Challenges to teacher education and sustainable development in Nigeria

Human capital development through education is a vital pathway for achieving an accelerated and sustainable development of any nation. It was in realization of the fact that human capital development through education was made one of the core priorities of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria. However, despite being frequently underestimated, teacher education remains fundamental to achieving educational goal in Nigeria. This is because no education can rise above the quality of the teacher. In this context, the author examined how teacher education can be made more effective and functional by overcoming some impediments identified. The study showed that policy efforts at effective teacher education in Nigeria have failed to produce quality teachers due to several identified challenges. The study recommended that if the challenges like ineffective teacher training, faulty teacher recruitment, defective curricula, low funding, in-conducive environment for teaching and learning, and lack of motivation can be overcome, it would lead to achieving National Development in Nigeria and the realization of the SDGs.