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The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has revealed that 12 states in the country employed 23,092 teachers in state-owned primary and secondary schools in 2023.
The figure was contained in a document prepared by the union.
The data listed the states that recruited teachers in 2023 as Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ekiti, Kano, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger and Ogun.
The states with the highest number of recruited teachers during the stated period are Anambra with 5,000; Borno with 4,000; and Adamawa with 3,020.
Others are Akwa-Ibom with 1,000; Delta, with 2,000; Ekiti with 2,000 recruits; Kano with 1,750 newly recruited teachers; and Lagos with 1,340 teachers among others.
Reacting to the engagement in relations to states, the National President of the NUT, Titus Amba, expressed concerns over the shortage of teachers.
According to Amba, “Recruitment process of teachers lies in the hands of the state governments. A significant number of teachers have left the service, and till now, there is no plan to replace them.”
UBEC puts the total number of public schools at 79,775, while private schools currently stand at 91,252.
Regarding teachers, the commission stated that 354,651 teachers were currently teaching in early childhood facilities, while 915,593 were employed in primary schools, and 416,291 working in junior secondary schools.
Similarly, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria recently raised concerns over what it described as the shortage of qualified teachers in the country.
It said the shortage was more pronounced in rural areas, exacerbating educational inequality.
For the Registrar of TRCN, Prof Josiah Ajiboye, “The surge in the population of school children, and the increase in the number of schools in Nigeria, both government and private, present a complex challenge for the education system.
“The availability and quality of qualified teachers are crucial factors in ensuring students receive quality education. However, the shortage of qualified teachers is a concerning issue in Nigeria for several reasons.”
He underscored the need for the government to recruit teachers in tandem with the growing population.
"with a growing population of school children and insufficient recruitment of new teachers, the teacher-pupil ratio in many schools had become unfavourable."
