Committee: Sokoto Requires 9,000 Teachers to Meet Standards

Mohammed Aminu in Sokoto
Sokoto State requires additional 9,000 teachers to meet the global standard of 1:40 teacher-pupil ratio in its classrooms at the primary school level.

Presenting an interim report to Governor Aminu Tambuwal in Sokoto yesterday, the Chairman of the Technical Committee on State of Emergency in Education in the state, Prof. Risqua Shehu, said 11,863 more primary school classrooms were required to congest the existing ones in order to decreate a condusive atmosphere for learning.

He said with a total number 1,193,760 pupils enrolled at basic education level for the 2015/2016 academic session, the teacher-pupil/student ratio in Sokoto presently stands at 1:66.

Shehu pointed out that even though there is fairly a large percentage of teachers with high qualifications in primary schools, over 60 per cent of them did not have the required certification to teach at basic education level, while about 60 per cent of teachers in junior secondary schools  teach in urban areas, leaving rural areas under staffed.
He disclosed that there were more teachers in arts and social sciences than sciences, English and mathematics.

“Not more than five per cent have recommended computer studies and technical trade textbooks. Again, only 11 per cent of the students have relevant textbooks in mathematics while less than 15 per cent of them have mathematical items such as graph boards, protractors, compasses and geometrical materials (solid figures).

“Out of the 39 technical/commercial trades identified by the federal government as contained in the 2013 NPE, only nine are being offered in the state’s senior secondary,” he said.
Shehu said as a way out of the problem,  government should embark on recruitment of more teachers, with emphasis on female teachers who will serve as role models, especially in rural areas.
For the 2015/2016 academic session, he recommended the recruitment of 800 female teachers, followed by 1,200 in the 2016/2017 academic session while 1500 should be recruited in the 2017/2018 academic session.

He also urged the government to embark on massive computer literacy programme for all SS3 students before they sit for the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination in April 2017.
In a remark, Tambuwal said the need to revive the education sector necessitated the setting up of the committee, adding that everything possible would be done to revert the negative trend.

“We have huge problem in this sector, and we are determined to overcome them within a reasonable timeframe,” he said.