifications you can still become a teacher in Nigeria and earn good money. You can also get a pension after retiring as a teacher working with public schools.

How much you are paid as a pension depends on the qualification you used in gaining employment from the government. All teachers should get their rewards on earth not in heaven.

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