TRCN Teacher Salary Crisis exposed as registrar reveals some private school teachers earn as low as ₦20,000 monthly in Nigeria
The Registrar of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, Dr Ronke Soyombo, has raised concerns over what she described as a worsening welfare crisis among teachers in private schools, revealing that some educators earn as little as ₦20,000 monthly.
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She made the disclosure on Wednesday at the Annual Summit of the Conference for Private School Associations held in Lagos, themed “Transformation of Education in Lagos State,” where stakeholders gathered to examine the state of education in Nigeria.
Dr Soyombo warned that poor remuneration remains a major challenge affecting the quality of teaching and learning outcomes across the country, stressing that teachers form the foundation of any successful education system.
She cited the experience of an award-winning private school teacher who was once presented with a car but later sold it due to financial hardship, noting that the incident reflects the depth of the problem in the sector.
According to her, many teachers are unable to sustain basic living conditions on their salaries, leading to low motivation and high turnover within private schools.
“If we want good service, we have to pay teachers well,” she said, adding that educators also aspire to provide quality education for their own children.
Dr Soyombo further explained that private school owners often fear losing trained teachers to competitors after investing in their development, a concern she said must be addressed through better conditions of service.
She emphasised that no meaningful reform in education can succeed without placing teachers at the centre of policy implementation and national development planning.
The TRCN registrar also called for stronger teacher regulation, continuous professional development, and improved safeguarding systems, including measures to address professional misconduct and abuse in schools.
She disclosed ongoing upgrades to the council’s digital teacher portal, which will support registration, licensing, certification and verification, alongside plans for a mobile application to improve nationwide access.
Also speaking at the summit, entrepreneur and former First Bank chairman Ibukun Awosika stressed the importance of leadership in driving educational transformation, noting that no nation can develop without a strong education system aligned with economic goals.
Lagos State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Alli-Balogun, reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to improving school infrastructure, digital learning and teacher development, while assuring stakeholders of strengthened school security.
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Education stakeholders at the event collectively called for increased investment in teacher welfare, innovation in learning systems and stronger collaboration between government and private school operators to improve standards across the sector.
