President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Abuja said the federal government is ready to engage more qualified teachers to increase the teacher-to-pupil ratio in the country.
Receiving leadership of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), the president said Nigeria had a deficit of teachers, which the present administration is addressing through the N-Power Teach Volunteers scheme under the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).
‘‘We have created a dedicated platform under the National Social Investment Programme called N-Power Teach, which engages qualified graduates to man the gaps of basic education delivery in Nigeria.
“These N-Power Teach Volunteers are deployed as teacher assistants in primary schools across Nigeria to support existing teachers.
“The aim of this, and many other Government programmes, is to increase the teacher-student ratio at the primary school level thereby enhancing the quality of students moving to secondary schools.
“I want to take this opportunity to ask all members of Nigeria Union of Teachers to support these programmes and encourage as many qualified and willing graduates to enrol in the teaching profession,’’ he said.
Describing the teaching profession as one of the noblest of professions, the president told the delegation led by the union’s National President, Comrade Nasir Idris, that: “It shapes the character, calibre and future of individuals and nations. You and I were all taught by teachers who moulded our persons and influenced our future. No price is too high for good rewards”
The president also used the occasion to pay tribute to teachers, stressing that they have been at the forefront of cultivating young minds to be innovative and inventive.
“Today, we live in a dynamic world where science and technology drive innovations that virtually touch every aspect of our lives.
In his remarks, Comrade Nasir Idris commended the Buhari administration’s numerous groundbreaking strides in the education sector.
He said teachers in the nation’s primary and post-primary schools identify with the giant strides of the Buhari administration, including gigantic gains in the anti-corruption crusade, technical defeat of Boko Haram terrorists in the North East, restoration of teaching and learning in the schools of the North-East geo-political zone that were affected by insurgency, securing the release of Dapchi schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents,” he said
