Kaduna State is shopping for 25,000 new teachers as one of the plans to restore dignity and quality in education.
This follows the failure of about 21,780 out of 33,000 teachers in primary four test administered to test their competence by the Kaduna State government.
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State made the plan known on Monday when he received a World Bank’s delegation in Kaduna on Monday.
“We tested our 33,000 primary school teachers, we gave them primary four examination and required they must get at least 75 per cent but I am sad to announce that 66 per cent of them failed to get the requirements.
“The hiring of teachers in the past was politicized and we intend to change that by bringing in young and qualified primary school teachers to restore the dignity of education in the state…
“We have a challenge with the teacher-pupil ratio in the urban schools; there is concentration of teachers that are not needed.
‘’In some local government areas, it’s a teacher pupil ratio of 1-9 while in some places it’s 1-100,” he said.
He added that as a part of moves to improve the education standard of the state, school directors had decided to enrol their children in public schools starting from the current academic session.
Speaking during the visit, the World Bank representative, Dr. Kunle Adekola, expressed appreciation to the state for investing in education and for the priority given to the girl child.
“This state has demonstrated and supported us to achieve our goals,” he said.
He pointed out that the World Bank would invest N30 million in Rigasa Primary School.
The school has a population of about 22,000 pupils.