Public schools in Oyo are currently faced with shortage of teachers and the situation got worse as an unintended consequence of the current administration’s free education policy, investigation conducted by Nigerian Tribune revealed.
According to the report, the acute shortage of teachers itself is not really a new development, especially in key subjects like English language, mathematics and other science subjects
Teachers in the state’s schools had had to be overworked to make up for the shortfall in subject teachers. Most schools depended on the services of PTA (Parent-Teacher Association) teachers and fresh graduates posted to the schools to observe their national youth service – who are almost in all cases not even trained to teach the subjects they are given.
However, when in his commitment to make education free in the state, Governor Seyi Makinde announced the abolition of all forms of fees in the state’s schools, that policy also took away the ability of the schools to pay these PTA teachers.
Use of PTA teachers was an internal arrangement by schools’ Parent Teacher Associations, and they were paid from the pool of fund generated through the N3,000 levy imposed on students.
As if that was not enough, 2,000 primary and secondary school teachers were said to have been retired at the end of September and these have not been replaced yet.
So, due to overwork, the few government teachers (or Education Officers) are fatigued, while the youth corps members who were taken as adjunct teachers are not committed to the work.
Read more: Nigerian Tribune
