‘Inadequate teachers, bane of qualitative education in Nigeria’
By Toyin Saheed
Insufficient teachers especially in rural schools, has been identified as the major challenge facing the growth of education in the country.
A member of the Kwara State House of Assembly representing Ilorin East Constituency, Hon. Aishat Abodunrin Ibrahim, stated this at the weekend during the opening ceremony of quiz and debate competition she organised for Junior Secondary Schools in her area.
“You can hardly find four teachers in the rural areas, this is the reason we have backward education system in Nigeria.
“Our education system is a bit backward in rural areas due to inadequate teachers. We have enough teachers in urban settlements but most of our teachers are not ready to live in rural areas.
“The rural dwellers need to encourage teachers as we do in the olden days. When government deploy teachers to the rural areas, the villagers may give them free accommodation, food and also encourage them in other ways, so that they will feel comfortable living there,” she said.
Ibrahim charged parents to support their children by engaging private teachers for home coaching in order to improve their academic performance.
She noted that education has been widely acknowledged as an instrument for development, which is the reason for her investment in human capital development.
Earlier, the desk officer of Literary and Debate Society, Saheed Ayinde said many young talents were discovered during the first edition of the debate competition.
Ayinde revealed that one of the students discovered recently represented Kwara State at a national quiz and debate competition in Abuja where he emerged third.