1.3 Million Teachers Needed for Basic Education - Minister

​The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu has said that in order

to bridge the wide gap between the number of teachers required and

the current number available for basic education, about 1.3 million

teachers are needed in the next six years.

He spoke at the national flag-off ceremony of the 2015 teachers’

development training held in Abuja Tuesday.

Mallam Adamu who noted that the number was the latest released on

teachers, said it was in view of this that the federal government was

working towards the recruitment and injection of 500, 000 teachers

into basic education across the country.

“When completed, it would place more responsibilities and higher

expectations on states and local governments in terms of the roles

they would play in providing more teaching infrastructure and

instructional materials,” he said.

The minister expressed concern on the inability of some state

governments and State universal Basic Education Boards to promptly

access the matching grants from the Universal Basic Education

Commission (UBEC).

While appealing to state governors to promptly utilize the funds for

rapid educational development, he said the federal government was

doing its best to reduce or do away with the requirement of matching

grants.

The Federal Government is to release N120m to each state of the

federation for the 2015 Teachers’ Professional Development

programme.

The former Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education

Commission, Dr. Suleiman Dikko,

Dikko said in addition, the commission, in collaboration with

international development partners, had embarked on the training of

teachers to equip them with the necessary skills to function

effectively in classrooms.