Gombe gov’t to boost public schools with 1000 new teachers

When Adamu Tukur graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Education in 2017, his dream was to secure a job in one of the public secondary schools or Gombe State-owned tertiary institutions to teach.

However, for the past five years, Tukur has been roaming the streets, working as a ‘labourer’ in any available construction site he could find, to keep soul and body together.

Gombe gov’t to boost public schools with 1000 new teachers

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“I was barely 26-year-old when I graduated from Gombe State University (GSU) in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree. But for the past five years, I have been moving around seeking a job but have not found any because I don’t know anybody that could recommend me to get employed in the ‘favour’ (labour) market.

Tukur, who lost his father at a very young age, said he sponsored his education through menial jobs during school holidays. But five years after graduation and completion of the mandatory NYSC, he still earns a living as a labourer at construction sites.

However, Tukur and numerous unemployed teachers are hopeful about the current exercise by the state government to recruit 1,000 teachers, a process he has participated in and is awaiting the outcome.

Meanwhile, public schools in the state have been suffering from inadequately qualified teachers in the face of rising number of pupils/students in the state. Thus, many parents have resolved to go to public schools.

For Malam Abubakar Sani, a father of seven and a civil servant on GL15 in the state civil service, he enrolled his children in private schools due to poor standards, deteriorating conditions and overcrowded classrooms, which combine to make learning almost impossible in many public schools.

“All my life savings are being spent on the education of my children that attend private schools, because of the decay in most of the government-owned schools, “ he said.

Sani especially lamented how his first son had to write the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) three times before he could get five credits, saying, “There was a time he told me that throughout the school term, there were no English language and mathematics teachers in their school. Therefore, I withdrew his younger siblings and enrolled them in private schools.”

Daily Trust gathered that the dearth of instructional materials, lack of qualified teachers, and overcrowded classrooms also greatly affected the standard of education in public schools, forcing parents to transfer their wards to private schools.

This is despite the fact that the National Policy on Education stipulates that the teacher-student ratio should be 1:40 per class, as against the 1:200 per class now obtained in most public schools in Gombe.

Some educationists who spoke with the Daily Trust stated that employing qualified teachers in public schools is the key to addressing some of the challenges that have crippled public schools over the years.

It was gathered that the last time teachers were recruited in the state was in August 2018, despite numerous teachers that have left the service, either as a result of retirement, transfer of service or death among others.

In a move to rescue the government-owned schools and provide employment opportunities, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya recently granted approval to the Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) for the recruitment of 1,000 fresh teachers.

According to the chairman of the TSC, Mrs. Na’omi Philip Maiguwa, the approval was as a result of genuine concern over inadequate and qualified teachers in public secondary schools across the state.

She said the governor was worried by the huge shortage of teachers in government schools, which greatly affected students’ performance in state and national examinations.

Mrs Maiguwa added that as an emergency measure, pending the completion of the recruitment process, Governor Yahaya equally approved the transfer of 288 staff of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to the Ministry of Education, for posting to secondary schools and technical colleges.

“This development is one of the steps the governor has taken to turn around the fortunes of education in the state. He had earlier consented to kick-starting the teachers’ recruitment process at the TSC. This approval is a continuation of the process to place qualified teachers in the state’s post-basic education schools,” she said.

According to her, it is the first time since the creation of the state that the government is recruiting and deploying over 1,288 teachers, “as the last exercise, which was carried out in August 2018, involved only 700 teachers, less than 60 per cent of the number involved in the current exercise.”

Daily Trust gathered that over 10,000 graduates applied to be employed as teachers, but after a computer-based aptitude test, the number was pruned to 5,000 applicants.

Maiguwa further disclosed that the 5,000 graduate applicants that sat for the aptitude test were interviewed, and the recruitment process is still ongoing to select the best 1,000 fresh teachers.

The TSC chairman expressed optimism that before the beginning of the new academic year in September, both the transferred teachers and the newly recruited ones would be placed in senior secondary schools and technical colleges.