World Teachers’ Day: Nigeria Urged to Invest in Early Childhood Workforce
By Ojoma Akor
The Nigerian Government says early-years teachers and caregivers are critical to improving learning outcomes and building the country’s human capital.
The Federal Coordinator of the Human Capital Development (HCD) Program and National Early Childhood Development (ECD) Focal Point, Dr. Ado Muhammad, made the call as Nigeria joined the rest of the world to commemorate World Teachers’ Day 2026.
While calling for support for educators who work with children in their earliest years, he reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s early childhood workforce.
He described the 2026 global theme, “Standing with teachers: 60 years of protecting the profession, advancing its status and shaping our futures,” as marking the 60th anniversary of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, which established an international framework for teachers’ rights, training and working conditions.
He stressed that the foundations for learning are laid long before children enter Primary One.
“When we talk about foundational learning, we are talking about the teacher in the pre-primary class, the caregiver in the crèche and the early childhood educator in the community learning center. These are the professionals who shape the first 2,000 days of a child’s life,” he said.
“As we strive to make every Nigerian child ready by five, the training and welfare of the people who teach them is a priority.”
Nigeria has approximately 92,000 public and private early childhood care, development and education (ECCDE) centers, highlighting the scale of the workforce required to provide quality early years education across the country.
Dr. Muhammad said the Federal Government recognizes that learning quality in these settings depends heavily on an adequately trained, fairly remunerated, supported and properly supervised workforce.
He called on state governments, local authorities, development partners, private providers and communities to make the early childhood workforce a priority.
Under the Human Capital Development (HCD) 2.0 Program, the Federal Government is urging stakeholders to take specific actions to strengthen early childhood education.
He urged state governments to recruit, train, supervise, and adequately remunerate early childhood educators, while protecting their professional autonomy and ensuring manageable workloads.
He also urged them to establish dedicated, clearly coded budget lines for early childhood development.
State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) are expected to address teacher shortages in pre-primary education and provide continuous professional development, including digital skills and preparedness for climate-related disruptions to learning.
Local governments and Ward Development Committees are urged to recognize early childhood educators as an integral part of ward-level early years teams.
He also urged private early childhood education providers to adhere to national quality and workforce standards.
He further called on development partners, the private sector, and communities to align their investments and interventions around a common results framework for early childhood development.
Dr. Muhammad said the need to support teachers has become even more urgent as the education sector confronts rapid technological changes, climate-related disruptions, heavy workloads and persistent shortages of teachers globally.
UNESCO estimates that the world will require 44 million additional teachers by 2030, underscoring the need for countries to invest in teacher recruitment, training, remuneration and professional development.
“Sixty years after the world agreed on what teachers are owed, our task in Nigeria is to extend that promise to the teachers of our youngest children. Standing with teachers means standing with the child,” Dr. Muhammad said.
He commended teachers across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, particularly those working in early childhood settings, for their dedication to nurturing children and laying the foundation for the country’s future human capital.
The Federal Government reiterated that improving the welfare, capacity and professional status of early childhood educators remains essential to ensuring that Nigerian children are “ready by five” and equipped to succeed in school and beyond.
