DEVELOPING COMPETENCIES IN HEALTH EDUCATION TEACHERS: ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMME

The current trends in the professional preparation of teachers in Nigeria requires serious attention by educational stakeholders and its regulatory bodies. It is only, through effective teacher education that a nation can produce competent teachers to meet the man-power demands in the educational sector, but, it is unfortunate that teacher preparation is faced with so many constraints in Nigeria. In view of the above and with specific focus on Health Education teacher preparation, this paper centers on the following, concepts of teacher education, aims and objectives of teacher education, profile of a competent teacher, competencies required of Health Education teachers and the implications for teacher education. Other areas of concern include the constraints to teacher education and personal competencies of health education teachers. Recommendations were made towards effective preparation of health education teachers in Nigeria, among such recommendation is that, Government should make available adequate support/ funding for education and employ adequate qualified Health Education personnel who can implement the programme effectively.