Recently, the Lagos State Government recruited about 1300 teachers to teach in the 1100 public primary schools in the state.
It was the first time in over 14 years that the state government had undertaken such a mass recruitment to address the inadequacy of teachers in the schools.
The last time the state recruited such a large number of teachers was in 2002, though it is currently recruiting teachers who will be engage in the state’s secondary schools.
In 2015, over 1,700 teachers who were recruited in 1980 by the Lateef Jakande administration retired after 35 years of service, creating a vacuum in the state teaching service.
Before then, hundreds of teachers had either died or retired annually without commensurate replacement, thus creating a gap in the system.
Commendable as the recent recruitment of 1,300 teachers is, the reality is that it is a far cry from the number of teachers needed in the state.
This is true when matched with the UN Education and Scientific Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) standard of one teacher to 25 pupils in a class.
But in the present day Lagos State, it is known that the teacher-pupil ratio is 1:25 and in some “good situations’’, it is 1:40.
Mr Simeon Fowowe, Head of Department, Early Childhood Education, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikin, Lagos, says that there are inadequate professional teachers in public primary schools in the state.
Fowowe says that the last time mass teacher recruitment took place in Nigeria was in 1975 and 1980.
He notes that those exercises were the reason for the mass retirement of teachers between 2010 and 2015.
“The recruitment was done by former Gov. Bola Ige in Oyo State, Lateef Jakande in Lagos State, Adekunle Ajasin in Ondo State and Ambrose Alli in old Bendel State,’’ Fowowe said.
Mr Segun Raheem, Chairman, Lagos State Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), says the 1,300 teachers recruited to fill vacancies in more than 1,000 public primary schools in the state was “grossly inadequate and cannot solve the problem’’.
According to the NUT boss, employing 1,300 teachers amounted to employing approximately one teacher per school.
“We have over 1,000 schools in Lagos State; if you recruited 1,300 teachers, the ratio is like one teacher per school and this is grossly inadequate.
“In fact, between last year and this year, more than 2,000 teachers will be retiring in that sector.
“So, the 1,300 being recruited will not even be enough to replace those that are retiring between last year and this year,’’ said the Lagos NUT chairman.
Raheem appealed to the state government to recruit more teachers into public primary and secondary schools so as to meet the UNESCO requirement of 25 pupils in one class.
A check revealed that many primary schools across the state are grossly understaffed.
For instance, most classrooms in the schools visited in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos have inadequate teachers to match the number of pupils.
A source at a primary school at Abaranje area of Ikotun says that the school had written to the relevant authorities, demanding for teachers in the schools.
According to the source, only four new teachers were recently posted to the school where about three teachers would be retiring this year.
“Most of the classes have no teachers; teachers are forced to handle two or three classes for the children to be taught at all.
`We are all aware of the effect of overcrowded classes and over-stretching of teachers in the education of our children.
“This is not our idea of a standard and qualitative education,’’ she said.
She appeals to the relevant education authorities to go round the local government areas to ascertain first-hand the teacher requirement in schools.
The NUT chairman also buttressed the above assertion, saying that “the situation in public schools is becoming rotten and unprofessional.
“A teacher taking two to three classes of about 60 to 90 pupils in each is not professional,’’ he says, noting that 16,000 teachers were needed cater for public primary and secondary schools.
According to Raheem, 9,000 teachers will be needed in the state primary, while 7,000 are required in the secondary schools.
A teacher, Mrs Veronica Maduabunechukwu, says that four teachers had been sent to Local Government Primary School, Ikotun and about three teachers would be retiring from that school this year.
She says that aside from this year, teachers had retired from the school the previous years, so, the four new teachers are inadequate.
“We are aware that the government is trying but there is need for new teachers so as to meet the demand of the growing population of the pupils.
“The population of pupils to a teacher in the school is about 60 pupils to a teacher which is against the UNESCO standard,’’ she says.
A visit to Ilupeju High School, Oshodi, reveals that there are about 90 to 120 students in a class.
According to the source, the infrastructure provided by the government is insignificant compared to the number of pupils.
“There are no desks and chairs to sit on; the pupils have been asked to bring in their chairs but to no avail and as such many of them sit on trailers tyres in class to be taught.’’
Meanwhile, Dr. Idiat Adebuile, Deputy Governor, Lagos State, who doubles as the Commissioner for Education at a recent ministerial briefing on May 26, on infrastructure development, said the state had 1, 014 primary schools, 349 junior secondary schools, 319 senior secondary schools and five technical colleges.
According to her, the construction of more schools was on the pipeline to accommodate more students.
She also said that the state initiated the “Support Our Schools Initiative’’ to accommodate partnership with individuals and organisations to improve the state’s education system.
“We need support in the areas of libraries, classrooms, furniture, toilets, science laboratories and Information Communication Technology (ICT) rooms.
“I implore well-meaning individuals and organisations to key into this initiative to contribute and complement government’s efforts as investment in education is service to humanity,’’ she said.
It is common knowledge that pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools in Nigeria was 37.55 as of 2010.
Its highest value over the past 40 years was 46.09 in 2007, while its lowest value was 32.23 in 1978.
In all the development if not addressed will lead to poor teaching and learning in the schools and will aggravate the possibility of the spread of contagious diseases among the children in crowded classes.
This will ultimately lead to an unhealthy population that becomes a burden on the government.
A stitch in time, they say, saves nine. Addressing the situation now through employment of more teachers will help in raising a population of children that will grow to grow the country, economically having become aware of the need not to engage in vices.
Stellamaris Ashinze, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
