Niger Uncovers 1,000 Unqualified Teachers in Primary Schools

Niger State Universal Basic Education Board has uncovered over
1, 000 unqualified teachers who could neither read nor write in the
primary schools across the state.

This was one of the major findings of the Teaching and Non-Teaching
Staff Audit Committee constituted in June this year, by the executive
chairman of the Board, Dr. Isah Adamu to help establish the exact
number of personnel in the board’s payroll, their qualifications and
readiness to do the job.

Presenting the report to the chairman at the Board, the central
chairman of the Committee, Alhaji Ayuba Usman Katako said of the
28,058 personnel in the payroll, only 26, 07 participated in the
screening exercise while 23, 721 were found qualified.

“Verification covered all the LEA administrative staff and classroom
teachers. We are more particular in teachers and administrative staff
because administrative staff supervise those in the classroom. And
about 50 per cent of those with issues of certificate racketeering are
class teachers. We found that over 1, 000 of them couldn’t read and
write,” the Committee chairman revealed.

He, however, advised the SUBEB Chairman to ensure the implementation
of approved promotion of some teachers since 2018. Receiving the
report, the chairman of the Board, Dr. Isah Adamu said he would ensure
the full implementation of the report and to put the teaching
profession on a proper pedestal.

According to him, “if you cannot read and write, you cannot be a
teacher. So everybody must work according to his capacity. We can
reshuffle the system. If you cannot teach, we are going to send you to
either be a cleaner or a nanny. But definitely not as a classroom
teacher.”