The Nasarawa State House of Assembly has urged the 13 local government areas of the state to collaborate with the State Government for the employment of competent and qualified primary school teachers to ensure that pupils get the best form of primary education.
The Assembly said the standard of primary education in the state was very poor due to shortage of teachers and lamented that between 2011 and 2021, no fewer than 3,665 primary school teachers had retired or died, adding that since then, the government had not conducted any recruitment to fill the vacant positions.
The Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Ibrahim Balarabe-Abdullahi, decried the situation after the Chairman, House Committee on Education, Hon. Daniel Ogazi, raised the issue while the House was deliberating on matters of public importance during its proceedings in Lafia on Monday.
The Speaker said if competent and qualified teachers were employed to man the affairs of primary schools, it would go a long way in reviving the falling standard of primary education in the state.
He said that the state government was doing well in providing structures in primary schools across the state but lamented that the government’s efforts would amount to nothing if there were no qualified and competent teachers.
Balarabe-Abdullahi said, “Our resolution is that we are urging the state government to declare a state of emergency in primary education, and that the local government areas in conjunction with the state government should put machinery in place for the employment of primary school teachers.”
The Speaker urged the Honourable Members and other people especially public office holders to send their children to public schools in order to ensure that the sector was revived.
“I believe we all attended public schools, and if we send our children to public schools, it would revive the system and ensure quality education in the state,” he added.
Earlier, Hon. Daniel Ogazi, while raising the issue on the matters of public importance said, “Mr Speaker and my honourable colleagues, in the course of our oversight, we discovered that from 2011 to 2021, we have 3,665 primary school teachers who had died or retired.
“And there had never been any employment of primary school teachers since 2011. The level at which primary education is at the moment is very devastating, so I am urging the government to do something fast about it.”
In their contributions, Hon. Peter Akwe, Hon. Suleiman Yakubu-Azara, Hon. John Osewu and Hon Mohammed Okpoku also lamented on the lack of teachers in primary schools across the 13 LGAs of the state and called on the government to employ more teachers, adding that primary education was the foundation of all education.
