Many state governments have refused to employ teachers since 2015 despite an acute shortage of teaching personnel in public primary schools across the country, investigations by The PUNCH have shown.
Findings showed that some schools, particularly the ones in the rural areas, had as few as three teachers, who on many occasions absent themselves from work.
Teachers, who spoke with The PUNCH, bemoaned poor remuneration and non-payment of their salaries and allowances.
They said due to poor pay and unpaid wages, they had developed survival strategies including engagement in petty trading and other businesses to augment their incomes.
28 states haven’t employed teachers since 2015 –NUT
The Nigeria Union of Teachers on Monday confirmed The PUNCH’s findings, saying only eight states had employed primary school teachers since 2015.
The union’s National Publicity Secretary, Audu Amba, said apart from Gombe, Kaduna, Imo, Katsina, Kano, Lagos, Plateau and Sokoto states, other 28 states had not employed teachers in the last four years.
This, he said, had been affecting the quality of public primary education in the country.
He also said only 11 states namely Akwa Ibom, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Lagos, Plateau, Sokoto, Katsina, Yobe and the Federal Capital Territory had recruited secondary school teachers in the last four years.
Besides the non-recruitment of teachers, the NUT national publicity secretary said Abia State owed primary school teachers, five months’ salaries, while their counterparts in secondary schools were being owed 10 months’ salaries.
Amba said Benue State had not paid primary school teachers’ salaries in the last 10 months.
Source: Punch