Teachers Scheme: FG to deploy 3,700 teachers to states, FCT

The Federal Government is concluding plans to post 3,700 teachers to states across the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) through its Federal Teachers Scheme (FTS).

Dr Hamid Bobboyi, the Executive Secretary of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), made the disclosure while monitoring the conduct of the FTS Computer Based Test (CBT)  in Abuja on Monday.

Bobboyi monitored the examination at the Computer Based Test (CBT) centres of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board(JAMB) at Kogo and Bwari centres.

He said the deployment of teachers across the country was part of the federal government’s effort to bridge the gap in the education sector, particularly in the area of manpower.

According to him, out of a total of 14,729 candidates that sat for the scheme’s 2020/2021 test, 3,700 candidates, 100 per state, would be selected based on state’s cut off marks for the programme.

He said the test, which took place in 74 JAMB approved centres across the country, was meant to assist states to find teachers for rural schools.

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The executive secretary noted that there was a dire need for more teachers to attend to the over 42 million pupils in Nigerian basic schools.

“As far as public schools are concerned, we have a problem in terms of numbers that can adequately meet the population that we have.

“With about 1.4 million teachers in the system, we need more teachers to cater for the over 42 million pupils we have,’’ he said.

While disclosing that over 350,000 applicants applied for the federal scheme across the country and FCT, Bobboyi called on state governments to absorb the FTS teachers.

“Some states refused to absorb such teachers and as such, we urge them to do so as an internship scheme.

“What happens the latter depends on the state where they serve.

“After verification exercise, UBEC will ascertain the authenticity of their certificates before training commences for them,’’ he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that UBEC had in September 2020, opened its online application portal for interested candidates to apply for recruitment into the FTS.

FTS is a two-year intervention programme established by the Federal Government in 2006.

It is aimed at assisting states to address the shortage of teachers at the basic education level. (NAN)