By Maryam Abeeb
The federal government through the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman has said that efforts are on to make the teaching profession in Nigeria a job of first choice rather than last resort.
The minister stated this during a media briefing in Abuja, to commemorate the 2023 World Teachers Day with the theme: “The Teacher We Need for the Education We Want: The Global Imperative to Reverse the Teacher Shortage.“
He said the ministry is weary of the challenges being faced by teachers including welfare, training, dwindling numbers and quality.
He said to reduce teacher shortages, there was the need for stakeholders to put on thinking caps to bring in more qualified and talented people as well as retain the best needed for the sector through enduring incentives, a task he said the federal government is ready to do its part.
“The sector is witnessing dwindling numbers and dwindling quality.
“Teachers are finding it difficult in the long run of the ladder and struggling whether their take-home pay can take them home.
“Teaching has to be a job of first choice and not a job of last resort as it obtains now. This we are committed to do. In the West teaching is a lucrative job but here the reverse is the case, this must change,” he said.
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