Plateau State Government on Thursday said it had recruited 4,850 ad hoc teachers as part of efforts to address the shortage of teachers in the state.
Gov Simon Lalong of Plateau announced this on Thursday, at the inuaguaration of model primary schools and education resource centre in Shehe, Jos.
“In order to meet the human capital requirement, government recruited 4,850 ad-hoc teachers and deployed them to basic education schools across the State.
“Government through the Board( State Universal Basic Education) is in the process of recruiting additional set of ad hoc teachers in collaboration with Local Government Councils.
”The state government will recruit more ad hoc teachers to address shortage of manpower in the education sector,” he said.
Lalong also said the state government has trained over 10,000 teachers on literary skills to improve their capacity and the standard of education in the state.
He said results showed that the teachers who were selected from the Early Child Care Development Education, Primary and Junior Secondary Schools, contributed immensely in improving literacy level in schools.
“No wonder the Universal Learning Solutions Initiative reported a 65 per cent increase in literacy level in lower Public Primary school learners in the state this year alone,” he said.
The governor said that he recently approved the release of back- log promotion of primary school teachers, as part of efforts toward developing a viable educational sector in Plateau.
He said that the 800-capacity education resource centre would provide an enabling environment for the capacity development for teachers, saying the facilities would also be available for use by private and public institutions.
“I believe this centre will help to mould our teachers for better service delivery by ensuring that the personal and practical skills needed for trained teachers to succeed is embedded into their lives,” he said.
He said that the state government’s priority on education is reflected in its commitment on providing counterpart funding, to enable SUBEB access grants from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
“ So far, a total of over N9.8 billion was provided by the state government as counterpart funding, while about N16.7 billion was accessed and utilised in transforming the educational fortunes of our children in the Basic Education sub-sector,” he said .
He said that the action has facilitated infrastructural development of 1,528 projects, in addition to the procurement of 127,000 plastic furniture which were distributed to public primary schools across the state.
The governor said that the interventions have also improved school enrollment and numeracy skills among learners.
Earlier in his remarks, the Plateau Executive Chairman of SUBEB, Prof. Mathew Sule thanked the governor for his commitment toward improving education.
He explained that human capital development is critical and a prerequisite to achieve quality education, saying the centre would ensure teachers are effective in discharging their duties.
He however said that inspite the difficult financial situation in the state , more funding was required to provide basic education to children, particularly those whose parents cannot afford sponsoring them.
The governor also inuaguated a one -storey block of classroom at Obasanjo Model primary School, Hwolshe.