By SANI IDRIS

The Kaduna State Government (KDSG) says it is planning to recruit 10,000 teachers under basic education in order to address the deficit in its public schools.

The Commissioner of Education in the state, Prof. Mohammed Bello, said this at a reflection meeting on findings and lessons learnt from the study on the implementation of the teacher recruitment, deployment and retention policy in the state on Friday.

Bello, represented by the ministry’s Director of Planning, Mr Salisu Lawal, said the ministry has an updated annual school census, which reflects schools with shortage of teachers.

The commissioner also said that the state would, in collaboration with its agencies, work together to improve the deployment and retention of teachers in conflict-affected areas.

He, however, said the ministry had earlier proffered solutions to some of the challenges identified in its public schools, which included the use of digital learning.

Bello equally said the ministry has found a long-time solution to address the issues of teachers leaving the rural areas for obvious reasons.

Speaking on insecurity in the rural areas which led to the closure of many schools, the commissioner said the ministry was supported by UNICEF to train teachers on early warning signs of insecurity.

“We have trained a number of teachers and students on how to behave when they perceive anything that has to do with insecurity.

“The state government is also doing its best in collaboration with the Federal Government to provide military personnel around schools in identified LGAs so as to improve their security for better learning,” he said.

Earlier, Joy Oballum, Senior Education Specialist with Oxford Policy Management, said the meeting was aimed at reviewing recent research on teacher recruitment, deployment, and retention policy in Kaduna state.

She stressed that the organisation’s mission was to understand the ongoing implementation of the policy that became effective in Kaduna State in 2019 regarding the recruitment, deployment, and retention.

Oballum explained that under the ERIC consortium, which was funded by the UK Government, the organisation was looking at conducting credible research.

It Is also generating robust evidence that could support children’s learning in conflicts and crisis affected settings.

She, therefore, said, “Regarding the Kaduna state teachers’ policy, the Oxford Management Policy is looking at how they could learn from the ongoing implementation.

“We want to know what has worked and what did not; what are the areas of improvement, what are the recommendations for further actions.

“Coming here today, we came to present the emerging findings from the research to the Government and its stakeholders so as to reflect our findings and to also generate further inputs.”

The Specialist commended the state and its stakeholders, saying, “the teachers’ policy is going to be implemented though not as fast as originally planned from 2019 due to some challenges.

“We are glad it is now on track and implemented according to the policy stipulation.

“There are a few areas of challenges that are mitigated, and partners are willing to review and revise to see how they can further strengthen the ongoing implementation,” Oballum said.

Also, Malam Shehu Usman, a Permanent Member II, Kaduna State Teachers Service Board (TSB), said the research on the teachers’ policy by Oxford Policy Management was critical in addressing challenges and realignment in the policy for betterment of education in the state.

He added that the TSB has started implementing some of the policy, where it recently recruited 7,600 teachers where they are currently teaching in various primary and secondary schools of the state.

“We strictly followed the teacher policy, and it has been a success,” Usman said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the study was funded by educational research in conflict and crisis affected settings.

The research was led by the international rescue committee and funded by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). (NAN)

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