The Nasarawa State House of Assembly has urged the local government areas in conjunction with the state government to put machinery in place for the employment of competent and qualified primary school teachers in the state.
This, the House said, was due to the falling standard of primary education in the state lamenting that between 2011 and 2021, 3,665 primary school teachers have retired or died without new employees to fill the vacant.
The Speaker of the House, Balarabe Abdullahi, made the call after the Chairman House Committee on Education, Hon Daniel Ogazi, raised the issue on matters of public importance during the House proceedings in Lafia today.
The Speaker said if competent and qualified teachers are employed to manage the affairs of primary schools, it would go a long way in reviving the falling standard of primary education in the State.
Abdullahi said that the State Government was doing well by providing structures across primary schools in the State but it would amount to nothing if there are no qualified and competent teachers.
“I want to appreciate Hon Ogazi for bringing this matter up and to also appreciate the House Committee on Education for their efforts in oversight education sector.
“I also want to commend all members for your contributions on this subject matter.
“The state government is trying in building structures in our primary schools, the structures will come to nothing if we don’t have competent and qualified teachers in primary schools.
“We resolve that we urge the state government to declare a state of emergency in primary education and
“That the local government areas in conjunction with the state government to put machinery in place for the employment of primary school teachers in the state,” he said.
The Speaker urged members and other people especially public officeholders to send their children to public schools to ensure that the sector is revived.
“I believe, we all attended public schools, and if we send our children to public schools, it will revive the system and ensure quality education in the state,” he added.
Earlier, the Deputy Majority Leader and Chairman House Committee on Education, Hon Daniel Ogazi (APC-Kokona East), while raising the issue on matters of public interest said that there was an urgent need for government to employ primary school teachers to arrest the situation in the primary schools.
“Mr. Speaker and my Honourable colleagues, in the course of our oversight we discovered that from 2011 to 2021, we have 3665 primary school teachers, who have died or retired.
“And there has never been the employment of primary school teachers sfrom2011 to 2021.
“The level of primary education is devastating. the state government is doing well in the area of infrastructure but there are no teachers in the primary schools.
“If nothing is done, the standard of primary education will continue to be affected negatively.
“It is given this that I call for the employment of primary school teachers in the state to address the situation, Ogazi noted.
In their contributions, Dr. Peter Akwe, Hon. Suleiman Yakubu Azara, Hon John Osewu, and Hon Mohammed Okpoku appreciated Hon Ogazi for raising the issue.
They also lamented the lack of teachers in primary schools and called on the government to employ primary school teachers because primary education is the foundation of all education.
