Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has urged the Lagos State government to absorb non-teaching staff members to boost the shortfall of teachers in public primary and secondary school.
Chairman of the NUT, Lagos wing, Comrade Adedoyin Adesina, made the request during the union’s World Teachers Day celebration at the NUT Pavilion, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos last Friday, which had as theme: “The right to education means the right to a qualified teacher”.
Adesina said it was a way of addressing the problem of acute shortage of teachers in the teaching service and motivating them for their efforts.
“It is of utmost importance to note that some of the qualified non-teaching staff who have acquired additional teaching qualifications based on on-the-job training with the sincere hope for conversion to upgrade their status should be passionately considered. Some of those categories of workers are those being used as teaching staff because of the acute shortage of teachers in our classrooms. This is capable of bringing down the morale of the affected staff and their productivity,” he said.
Responding, the Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Adebule, said the government was looking into a means of rewarding this category of workers but not necessarily to post them to the classroom.
She said government was committed to ensuring that only qualified teachers were employed in the state.
She said:”Who are the non-accreditation teaching staff? People employed as clerical staff, office assistants, cleaners, guards…but have gone ahead to acquire qualifications and improve themselves. We are discussing; I believe that for us to uphold quality, we must look for another way to get them promoted in another cadre.
“I am already discussing with the Head of Service to ensure that this group of people who work hard to get certificates are rewarded. I know how you feel and by God’s grace you will be happy with what we will do.
“Lagos is introducing specialisation into primary schools very soon and that creates another opportunity for this set of people to become assistant teachers,” she said.
Mrs Adebule added that the ongoing recruitment of 2,200 teachers would “boost the student to teacher ratio in the classroom.”
While appreciating the government for the injection of additional teachers into schools, the NUT Chairman, however noted that the number was insufficient to meet the needs in schools.
“The recent employment of 2,200 teachers cannot cope with the deficit on ground. Teachers are the most crucial in the education structure. It is never infrastructure. We will therefore recommend that another advert be put up for recruitment of more qualified teachers,” he said.
Adesina praised the government for promoting primary school teachers up to Level 17 this year, saying it had brought the teachers to par with their counterparts in secondary schools and the civil service.
The programme featured a parade by the various NUT branches in the state by Local Government Area and the presentation of prizes to the top three.
For coming first, Kosofe LGA ,NUT branch got a set of corporate table and chairs. In second and third places were Lagos Mainland and Ojo branches.