JOS – Mr Gunsin Yarlings, Plateau State Chariman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has advised the Plateau government to establish an education board to tackle the present shortage of teachers.
Yarlings told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Monday that the shortage of teaching staff in the state’s primary and secondary schools was massive and called for urgent intervention.
He said that the board should comprise key stakeholders in the education sector to facilitate the enactment of good policies for the improvement of the standard of education in the state, through the recruitment of needed teachers.
Yarlings decried the shortage of teachers estimated at 27, 000 for primary and 10,000 for secondary schools.
He lamented that the situation was not helped as the government had massively renovated and constructed new primary schools that demanded teaching staff to man them.
According to him, the few available teachers were not motivated to perform their duties.
Gunsin noted that teachers in the state were last promoted four years ago and that their duty tour and transportation allowances have been completely cut-off.
He, however, appealed to the government to see teachers as partners in progress in the improvement of the standard of education in the state and hence, carry them along.
The NUT chairman said that the union had stepped up efforts at helping the state government improve its education sector through the construction of an ICT centre in Shendam Local Government Area of the state for the training of teachers.
He said that the centre had capacity to accommodate no fewer than 200 people and was awaiting the installation of the needed computers to become functional.
Mr Sylvester Yakubu, the State PTA Chairman had told NAN that more than 80 per cent of teachers in the state primary schools were engaged by the association to augment the shortage of teachers over the years.
However, Dr. Nanle Dashen, the Plateau Commissioner for Education, said government was aware of the shortage and planned to engage more teachers.
He explained that the administration inherited an already decayed education system which could not be revamped in a short while. (NAN)