NUT Raises Alarm Over Shortage Of Teachers In Osun Public Schools

•Continued from front page

He said even with the reinstatement of some of the sacked teachers, the government s ll has a lot of vacuum to fill in providing adequate teachers for the state-owned schools.

The NUT Chairman added that the government’s inten on to improve the standard of educa on in public schools cannot be achieved without adequate teachers in the schools.

He said: “We have an acute shortage of teachers in Osun State government schools as of today. The shortage is just too enormous to the extent that in rural areas, we have some schools where we have five, six and eight teachers in a whole secondary school.

“It is only the urban centre that is fairly okay but talk of the rural areas, the shortage is too much. We want to appeal to our Governor to please employ more teachers as a ma er of urgency.

“I will like also to plead on behalf of the 1500 teachers that the last administra on rushed their employment. For those who got the employment through due process, the government should please reinstate them.

“Even if they reinstate these people, we s ll need more teachers. What we have now is an acute shortage. The gap they need to fill is just too much. There is no school in all the local governments across the state that does not need teachers.

“The 1500 teachers cannot even fill the gap. They will have to immediately recruit more. We want the government to come to our aid.

“The government is talking about improving the standard of educa on, there is no way they can achieve this without having adequate teachers on the ground.”

On infrastructure, Fatade said some school buildings are dilapidated, adding that the schools are also lacking adequate teaching materials.

He said: “In the area of infrastructure, in terms of buildings, we are fairly okay but we s ll have some dilapidated buildings in our schools.

“Also, the teaching materials are not adequate. We are appealing to the state government to provide teaching materials in order to aid teaching and learning in our schools.”

Speaking on the effect of fuel subsidy removal on his members, the NUT Chairman said teachers were already feeling the heat.

He appealed to the state government to provide pallia ve that will assist in cushioning the effect.

According to him, “The subsidy removal on fuel is really affec ng teachers in the state. Some teachers live in far area from their working place. Some of them even work in a different local government to where they reside.

“Even those living in the town are not exempted. A teacher that was spending N300 to his working place before is now spending about N800.

“We want to urge the government to provide a sort of succour and quickly give us pallia ves in order to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal pending the me our salaries will be legally reviewed and increased.”

Echoing the view of the NUT boss, a teacher in a public school in Osogbo who preferred anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the issue, said many unqualified teachers employed by Parent Teacher Associa on had been teaching in many public schools.

He said: “There are not enough teachers in rural and semi-urban areas. In the urban areas, it is rela vely be er. For instance, some schools in Osogbo have almost enough teachers. Schools like Ataoja School of Science, Bap st Girls School, and Fakunle Comprehensive High School, all have almost enough hands.”

On how schools have been coping with the situa on, the teacher said, “I know of a school in Otan Ayegbaju where the teacher that is teaching Mathematics is a graduate of Accounting. He was good in Mathema cs during his secondary school days, and because there was no teacher for the subject, he took up the challenge.

“There is also a teacher in Ikirun who studied Business Administra on, and being asked to take Islamic Religious Studies. What is happening nowadays is that whoever has an idea of a subject will be in charge of subjects where there are no teachers now, not necessarily those who studied the subjects.”