Zulum approves N1b for teachers’ training
In a state like Borno that is coming out of insurgency, sacking over 10,000 teachers, who have been found unfit for the job will further compound the unemployment issue, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Babagana Zulum on New Media, Abdurrahman Bundi, has revealed.
In a statement made available to The Guardian, yesterday, the aide said his principal rather decided to earmark N1 billion to retrain the unqualified.
He stated: “If not for his compassion, Zulum had the option to sack all of them, but decided they should remain on the government payroll and that all of them should be posted to work in other sectors within the local council, including involvement in the planting of trees in the Ministry of Environment.
“Among them, Zulum directed 1,468 that had undergone Emergency Teacher Upgrade Programme (ETUP) with the National Teachers Institute (NTI) and are certified to have obtained the minimum teaching qualifications start receiving the minimum wage next month.”
Long before Zulum’s administration, Borno was faced with a crisis of teacher recruitment and remuneration. Some of the issues surrounding basic education in the state were complex, including the decision by Zulum to retain those who were confirmed to be unqualified and the concern about their salaries.
In 2020, the Zulum-led administration sought to sanitise the state’s primary education system to ensure that quality education is imparted, following the devastation caused by Boko Haram. He constituted a committee headed by Dr Shettima Kullima to determine the teaching workforce and their competence to impart quality education.
The final report revealed that less than 33 per cent were fit to teach.
According to the 2020 report, a list of 26,450 teachers and non-teaching staff was submitted to the verification committee; 18,451 teachers participated and 2,628 with fake certificates were identified.
