Jigawa State suspends in-house training of teachers as many leave service afterwards

JIGAWA State government has suspended the in-service training of all primary and junior secondary school teachers in response to a phenomenon where those who have been trained have left the civil service.

 

Like many states in Nigeria, Jigawa is training its teachers in a bid to improve the quality of education it offers its pupils. As a result, the state government has initiated an in-house training programme but a recent report into the scheme has revealed that many of the teachers d not return to the civil service after their training.

 

Alhaji Bala Ibrahim, the Jigawa State commissioner for information, youth, sport and culture, said the decision was taken based on preliminary reports by the primary and junior secondary school’s teachers verification committee. He noted that the report indicated that there were over 22,000 teachers in the state’s pay roll, out of which over 5,000 had been on in-service training for more than five years and did not return even when they had completed their studies.

 

“The State Universal Basic Education Board is lacking teachers in the primary and junior secondary schools across the state. That is why it has become necessary to put all training on hold until after the committee’s exercise," Alhaji Ibrahim added.

 

He maintained that findings by the committee revealed that the board had shortage of over 4,000 teachers, with over 5,000 away for studies beyond the approved study period. Alhaji Ibrahim said there were 900 teachers who went on training and studied courses irrelevant to teaching, adding that the office of the head of service was working to send them to government agencies relevant to their training.