NUT urges FG to address shortage of teachers in schools

THE Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has called on the Federal Government to employ qualified teachers to address the shortage of teachers in schools in the country.

The Secretary-General of the union, Dr Mike Ike Ene, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.

“We have professional teachers but the problem is that the government are not taking any step to filling up these yearning gaps we have in our schools.

“If you go to some schools you will find out that we still have situations where you get one teacher to a hundred pupils or one teacher to 70 students.

“Yet we have colleges of education, universities, other educational faculties and departments that are churning out quality, qualified professional teachers.

“These teachers are not being employed; people are using employment as political patronage instead of employing the right people.

“If Liberia says they want this quality, qualified and professional teachers and we think we have (them), instead of staying here to waste away, we should be able to allow those who are prepared to go there to do so.

“After all there is always this exchange programme that is based on a bilateral agreement.

“But I want to advise that you do not give somebody the nose which you are using to breathe.

“Rather, let our government do everything in its power to keep these teachers by employing them and posting them t the schools that need them.’’

NAN reports that Liberian President George Weah had requested Nigeria to help fill the 6,000 teacher deficit in his country.

Weah said that the government needed to make up the teacher deficit at the federal, state and local government levels.