Shortage Of Teachers May Increase Out Of School Children – Osun NUT Chair
THE Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in Osun State, Comrade Muritala Fatade has said the shortage of teachers in public schools will continue to contribute to the number of out of school children in the state.
Fatade, in an interview with OSUN DEFENDER on Wednesday, noted that there was shortage of teachers in public schools in both rural and urban areas.
According to Fatade, though the case of rural areas was worse, but the urban areas as well are grossly in need of teachers.
He disclosed that no school in the urban areas have Assistant Headmaster(s), which amounts to the shortage of teachers.
The NUT Chairman said: “We have been telling the government since inception that they inherited shortage of teachers and lack of infrastructure but they promised to intervene. We applaud the government of Adeleke for the job they’re doing.
“In the urban areas, where we have headmaster or headmistress, we should have an assistant who will fit in when the HM is unavailable. As I’m speaking, there is no assistant HM in schools in the urban areas which amount to shortage of teachers. When we came into the Civil Service, we do have two HM in schools in the urban areas.
“But I’m a witness that the government is doing their possible best to recruit more teachers in the public primary and secondary schools. I witnessed such a meeting last month.
“Definitely, where there’s no good environment for learning, the pupils or students won’t be motivated to go to school. And believe me, these children will go home to report to their parents.
“These will allow parents to stop sending their children to school or students will not get to school when they already know there is no teacher to teach them.”
Sodiq Yusuf is a trained media practitioner and journalist with considerable years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital journalism. His interests cover a wide range of causes in politics, governance, sports, community development, and good governance.
