Nigeria has a shortage of 277,537 teachers in basic education sector, says UBEC

 Nigeria has a shortage of 277,537 teachers in basic education sector, says UBEC

The Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr Hamid Bobboyi, has revealed that Nigeria had a shortage of 277, 537 teachers at the basic level, according to a National Personnel Audit (NPA) it conducted on Public and Private Basic Education Schools in the country.

In a statement issued by the commission’s Head of Public Relations and Protocol, Mr David Apeh, and made available to newsmen, in Abuja, on Sunday, Bobboyi said that the NPA indicated that while 73 per cent of those teaching in public schools were qualified teachers, only 53 per cent of teachers in private schools were qualified to teach.

“Our hope is that with the current reforms that are being put in place where you attract the best candidates into the teaching profession and compensate them adequately, the narrative will change.”

He noted that it was essential for teachers to be trained professionally, hence the need to prioritise quality of teaching.

According to him, one of the major challenges was getting qualified teachers, to teach the children in the country, though the Federal Ministry of Education was trying to address this.

In realisation of the importance of teachers in the provision of quality education, he said, the commission had designated 10 per cent of the entire amount it received from the Consolidated Revenue Fund to Teacher Professional Development, through the States’ Universal Basic Education Boards.