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The IOM lead proposed a government-to-government agreement to look at how teachers can migrate under certain conditions.
Laurent M.J. de Boeck.
The Chief of Mission to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Laurent M.J. de Boeck, has expressed his reservations over the recent move by the United Kingdom to recruit teachers from Nigeria and other developing countries.
The UK Department for Education, in a publication released on the UK government’s website early this month, announced that it is inviting citizens of Nigeria and a few other countries to apply for qualified teacher status through the Teaching Regulation Agency from February 2023.
Other foreign countries listed as eligible for the offer include; Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Singapore, South Africa, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe.
The UK government said applicants are not necessarily required to have initial teaching qualifications as the country offers a training programme for potential migrants.
IOM boss frowns at UK policy: In an interview with The Punch, de Boeck said the new UK government policy is unfair to Nigeria and other affected countries.
While admitting that migration in this respect is a personal decision, the IOM lead warned that the government needs to put the right measures in place to disincentivise qualified people from leaving the country.
de Boeck also proposed a government-to-government agreement that allows teachers to migrate under the condition that they will come back and reinvest their expertise in the country.
de Boeck words: “I will agree with you. It’s unfair because it’s two different levels if you compare what they are offering and I will say that the government here should be aware that if they do not provide a conducive environment, those qualified people will go, so, it’s a natural choice, what people will do to seek better conditions.
“They may not consider all the social aspects, that they may not necessarily be well treated, they may lose their job, be homesick, because that happens. We never really heard that much of those who have left, that they may not have employment but it’s not necessarily the panacea and in addition, they feel excluded and there may be some form of discrimination in some countries. So, there are different aspects of social lives, which they will lose by going.
“If we look exclusively at the economical side, maybe it’s better and indeed, it’s unfair. I think it will be a government to government agreement to look at how they can take them with a condition that they should come back and reinvest or gain after their expertise in the country and I think we should be advocating specifically on those two sectors, education and health, because these are key for both the social and health development of any nation. I cannot condemn (the UK policy) because it’s a freedom of people, it’s a choice but I will say that, yes, I find it unfair.”
