Effect of Mdgs/Nti Capacity Building Workshops for Primary School Teachers on Pupils’ Academic Performance in Ibadan, Nigeria

EFFECT OF MDGs/NTI CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOPS
FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS ON PUPILS’
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN IBADAN, NIGERIA

Odeleye, D.A., Okunola, O.M. & Akinnola, F.
Email: [e-mail] Phone: [phone]

ABSTRACT
The study examined the effect of MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops for primary school teachers on pupils’ academic performance in Ibadan South/West Local Government area of Oyo State, Nigeria. Quasi – experimental research design was employed while Students’ Achievement Test (SAT) was used by the researcher to collect data. The study revealed that there is significant difference in the academic performance of pupils taught by teachers who participated in the MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops and pupils taught by teachers who did not participate in the workshops. The researcher recommended intensified and frequent workshops, seminars and similar re-training programmes for teachers in order to achieve educational goals.

Key Words: Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Capacity Building Workshops, Pupils Academic Performance.

INTRODUCTION
The problem of development is of paramount concern to scholars, activists, politicians and organizations both at local and international levels. The general belief is that sustainable development will bring about positive change visible in ability of people to acquire their basic necessities of life such as food, clothing and shelter. Added to this is increased access to material, physical and intellectual resources. Again, enhanced access to education, equal participation in governance irrespective of gender, socio-economic or religious background, employment opportunities and on the whole, improvement in people’s standard of living, freedom of choice and dignity are all indices of development.
However, the condition of the world today is that many countries are underdeveloped with precarious indices. Otive (2006) asserted that more than 1.2 billion people or about 20% of the world population lives on less than US $1 per day. In most of these countries, wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few people. Nigeria, for example, was among the richest 50 countries in the early 1970s. It is sad to mention that the country has retrogressed to become one of the 25 poorest countries at the threshold of the 21st century.
Human Development Report as cited in Akingbade (2008) reported that Nigeria is only better off than 26 countries in the measurable Human Development Indices (HDI) and by implication in the quality of life of the citizenry. According to him, the major indices considered in the ranking include: economic performance such as Gross Domestic product (GDP), Gross National Product (GNP) and per capita income, life expectancy, literacy rates, water, nutrition and sanitation status, health risks and technology diffusion and use. It is notorious that life expectancy in Nigeria is as low as 51, that about two thirds of its citizens are poor, that the economy is still largely import dependent and unemployment soar at two digits level. All these are clear indications of low level of development in the country.

THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs)
The need to address the problem of poverty and promote sustainable development brought about the introduction of the MDGs. The United Nations Millennium Declaration was adopted in September, 2000 at the largest ever gathering of heads of states (both rich and poor countries). Essentially, the MDGs was adopted to bridge the developmental gap between the industrialized and the third world countries of the world. Adaka and Dabo (2008) opined that the MDGs is meant to address the problem of inequality, neglect, exploitation and oppression of the people of the under-developed nations globally so as to achieve poverty reduction and sustainable development with equity.
The MDGs came up with eight clearly defined targets. The eight main targets as reported by Olive (2006) are:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. 2005 target. Halve proportion of people living as less than $1 a day; and those suffering hunger.
2. Achieve Universal Basic Education. 2015 target. Achieve Universal Primary Completion.
3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women. 2005/2015 target. Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education enrolment by 2005, and achieve equality at all levels, by 2015.
4. Reduce Child Mortality.
2015 target. Reduce by two thirds the child the child mortality rate.
5. Improve Material Health
2015 target. Reduce by three quarters the proportion of women dying in child birth.
6. Combats HIV-AIDS, Malaria and other diseases. 2015 target. Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of HIV-AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.
7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability. Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources 2015 target. Reduce by half the proportion of people without access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation.
By 2020 achieve a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.
8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development.

TOWARDS THE ACTUALIZATION OF THE MDGS IN NIGERIA: THE GOAL OF UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION.
There has been series of report on the MDGs in Nigeria. The 2005 report is the second in the series of annual reports on the MDGs in Nigeria (Otive 2006). The report which addressed the eight MDGs highlights the current status and trends of each of the MDGs. The challenges and opportunities in attaining the goal, the promising initiatives that are creating a supportive environment and priorities for development assistance. The report concluded that; where is a high potential to attain some of the millennium Development Targets namely:
- Achieving Universal Primary Education
- Ensuring Environmental Stability
- Developing a global partnership for development programme (UNDP) reports.
Egwu, The Former Minister of Education in Nigeria (2009) declared that the Goal 2 of the United Nations MDGs, that is the goal of Universal Basic Education which anticipates that children everywhere, boys and girls will be able to complete a full course of primary education by 2015 is of paramount importance considering the fact that primary education is the foundation upon which a nation builds its sustainability. In enhancing the realization of the MDGs Universal Basic Education therefore, the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) and National Teachers Institute (NTI) has since 2006 continued to earmark huge sum of money for re-training of primary school teachers across the country (NTI Report, 2011).
The MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops for primary school teachers started in 2006 whereby 143, 140 teacher were trained across the country at 178 training centres led by 3,500 resource persons from universities and colleges of education. No training was conducted in 2007. During the 2008 exercise; the training centres were increased to 275 in order to decongest them and make the training more effective. A total of 158,600 teachers were trained nation-wide. In the 2009 MDGs exercise, 115, 415 were trained in 249 centres. In the 2010 workshops, there were about 140,000 participants, 3,360 resource persons at 280 centres across the nation (NTI Report, 2011).

Table 1: Sampled Participants’ Bio-data (N=9,187)

Gender Male
Female
Blank 4,711
3,733
743 51%
41%
8%

Highest Qualification TC II
NCE
B.ED
Others
Blank 900
5,423
1,956
504
404 10%
59%
21%
6%
4%

Core Subject Specialization Social Studies
English
Maths
Science 2,249
1,506
549
588 25%
16%
6%
6%

Teaching Experience 1 – 5 years
6 – 10 years
11 – 15 years
16 – 20 years
21 – 25 years
26 – 30 years
30 +
Blank 1,350
1,340
1,292
2,088
1,438
871
285
523 15%
15%
14%
23%
16%
10%
3%
6%

No. of Lessons Taught Per week 1 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 30
31 – 40
41 – 50
Other
Blank 1,071
1,754
2,458
2,480
526
409
489 11%
19%
27%
27%
6%
5%
5%

Average No. of Pupils 1 – 20
21 – 40
41 – 60
61 – 80
81 – 100
More than 100
Blank 939
1,123
3,678
1,820
909
449
269 10%
12%
40%
20%
10%
5%
3%
Source: MDGs/NTI 2011 Guides for resource persons
Table 2: Demographic Information on sampled Resource Persons (N=881)

Qualification NCE
B.Ed./B.Sc. Edu.
M.Ed.
Ph. D.
Others
Blank 4
199
303
223
131
21 0.5%
22.5%
34%
26%
15%
2%

Gender Male
Female
Blank 536
342
3 61%
39%
0%

Teaching Experience 0 – 5
6 -10
11 – 15
Above 15years
Blank 55
157
253
397
19 6%
18%
29%
45%
2%

Level of Teaching Secondary School
COE/Polytechnic
University
Others
Blank 138
382
307
44
10 16%
43%
35%
5%
1%

No. of times served as Resource Person Once
Twice
Thrice
No response 150
322
345
63 17%
37%
39%
7%

Rating of Resource Persons’ Guides Very Useful
Fairly Adequate
Not Useful
Blank 644
140
6
91 74%
16%
1%
9%

5 of Manual Covered at the Workshops 0 – 50%
51 – 60%
61 – 79%
71 – 80%
81 – 90%
Above 90%
Blank
21
26
105
244
304
137
44 2%
3%
12%
28%
35%
16%
4%
Source: MDGs/NTI 2011 Guides for resource persons
The major objectives of the MDGs workshops according to NTI (2010) among others are to:
_ provide intensive professional development to primary school teachers in order to achieve efficiency in the classroom
_ provide teachers the opportunity to fill in gaps in their factual knowledge of the four core subjects which most of them may not studied at tertiary education level;
_ introduce teachers to learner – centred activity and resource – based teaching and promote active and cooperative learning by pupils.
_ provide opportunity for teachers to learn from each other in small group interactive sessions;
_ demonstrate practical ways of effective teaching by providing sample recorded model lessons for viewing, analysis and mini-teaching.
_ contribute to the development of positive attitudes and self concept by the teacher.
_ enable teachers to make pupils perceive learning as an interesting and pleasant activity that promotes the development of understanding, inquiry and critical abilities.
To ensure the actualization of these objectives, the workshops are essentially participatory, interactive, collaborative and reflective which are the hallmarks of a child centred approach (NTI) 2010. Teaching equally involves adequate teaching with the use of instructional materials. The manuals are designed to reflect Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) resources. TESSA is a consortium of 18 African countries actively engaged with new ideas for improving teaching and teacher education. It focuses on developing teachers’ classroom practice in the key curriculum areas of literacy, numeracy, science, social studies/arts and life skills. Resource persons which are drawn from various tertiary institutions of learning across the country are encouraged to make the workshops practical by presenting lessons that demonstrate activity – based, resource – based and learner – based teaching.
Table 3: Participants’ Perception and Evaluation of a Typical workshop (2009)
S/No Questions V. Good Good Fair Poor Blank Invalid
A
1 The Workshop
The organization
4,470
49%
3,811
41%
476
5%
86
1%
263
3%
81
1%
2 Time Management 3,844 42% 3,887 42% 842 9% 215 2% 351 4% 48 1%
3 Workshop objectives 3,492 38% 3,807 41% 971 11% 286 3% 495 5% 136 1%
4 Interaction & participatory 3,726 41% 3,957 43% 799 9% 431 5% 245 2% 29 0%
B
5 The Manuals
Usefulness 4,922 54% 3,150 34% 677 7% 260 3% 143 2% 35 0%
6 Clarity of instruction 3,946 43% 3,869 41% 898 10% 163 2% 249 3% 62 1%
7 Relevance to teaching & instruction 4,146 45% 3,482 38% 1,037 11% 239 3% 210 2% 73 1%
8 Relevance to learning 3,676 40% 3,528 37% 1,165 13% 426 5% 246 3% 146 2%
C
9 Resource Persons’
Knowledge of the training manual 4,400 48% 3,800 42% 591 6% 131 1% 191 2% 74 1%
10 Preparedness 4,155 44% 3,923 43% 602 7% 180 2% 263 3% 64 1%
11 Use of learner-centred approaches 4,455 49% 3,873 41% 462 5% 153 2% 174 2% 106 1%
12 Presentation 4,183 46% 3,533 39% 976 11% 114 1% 216 2% 165 1%
13 Use of examples 3,975 43% 3,404 37% 1,104 12% 254 3% 372 4% 78 1%
14 Enthusiasm & commitment 4,009 44% 3,587 39% 754 8% 480 5% 186 2% 171 2%
D
15 My own participation
My expectation were met 4,715 51% 3,264 35% 709 8% 170 2% 273 3% 56 1%
16 Relevance & useful comment 4,479 49% 3,567 39% 585 6% 240 3% 187 2% 129 1%
17 Opportunities for practice 4,353 47% 3,760 41% 387 4% 327 4% 282 3% 94 1%
18 Participation 4,874 53% 3,219 35% 645 7% 113 1% 187 2% 149 1%
19 Understanding of subject matter 3,455 38% 4,550 49% 513 6% 253 3% 256 3% 160 1%
20 Teaching skills 4,359 47% 3,607 39% 463 5% 180 4% 340 3% 238 2%
21 Training Venue/Logistics
Training venue/facilities 1,030 11% 3,308 36% 3,593 39% 878 9% 244 3% 134 2%
22 Refreshments 1,682 18% 2,154 23% 3,011 32% 1,976 21% 285 3% 79 3%
23 Administrative assignments 1,424 15% 2,828 30% 2,942 32% 1,452 15% 488 5% 53 3%
24 Training & duration 1,725 18% 3,575 38% 2,694 29% 889 9% 145 4% 159 2%
25 Overall assessment 2,974 34% 4,309 46% 955 10% 541 5% 337 3% 71 2%
Source: MDGs/NTI Guides for resource persons.
THE TEACHER AS A FACTOR OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
According to NTI (2000), the centre role of the teacher is to teach in the class that the students learn what has been planned for them. In carrying out the above responsibilities, the teacher has the following roles to play:
- Effective teaching organization
- Organizing class work/activities
- Good rapport with the students
- Being a role model
Teachers are one of the major role players of educational system in any country. Ibukun(1988) in a study conducted on staff quality as a factor of academic goal achievement among secondary school students in Nigeria reported that there was positive relationship between teachers qualifications and student’s academic achievement. Osho (1991) in a related study showed a significant relationship between teacher qualities and academic achievement. The long – term effects of poor quality teacher are better imagined than experience. It is a well known fact that no educational system can rise above the quality of its teachers (NPE, 2004). A country where there are poor quality teachers will perpectually remain undeveloped and hence suffers the consequences of underdevelopment.
In a similar development, Olalere (2005) asserted that teacher’s qualification, to a larger extent determines his capability, competence and ability to teach effectively. He added that the professional competence of the teacher is sharpened by the mastery of the curriculum contents, teaching skills and dynamic globalization of the subject matter. Effective teaching by a resources and visionary teacher shall relate learning tasks to the learners existing capacity and interests in the resolve to nurture productive citizenry. Lawrence (1975) as cited in Odeleye and Oshin (2011) identified some characteristics of a teacher capable of bringing about an improved learning outcome in students. These included;
- Knowledge of the subject matter and teaching methods
- Teaching experience
- Attitude towards the subject and class
- Professional self – improvement.
From the foregoing, it is evidently clear that the teacher occupy a sensitive position in academic achievement of learners as well as the achievement of educational goals in general, therefore, his academic and professional qualifications, his teaching experience and attendance at seminars and workshops his attitude towards the job and the students are some factors among others which may affect teacher’s effective teaching and result – oriented. Hence, upgrading the capacity of primary school teachers is a sure means of improving qualitative education in Nigeria (Sam Egwu) 2009.
TEACHER IN-SERVICE TRAINING AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
The teaching profession is a dynamic one, as knowledge itself is dynamic. This equally calls for dynamism on the part of teachers who are the facilitations of knowledge. To impart decisively on the world of globalization and its new trends, the teacher must be kept in tone with changing trends in the knowledge society. By implications, teachers are in dare need of in-service training. Kimmel (2009) as cited in Olatunbosun in a study perceived in-service training as a workshop for employed professionals, paraprofessionals and other practitioners to acquire new knowledge, better methods etc. for improving their skills toward more effective, efficient and competent rendering of service in various fields and to diverse groups of people. Further, such as workshop is a training designed to benefit a specific group of children at a particular school. A good in-service training should, via workshop trainees, improve the quality of programming for their students. The Federal Ministry of Education (2011) asserted that one of the major weaknesses of the teaching profession in Nigeria is that once teachers complete their initial training they hardly have the opportunity to continue to grow on the job professionally. It further explained the importance of in-service training programme organized for Primary School teachers in Nigeria as a means of providing primary school teachers the opportunity to gain subject matter knowledge as well as pedagogical skills in these critical subjects. That those who may not have studied them previously are able to update their professional ideas. Participants will learn from the manuals and from each other.
Writing on Repositioning Teaching and Teaching Education in Nigeria, Moronkola, Adegbite and Moses (2004) as cited in Olatunbosun opined that all untrained teachers must be trained through in-service programmes. They further stressed that teachers at all levels must be exposed to at least a short period in-service programmes once in two years. Such training, according to them will ensure continuous professional training and growth. Ajayi (2004) observed that exposing teachers to training and re-training through workshop programmes, will enhance high performance and productivity. Olatunbosun (2006) examined and found that there is a positive relationship between the attendance and non-attendance of Chemistry teachers at in-service training. This he further explained that the attendance of teachers at in-service programmes or workshop will brighten-up their ideas and it will enable them to know more about the recent developments in their subject areas. Teacher will also be able to acquire more knowledge and latest techniques in teaching and consequent upon this, the learning outcomes of the students are likely to be enhanced.
Attendance at workshop programmes of teachers brings them up to date and thus closer to the frontiers of knowledge in their special subject area this hopefully will be evident in the performance of the pupils.
However, Majasan (1997) commented that little or no effect of in-service training or workshops by saying that despite the twenty solid years of various methods of in-service training or workshop to improve the quality of teachers in the classrooms, the situation remains practically the same in Nigeria. This view seems to give the impression that in-service or workshop training does not make any significant impact on the quality of our teachers in the classrooms and by implication does not have any causal links with students’ academic achievement. This is a contrary view going by the submissions of the previous studies earlier reviewed.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM.
Education to a large extent is a veritable means of achieving both economic, socio and political development. In the same vein, the attainment of any educational goal and objective largely depend among several other factors on the teachers. The teachers who are the facilitators of the educational system must be able to adequately interprete and implement the curriculum towards the direction of helping the recipients to discover himself. For the teacher to achieve this and impart decisively on the learner depend on certain factors. Qualities such as academic and professional qualifications, altitude towards the learner and the job, his teaching methods and strategies, mastery of the subject matter/content etc are essential factors which influence learners academic performance. Most of these qualities however are acquired through a process of training, re-training programmes such as seminars, conferences workshops and some other refresher programmes. It is against this backdrop that the study sought to examine the effect of MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops for primary school teachers on pupils’ academic performance in Ibadan South/West Local Government area of Oyo State.
Research Hypotheses
1. There is no significant difference in the academic performance of pupils taught by teachers who participated in MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops and pupils taught by teachers who did not participate in the workshops in English Language.
2. There is no significant difference in the academic performance of pupils taught by teachers who participated in MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops and pupils taught by teachers who did not participate in the workshops in Mathematics.
3. There is no significant difference in the academic performance of pupils taught by teachers who participated in MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops and pupils taught by teachers who did not participate in the workshops in Social Studies.
4. There is no significant difference in the academic performance of pupils taught by teachers who participated in MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops and pupils taught by teachers who did not participate in the workshops in Basic Science and Technology.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The result of this study is significant to all stakeholders in the educational system; policy makers, federal ministry of education, educational institutions in particular National Teachers Institute, teachers and school administrations. The study is also significant to both local and international observers of the MDGs programme in Nigeria. The study will equally provide basis for future research on similar study.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY.
The research was limited to the Effect of MDGs/NTI Capacity Building Workshops for Primary School Teachers on Pupils’ Academic Performance in the four core subjects (English Language, Mathematics Social Studies and Basic Science and Technology) in primary schools in Ibadan South/West Local government area of Oyo State.
RESEARCH DESIGN.
The study made use of quasi – experimental research design. This is because the research is interested in determining the effect of teachers attendance at MDGs workshop would have on pupils academic performance hence, only a single experimental group, with no control group is required.
POPULATION, SAMPLE AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
The target population comprised primary four pupils in the local government area i.e Ibadan South/West. On the whole – there were 2,550 pupils (primary four pupils) in the 30 schools selected. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 30 primary schools from the local government. In each school selected, stratified random sampling was used to select 10 pupils, 5 pupils taught by teachers who participated in MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops and 5 pupils taught by teachers who did not participate in the workshops making a total of 300 pupils.
INSTRUMENT
The present study employed the use of Student Achievement Test (SAT). This is a standardized test in the four core subjects, consisting 25 questions each from English Language, Mathematics, Social studies and Basic Science and Technology.
DATA ANALYSIS
Student T – test was used to test the hypotheses generated at 0.05 level at significance, in other to determine and establish if there would be significant difference between the scores of pupils taught by teachers who participated in the MDGs/NTI workshops and pupils taught by teachers who did not participate in the workshops.
HYPOTHESIS 1:
There is no significant difference in the academic performance of pupils taught by teachers who participated in MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops and pupils taught by non-participant teachers in English Language.
Table 1: T-test contingency table on pupils taught by MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops participant teachers and those taught by non-participant teachers in English Language.
Variables
N
X Mean Difference t-cal t-crit Sig
Pupils taught by MDGs/NTI workshops participant teachers(x1) 150 79.98 7.05
16.23

1.96
0.05
Pupils taught by MDGs/NTI workshops non-participant teachers(x2) 150 57.41 15.44
Table 1 above indicates that the T – test calculated value of 16.96 at 0.05 level of significance hence, the null hypothesis stated above is rejected and the alternative one retained.

HYPOTHESIS 2:
There is no significance difference in the academic performance of pupils taught by teachers who participated in MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops and pupils taught by non-participant teachers in Mathematics.
Table 2: T-test contingency table on pupils taught by MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops participant teachers and those taught by non-participant teachers in Mathematics.
Variables
N
X Mean Difference t-cal t-crit Sig
Pupils taught by MDGs/NTI workshops participant teachers(x1) 150 76.01 5.185
43.34

1.960
0.05
Pupils taught by MDGs/NTI workshops non-participant teachers(x2) 150 51.49 4.693
Table 2 above indicates that the T-test calculated value of 43.34 is greater than the table critical value of 1.960 at 0.5 level of significance, hence the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative one retained.
HYPOTHESIS 3:
There is no significance difference in the academic performance of pupils taught by teachers who participated in MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops and pupils taught by non-participant teachers in Social Studies.
Table 3: T-test contingency table on pupils taught by MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops participant teachers and those taught by non-participant teachers in Social Studies.
Variables
N
X Mean Difference t-cal t-crit Sig
Pupils taught by MDGs/NTI workshops participant teachers(x1) 150 79.30 6.281
28.87

1.960
0.05
Pupils taught by MDGs/NTI workshops non-participant teachers(x2) 150 58.88 6.080
Table 3 above indicates that the T-test calculated value of 28.87 is greater than the table critical value of 1.960 at 0.5 level of significance, hence the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative one retained.
HYPOTHESIS 4:
There is no significance difference in the academic performance of pupils taught by teachers who participated in MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops and pupils taught by non-participant teachers in Basic Science.
Table 4: T-test contingency table on pupils taught by MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops participant teachers and those taught by non-participant teachers in Basic Science.
Variables
N
X Mean Difference t-cal t-crit Sig
Pupils taught by MDGs/NTI workshops participant teachers(x1) 150 71.45 5.267
36.73

1.960
0.05
Pupils taught by MDGs/NTI workshops non-participant teachers(x2) 150 47.64 5.993
Table 4 above indicates that the T-test calculated value of 36.73 is greater than the table critical value of 1.960 at 0.5 level of significance, hence the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative one retained.

DISCUSSION
It is discovered in this study that a significant difference exists between the academic performance of pupils taught by teachers who participated in the MDGs/NTI workshops and pupils taught by non-participant teachers in English Language, Mathematic, Social Studies, Basic Scince. Olalere (2006), in similar study discovered that teacher factors such as professional qualification, teaching experience, academic qualifications, knowledge of item writing in public examinations, marking experience, attendance at Mathematics instructional seminars etc. … have positive results on the academic achievement of students. Wisconsin, Allen and Helming (1991) as cited in Olalere (2006) were of the opinion that the combination of workshop attendance with reduced classes can enhance development of teaching and in turn facilitate student achievement in the subject area. Osokoya (1998) carried out a study to find out the causal relationship among teacher attendance at Chemistry workshop and other selected variables, and student’s achievement in Chemistry. The study showed that a positive relationship exist between teacher attendance at workshops and students achievement in Chemistry. Again, Elliot (1993) as cited in Okunola and Akinwoye (2011), saw teaching as an activity-unique professional, rational and humane activity in which one creatively and imaginatively uses himself and his knowledge to promote the teaching and welfare of others.
In the same direction, Ogunbiyi (2004) opined that one of the fundamental problems facing professional teachers today is the question of how current are the professional teachers who are in schools today. A great majority of teachers who have been employed in the past decades have been doing the same thing the same way all along. These set of teachers use the same method and they have no knowledge of the current ideas and new innovations that have taken place in the educational field in recent past. What accounts for this is that teachers have not been given the opportunity for re-training. He therefore suggested that teachers should be encouraged to go for in-service training. The implication of Ogunbiyi’s recommendation is that teachers’ attendance at workshops, seminars, conferences and other re-training programmes will help teachers to be acquainted with the modern trends, issues and developments in their different subject areas; at the same time brighten-up their ideas and make them to be relevant in the attainment of educational goals.

CONCLUSION
The findings of this study revealed there is a significant difference in the academic performance of pupils taught by teachers who participated in the MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops and pupils taught by non-participant teachers in:
1. English Language
2. Mathematics
3. Social Studies
4. Basic Science and Technology
RECOMMENDATIONS
The place of education in socio-economic, political as well as technological development cannot be overemphasized. In the same vein, the training, re-training and development of teachers’ skills is very vital to the achievement of educational goals and objectives. Knowledge is dynamic, so also is the pedagogical skills required in teaching/learning process. Teachers need to be well equipped, prepared and upgraded to be able to meet up with the challenges of modern trends in teaching profession.
On the basis of the findings of this study, the researcher therefore recommends the following:
1. The Federal Ministry of Education should place a high priority on retraining of teachers. Seminars and Workshops such as the MDGs/NTI capacity building workshops should be organized more frequently rather than once in a year.
2. The MDGs/NTI workshops, should be extended to include the Junior Secondary Schools which are also part of the Universal Basic Education (UBE). The Senior Secondary School Schools should not be left out as well in order to raise standards across that level as a whole.
3. State Governments should be challenged to emulate the Federal Governments in organizing workshops for both public and private schools teachers in their respective domains. Private school teachers should be included in such re-training progrommes because they teach Nigerian children.
4. Resource persons/facilitators should be briefed early enough before the commencement of workshops in order to enhance quality delivery and performance.
5. Instructional materials as well as support materials such as cardboards, pencil markers, foolscap sheets etc should be well provided for demonstration and practicals.
6. Adequate number of centres should be created in order to reduce congestion at workshop centres.
7. Resource persons should be encouraged to focus more on pedagogical approaches to the teaching of the subjects, rather than exclusively on the teaching of the content of the subjects.

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Okunola O.M. and Akinwoye (2011): Determinants of performance of secondary school students in Geography in two local government of Oyo State: Journal of Functional Management.
Olanrewaju (1995): School Environment, teacher and students as factors of academic performance of students in Mathematics.
Olalere (2005): Teacher and student factors in students’ Academic Achievement in Mathematics
Olatunbosun, S.M. (1985): The pre-requite capabilities of a senior secondary school student in the learning of Volumetric Analysis. A Test of Gagne’s Theory Unpublished B.Sc. (Ed.) Thesis. University of Ife, Ile-Ife.
Osokoya I.O. (1998): Some determinants of Secondary Schools Achievement in Chemistry .
Otive (2006): The Millennium Development Goals: Can Nigeria Meet The Goals in 2015?
United Nations Development Programme (2003): Human Development Report 2003 – Millennium Development Goals: A Compact among nations to end Human Poverty. New York, Oxford University Press.
Sam Egwu (2009): Actualizing MDGs Universal Basic Education.

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