FG Worries Over Shortage Of Teachers In Basic Schools

The Federal Government is worried over shortage of qualified teachers in Nigeria's basic schools.

According to the government, the 1.4 million teachers already in the system are grossly inadequate  for the over 42 million pupils in basic schools.

Following, the shortage in the system, the government asked the State Governments to engage successful candidates who partake in the Federal Teachers Scheme examination in their respective states.

 The Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission(UBEC), Dr Hamid Boboye, who expressed concern over the worrisome trend, made the call on Monday in Abuja after monitoring the conduct of the FTS examination  at the Computer-Based Centres of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board in Kogo and Bwari.

The FTS examination which took place simultaneously in 74 JAMB approved centres in the country aimed to assist states find teachers for rural schools.

His words"As far as public schools are concerned, we have problem in terms of the number of teachers that can adequately meet the population of pupils that we have. With about 1.4 million teachers in the system, we need more teachers to cater for the over 42 million pupils we have.”

Boboye revealed that only 3,700 candidates (100 per state) would be selected because of slim budget of the agency,out of the total of 14,729 candidates who sat for the 2020/2021 FTS examination.

The UBEC Executive Secretary explained that the FTS examination is an internship scheme and not permanent employment for the participants.

He clarified  that giving permanent employment to successful candidates was at the discretion of the states.

 “We have been urging the states to ensure that these participants in the FTS are absorbed because UBEC has spent resources in making sure that they are trained as teachers who can contribute to teaching and learning",Boboye pleaded with the State Governments.