Bauchi Community Urges Governor To Address Teacher Deficit In Schools

The Gabchyari community in Darazo Local Government Area of Bauchi State has called on Governor Bala Mohammed, to address the teacher deficit in two of its schools.

The community lamented that only three teachers were available in the Primary and Junior Secondary Schools in the community with a capacity of 350 students.

The community also noted that only one teacher takes responsibility as the head teacher for both schools.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), members of the community who spoke on Monday said the issue has led to an increase in the number of out-of-school children in the state.

One of the community members identified as Malam Isa Ibrahim, who noted the importance of teachers, said the situation has discouraged many parents from sending their children to school. 

“We want the government to help us get more teachers here, teachers are very important and needed in this school,” he said.

Also speaking, one Yahaya Adamu, appealed to the government to address the issue of water supply in the community and renovate the school to be conducive for learning.

He explained that out of the three blocks of six classrooms in the school, only two were in good condition.

“It is very hard for the students to get water before they go to school, they spend most of the time searching for water during school hours.

“This makes them not to attend classes on time. 

"And even if they go, they are always tired from the rigour of fetching water,” Adamu said.

In his remark, one of the three teachers identified as Abdullahi Muhammad, explained that the junior secondary school has only two teachers while the primary school has one. 

“Sometimes, people ask us `what do you teach them, because you are only three teachers in the school’.

“We have one teacher who doubles as the headteacher with more than 200 pupils in the primary school and 150 JSS students.

“Most times, I and my partner in the JSS assist by teaching in the primary classes.

"We go there to do our best,” he said.

Also in reaction, the spokesperson of the Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), said posting of teachers was the responsibility of the local governments’ Education Secretaries.

He explained that the state governor had pledged to recruit more teachers to address the deficit across the state. 

He reiterated that the governor remains committed to the pledge. 

He also noted that renovation of some schools across the 20 LGAs of the state was already ongoing following the approval of a huge amount by the governor.