Niger SUBEB chair bemoans low teacher quality, performance

The chairman of the Niger State Basic Education Board, Alhaji Alhassan Bawa Mohammed Niwero, has decried the low performance of teachers in the state’s basic schools, which he listed as one of the challenges of his administration.

This he attributed to the board’s inability to provide adequate capacity development opportunities for the large size of its primary school teachers.

He also bemoaned the shortage of teachers in core subjects, as well as irregular payment of salaries which he said has resulted in low motivation among teachers.

The SUBEB chairman spoke with newsmen recently in his office in Minna as part of activities to mark the four-tenure of Governor Ababakar Sani-Bello.

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He, however, celebrated the ability of the board to access and utilise intervention funds from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for capital projects from 2013 to 2016, which he said had improved the management and monitoring of physical projects.

Alhaji Niwero also noted that the state had been committed to sustaining the Almajiri (Tsangaya) Basic Education Programme through sustained and consistent funding.

The board, according to him, has engaged in continuous advocacies to critical stakeholders to elicit support for the success of the Universal Basic Education programmes in the state.

“There are sustained approaches to encourage girl-child education in the state through enrollment, retention and completion,” he said.

According to Niwero, there are 3,034 public primary schools in the state, with a total enrollment of 635,747 pupils. Out of this number, 357,827 are males, while 277,910 pupils are females.

He noted that there are a total of 4,406 junior secondary schools, with total enrollment of 168,656 pupils (101,290 males and 67,366 females).