The Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, has raised concern on shortage of teachers at the Basic Education level in the country.
The Executive Secretary, UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi raised the concern in Lagos at the Second Quarterly Nationwide Monitoring of Participants of the 6th Set of Year 2020-2021 Federal Teachers Scheme.
He blamed the problem of shortage of teachers in public primary and junior secondary schools particularly, in the Northern part of the country partly on non-recruitment of new teachers to replace those that retire every year.
He stressed that the outbreak of the Corona Virus in the country was another contributory factor as more teachers prefered to teach in private schools where there were few students to teach and the COVID-19 safety protocols were strictly adhered to as against what obtains in public schools.
The UBEC boss also expressed dissatisfaction at the poor quality of some teachers, teaching in the nation’s primary and junior secondary schools as he claimed that they lacked the ability to teach students effectively.
Dr. Bobboyi however, pointed out that part of the federal government’s initiative at providing more teachers to drive the Universal Basic Education programme was the introduction of the Federal Teachers Scheme.
He explained that through the scheme, the federal government had been recruiting graduates with teacher training background to teach in some primary schools across the states of the federation for a period of two years on the bill of the federal government.
While Dr. Bobboyi advised state governments to consider offering some of the teachers serving under the scheme full employment to further drive the UBE Progranmme in their states, he noted that with the quality of teachers under the scheme, more Out of School Children had been attracted to school in different parts of the country.
Some Head teachers of primary schools where the beneficiaries of the Federal Teachers Scheme had been teaching in the last two years attested to the fact that the teachers had been performing excellently since they were posted to the schools.
In a response, the Executive Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, Honourable Wahab Alawiye-King thanked the federal government for the Federal Teachers Scheme.
Honourable Alawiye- King however, pointed out that both states and federal governments still needed to provide adequate infrastructure and manpower to drive Basic Education programme in the country as the number of children seeking formal education in Lagos State in particular, kept increasing by the day.
Some beneficiaries of the Federal Teachers Scheme at the event seized the opportunity of the gathering to table some of the challenges confronting them under the scheme especially the delay in the payment of their thirty thousand naira monthly stipend.
