By MILLICENT IFEANYICHUKWU

The Lagos State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) says it will continue giving priority to teachers who major in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related subjects during recruitment.

Mr Kayode Sutton, Deputy Director, Public Affairs, TESCOM, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos that the commission had been specific in the employment of teachers.

Sutton said that Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State’s administration had been proactive in the education sector, upscaling teachers through training, to enable them make impact in the teaching and learning of students.

“We have specific teachers called STEM teachers, that is the Science (Physics, Chemistry and Biology); Technical; English and Mathematics teachers; they are in dire need in most of our schools.

“Therefore, we are giving priority to them in employment and that will continue, because teachers for these subjects are scarce and not easy to come by, and we must fill any available vacancy.

“That does not imply that other subjects teachers are not considered for employment. We do. In,fact, we have them in abundance across the schools.

“However, we place priority on the STEM teachers in all schools across the education districts and we have been employing quite a good number of them, because of their importance,” he said.

The Deputy Director said that the commission was working in collaboration with the six education districts across the state to fill-in the gaps where teachers retired for age or years of service.

Sutton said that there were schools with too many students for a teachers, describing it as a shortcoming that was being addressed by the state government.

He said that TESCOM had been recruiting, to reduce the teacher/students ratio in the schools, adding that, at least 30 students to one teacher was the target, and the state government was moving towards that.

According to him, the governor has been magnanimous enough to approve what is called – the ‘Exit Replacement Plan’, a platform used to replace vacancies in post-primary schools.

“We have a mandate to reduce the teachers/students ratio in our schools, because the students in each of the classes are much than the teacher to handle, we know this is a shortcoming.

“As a responsible and responsive government, we have moved swiftly to address this in the last few years and employed thousands of teachers through an official platform.

“The opportunity is explicitly for those that are education-based to apply, where they provide their details and requirements, they get a unique number that TESCOM will use to contact them,” he said.

Sutton said that the commission visited the database, select randomly the needed subjects teachers; call them for interview; mini-test and brief teaching practice within the interview session, to get the best qualified. (NAN)

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