Despite the acute shortage of teachers in Nigeria, it is regrettable that 16 states did not recruit teachers in the past five years. According to the National Union of Teachers (NUT), the states included Abia, Bayelsa, Bauchi, Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Kogi, Ogun, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba and Zamfara. These states failed to conduct recruitment for teachers from 2018 and 2022.
The NUT also lauded the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos and Katsina states for recruiting teachers during the period under review. However, the NUT data ought to have included Anambra State, which recruited teachers more than once during the same period.
The teacher-student ratios in Nigerian primary and post-primary schools are disproportionate. UBEC states that 47 million pupils are enrolled in 171,027 private and public primary and junior secondary schools in Nigeria, comprising 79,775 students in public schools and 91,252 in private schools. According to the education commission, 354,651 are teaching in early childhood facilities, while 915,593 are employed in primary schools, and 416,291 in junior secondary schools.
In 2018, UBEC revealed that the pupil-teacher ratios in Nigeria were not ideal. UNESCO’s recommended ratio is 35 pupils to a teacher. But it lamented that in some geopolitical zones, the ratio exceeded 80 pupils per teacher. This does not only place undue pressure on the teacher but might not bring out the best in him because of the teeming number of pupils and classes to be taught during school hours and during grading. The shortage of qualified teachers is more pronounced in rural areas. The development has also increased the educational inequality in the country.
The National President of the NUT, Mr. Titus Amba, explained that the shortage of qualified teachers in some states can be traced to the inability of some state governors to recruit new teachers. We decry the rising shortage of teachers in primary and secondary schools across the country. The state governors should prioritise the recruitment of new teachers. The neglect of the education sector is why Nigeria is still lagging behind in all indices of development.
Without meeting the acceptable teacher/pupils ratio in primary school and also teacher/students ratio in secondary school, not much can be achieved in meeting our education targets. We enjoin the governors to recruit suitably qualified teachers, especially in primary and secondary schools. Moreover, the governors should take the future of the school children seriously. The primary and post-primary education levels serve as the foundation for learning. Understaffed schools pose the risk of robbing Nigerian school children of the right foundation needed in higher educational pursuits.
It is unfortunate that most of the retired teachers have not been replaced. This does not in any way bode well for the education sector. Governors should stop paying lip service to education and matters that concern teaching. With a fast-growing population, Nigeria must consider the needs of its growing number of schoolchildren in its policies.
The recruitment of unqualified teachers in some states to fill the gap will not solve the teacher shortage challenge. Even the recruitment of teachers under the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) arrangement is immoral and condemnable. The use of PTA teachers is common in many unity schools and other specialised schools across the country. There is need to convert all PTA teachers in these schools into permanent staff instead of using them as temporary teachers for decades.
It is sad that the PTA teachers are poorly remunerated by the PTA of each school. Such teachers can be found in some command secondary schools. They are not even regarded as teachers by the NUT. The ministry of education should investigate the abuse of teachers under the guise of PTA teachers.
The ministry of education and its state counterparts should discourage the employment of PTA teachers. Let state governors embark on massive recruitment of teachers forthwith. All unity schools and similar schools run by security agencies should equally do the same. Let the use of PTA teachers be abolished. This is the time to convert all PTA teachers to permanent employment.
Beyond the recruitment of more teachers in the education sector, there is need for training and retraining for existing ones. To retain quality teachers in the system, let the remuneration of teachers be significantly improved. The teaching profession should be made attractive to young graduates with enticing wages. The government may consider more incentives for teachers.