Abstract A major element in the plans to improve the quality of teaching in African schools is the raising of qualifications for admission into the teacher training colleges to a minimum of the School Certificate. This paper is the report of a research conducted in Nigeria in order to find out how much interest Nigerian secondary school students have in school teaching as a career and their particular attitudes towards teaching in the primary schools. About 20 per cent of the students were found to be interested in the teaching profession. But only 6‐9 per cent were interested in primary school teaching and there was very little difference between the attitudes of the boys and the girls. These findings were compared to those of similar researches conducted in some other African countries. The implications of the findings for the fast‐growing educational systems were examined and some suggestions were made.