Only 5,439 of Borno’s 17,229 primary school teachers qualified to teach

The Borno State Commissioner for Education, Mr. Lawan Wakilbe, has said that only 5,439 of the 17, 229 teachers in primary schools are qualified to teach.

Wakilbe stated this while submitting the report of a special committee to Gov. Babagana Zulum on Thursday in Bauchi.

The commissioner, who is also the Chairman of the committee, said the report was prepared after the conduct of Basic Literacy and Numeracy Competency Assessment for teachers in the 27 Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in the state.

- Advertisement -

He said that 7,975 teachers were qualified but required further training, adding that 3,815 others were unqualified and cannot be trained.

READ ALSO: Police: What we found at scene of Dapo Ojora’s death

“Analysis of result has shown that of the 17,229 teachers, 5,439 representing 31.6 percent are found to be competent, and 7,975 constituting 46.3 percent need further training while 3,815 constituting 22.1 percent are incompetent.

- Advertisement -

“Furthermore, a review of their academic qualification shows that 1,627 teachers constituting 9.4 percent are degree holders, 8,153 teachers constituting 47.3 percent are NCE holders, and 2,066 constituting 12 percent are diploma holders.

“Moreso; 713 teachers constituting 4.1 percent are grade II holders, and 2,281 constituting 13.2 percent are SSCE/GCE or equivalent qualification, while 2,389 constituting 13.9 percent are without any formal qualification,” he said.

The commissioner said the committee had presented 24 recommendations to the government to address the situation.

Responding, Zulum described the situation as “disturbing,” adding that it must be addressed.

Zulum said that his administration accorded priority to the provision of quality education and healthcare services, noting that unqualified personnel would not be allowed in the sectors.

The governor assured that qualified teachers would be remunerated with the new minimum wage, and those that needed training would be trained while unqualified teachers would be redeployed.

He directed the ministry to look critically into the educational records of the competent teachers for proper placements based on their qualifications and years of service. (NAN)