5 665 untrained teachers have been found in primary and secondary schools all over Niger State.

This was stated by Labaran Garba, the Chairman of the technical committee on the teachers’ headcount, when he gave Governor Abubakar Sani Bello the report on this year’s headcount at Government House in Minna.

He said that out of the total 24, 061 instructors working in the state’s 3, 135 primary schools, 4,703 were not qualified, and 962 of the 6,870 teachers working in the 498 secondary schools were likewise unqualified.

Garba also noted that 1, 276 local government education administrative staff members were with teaching qualifications.

The committee recommended that the teachers’ headcount be conducted every three years to enable effective and efficient educational planning in the state.

Receiving the report, the governor assured the qualified teachers of due attention but said the unqualified ones should be taken out of the system or be given an option to go back to school and acquire the necessary qualifications.

He admitted that teachers were suffering due to poor working conditions and pledged to give them the necessary support to motivate them.

“The number of unqualified teachers is high – over 4,000. We should take them out but we can also give them the option to be trained and come back,” he said.

While commending the committee for a good job, the governor directed the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, to immediately constitute an implementation committee on the recommendations of headcount committee.