The objective is to use the requirements of top courses to provide a basis for which the Nigerian Governments may need to focus on some critical O-Level Subjects in terms of Recruiting, Training, Retraining, & Retaining of Teachers, at Federal, State and Local Governments through our Colleges of Education and Teachers’ development institutions.

1. StatiSense
PRIORITIZING TEACHERS’
RECRUITMENT & RETENTION IN
SPECIFIC O-LEVEL SUBJECTS

2. INTRODUCTION
How does a Nation determine what subjects to focus their
Teachers’ development effort in?
This presentation mines 6years (2011-2016) Unified Tertiary
Matriculation Examination (UTME) application data of
candidates seeking tertiary education in Nigerian
Universities to identified the most sought-after courses in
Nigerian Universities.
The next and most important objective is to use the
requirements of these top courses to provide a basis for
which the Nigerian Governments may need to focus on
some critical O-Level Subjects in terms of Recruiting,
Training, Retraining, & Retaining of Teachers, at Federal,
State and Local Governments through our Colleges of
Education and Teachers’ development institutions.

3. TOP 10 MOST SOUGHTAFTER COURSES
According to JAMB UTME, below are courses with top applications:
2011
Medicine & Surgery, Accounting, Economics, Business Administration, Mass
Communication, Computer Science, Political Science, Law, Microbiology,
Public Administration
2012
Medicine & Surgery, Economics, Accounting, Business Administration, Mass
Communication, Computer Science, Political Science, Law, Microbiology,
Nursing
2013
Medicine & Surgery, Economics, Accounting, Business Administration, Mass
Communication, Computer Science, Political Science, Law, Nursing,
Microbiology
2014
Medicine & Surgery, Economics, Accounting, Business Administration, Mass
Communication, Computer Science, Nursing, Political Science, Law,
Microbiology
2015
Medicine & Surgery, Accounting, Economics, Nursing, Mass
Communication, Business Administration, Computer Science, Law, Political
Science, Microbiology
2016
Medicine & Surgery, Accounting, Nursing, Economics, Mass
Communication, Business Administration, Computer Science, Law, Political
Science, Microbiology

4. TOP 10 MOST SOUGHTAFTER COURSESMedicine&Surgery
Accounting
Economics
Law
BusinessAdministration
MassCommunication
ComputerScience
PoliticalScience
Nursing
Microbiology
10
4
5
6
7
8
9
2
1
3
Sciences
Med & Surgery
Computer Sci.
Nursing
Microbiology
Arts
Law
Mass Comm.
Political Sci.
Commercial
Accounting
Economics
Business Admin

5. If majority of a Nation’s admission seekers prefer some specific
courses to others, what intelligence can Governments and
Education Administrators gather from such choices?
LET’S OBSERVE THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THESE COURSES

6. COURSES AND SUBJECT REQUIRMENTS
Courses O-Level Requirement JAMB Requirement
Medicine & Surgery
Biology, Physics,
Chemistry
Biology, Physics,
Chemistry
Accounting
Economics, Accounting,
etc.
Mathematics,
Economics, etc.
Economics
Economics & any 2 of
Arts or Social Science
subjects
Economics,
Mathematics, and one
other subject
Business Administration
Economics, Commerce,
etc.
Mathematics,
Economics, etc.
Mass Communication
Lit. in English,
Government, Economics,
etc.
Lit. in English,
Government, Economics,
etc.
Mathematics and English Language are compulsory subjects for O-Level while English Language is compulsory for JAMB

7. COURSES AND SUBJECT REQUIRMENTS
Courses O-Level Requirement JAMB Requirement
Computer Science Physics, Chemistry, etc.
Mathematics, Physics,
etc.
Political Science
Government, Lit. in
English, etc.
Government, etc.
Law
Government, Lit. in
English, etc.
Government, Lit. in
English, etc.
Nursing
Biology, Physics,
Chemistry
Biology, Physics,
Chemistry
Microbiology
Biology, Physics,
Chemistry
Biology, Physics,
Chemistry
Mathematics and English Language are compulsory subjects for O-Level while English Language is compulsory for JAMB

8. CORE O-LEVEL AND JAMB SUBJECTS
O-LEVEL REQUIREMENT JAMB REQUIREMENT
Mathematics
English Language
Accounting
Biology
Chemistry
Commerce
Economics
Government
Literature in English
Physics
Use of English Language
Biology
Chemistry
Economics
Government
Literature in English
Mathematics
Physics

9. Sciences
Med & Surgery
Computer Sci.
Nursing
Microbiology
Arts
Law
Mass Comm.
Political Sci.
Commercial
Accounting
Economics
Business Admin.
O-Level Subjects
COURSES & O-LEVEL SUBJECTS
Economics
Law
Business Admin.
Mass Communication
Computer Science
Political Science
Nursing
Microbiology
Med. & Surgery
Accounting
Physics
Economics
Biology
Literature in English
Government
Accounting
Commerce
Chemistry
English Language
Mathematics
Courses

10. DO APPLICANTS REALLY
HAVE INTEREST IN THESE
O-LEVEL SUBJECTS?
Mathematics
English Language
Accounting
Biology
Chemistry
Commerce
Economics
Government
Literature in English
Physics

11. UTME APPLICATION FOR TOP 10 EDUCATION COURSES
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Education &
Economics
Education &
Economics
Education &
Economics
Education &
English Language
Education &
English Language
Education &
English Language
Business Education
Education &
English Language
Education &
English Language
Education &
Economics
Education &
Biology
Education &
Biology
Education &
English Language
Business Education Business Education Business Education
Education &
Economics
Education &
Economics
Library & Info.
Science
Education &
Biology
Library & Info.
Science
Education &
Biology
Business Education Business Education
Education &
Biology
Guidance &
Counselling
Education &
Biology
Library & Info.
Science
Guidance &
Counselling
Guidance &
Counselling
Guidance &
Counselling
Education &
Social Studies
Guidance &
Counselling
Education &
Political Science
Education &
Political Science
Education &
Political Science
Education &
Political Science
Education &
Political Science
Education &
Political Science
Guidance &
Counselling
Education &
Agricultural Sci.
Education &
Agricultural Sci.
Educational
Management
Education &
Agricultural Sci.
Educational
Management
Education &
Agricultural Sci.
Education &
Social Studies
Education &
Social Studies
Education &
Social Studies
Library & Info.
Science
Education &
Social Studies
Education &
Social Studies
Education &
Islamic Studies
Education &
Islamic Studies
Education &
Agricultural Sci.
Education &
Mathematics
Education &
Agricultural Sci.
Education &
Islamic Studies
Educational
Management
Educational
Management
English Language
Economics
Business Education
Biology
Guidance & Counselling
Library & Info Science
Political Science
Social Studies
Agricultural Science
Educational Mgmt.
1
10

12. O-LEVEL SUBJECTS & UTME APPLICATION
Accounting
Biology
Government
Lit. in English
Physics
Chemistry
Economics
English Language
Mathematics
Educational
Mgmt.
Political Sci.
Biology
Guidance &
Counselling
Library & Info.
Science
Business Education
Social St.
Economics
Agricultural
Sci.English Language
Commerce
English Language
Biology Economics
Government
Commerce
Education &
Physics
Education &
Chemistry
Education &
Mathematics
14th 13th 23rd
Not among the Top 10
Courses in Education
Education &
Accounting
18th

13. C O N C L U S I O N & R E C O M M E N D A T I O N
While Medicine & Surgery, Computer Science, Nursing, and
Microbiology require core Science subjects such as Biology,
Chemistry, and Physics; these O-Level Subjects are not among
top choices for applicants seeking admission to Subject-Courses
in the Faculty of Education in Nigerian Universities.
Clearly, this may account for poor performance in the Sciences
as there may not be enough Teachers for these Subjects and
some schools may be without science teachers. Therefore, as a
matter of urgency, government need to intentionally invest in
the Recruitment, Training, Retraining, and Retaining of Teachers
in the Sciences and other critical O-Level subjects.
One way is to grant scholarships opportunities to applicants that
may be interested in studying to become Teachers in these
Subjects. Supporting those already in the professional with
attractive competitive incentives will go a long way to retain
and attract more teachers.

14. Reference –
Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME);
2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, & 2016.

15. Analyst: Wale Micaiah
e: walegate@yahoo.com
m: 08078001800
w: www.statisense.com
Freely share, freely use and
freely acknowledge the
source – © Wale Micaiah