By Tokunbo Carew A DEDICATED and professional teaching force is a pre-requisite for quality education. Having identified knowledge and skills acquisition as some of the critical pillars on which Local Content Development rests, it is logical, therefore, to elevate the teaching and training professions as a medium through which knowledge and skills are transferred. In the days past, teachers and trainers were well regarded in society, to the extent that they were the most influential people in the old society. No wonder the likes of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Adekunle Ajasin, Ladoke Akintola and a host of others were popular. And if you look in other comers of Africa, you will find similar examples in people like Julius Nyerere of Tanzania. Today, the reverse is the case. Nobody recognizes teachers when they attend functions, not to talk of aspiring to leadership positions. It appears every willing student wants to be taught by a teacher but no student wants to be in that profession, except circumstances force them into it. Luckily, with the invention of computers and their amazing capacity to amplify knowledge (just like the wheel and the plough amplified industrial capacity in the industrial age) the teaching and training professions will regain their pride of place in the years ahead. As a matter of fact. Bill Gates (the richest man in the world for over 10 consecutive years) had predicted that teachers will become much better paid in the economy of the future as all economic activities migrate from manual to electronic systems. In the developed world, we can see this already happening. As certain jobs become monotonous, the functions are thoroughly evaluated through methods studies and subsequently replaced either by computers or robots and the trend will continue in the years ahead. What this implies is that as jobs are being replaced by electro-mechanical systems, mankind must seek other avenues to add value to its environment. This implies acquiring new knowledge and new skills and this means resource persons (teachers & trainers) will be needed to acquire and pass on this new knowledge and skills to the larger society. The Singaporeans value education so much that they look at their educational system as a factory, which makes a lot of money. The success story of Singapore is glaring before our eyes. While its peers are still grappling with all kinds of economic and social problems, they have leapt into the league of advanced economies. Teachers develop the leaders of tomorrow, teaching students to solve problems like scientists, write like novelists, listen like a poets, see like artists, and observe like a journalists. Teaching therefore should be one of the most influential and revered professions giving ample compensation and continuously supported with professional development. Many people still have fond memories of their favorite teachers decades after they left school because of the degree of influence such teachers had on them. Great teachers change the course of a student’s life and by extension the human condition. The status quo will not get us to our destination, as the problems of the moment are pointers to the need for change in policies and practices. I have no doubt that if all we produce as a nation are excellent teachers who can challenge and impart knowledge on various categories of students, our commercial and industrial development will most certainly be guaranteed, especially by sharing knowledge, ideas and wisdom that will abound. Carew is the CEO of Fossil TMV Services Ltd. tokunbo.carew@fossilservices.org