The Adamawa State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has urged the state government to post newly employed teachers to their respective places of birth where they also reside.
The union made the appeal on Monday at a ceremony in Yola to mark World Teachers’ Day, arguing that allowing teachers to work in or close to their area of residence would enhance working convenience and result in greater attention to teaching.
The state chairman of the union, Faisal Abubakar Muhammed, who presented the NUT address, said such a policy would ensure that rural and hard-to-reach schools receive adequate staffing.
Muhammed said, “We appeal that future employment of teachers should be community-based. Recruiting qualified teachers from the communities where they reside will address teacher shortages, reduce absenteeism, encourage commitment, and promote better understanding between teachers, parents and the communities.”
The NUT chairman appreciated Governor Ahmadu Fintiri for granting a five-year extension of service to Science and English teachers, and appealed to the governor to extend the gesture to other teachers, irrespective of the subjects they teach.
The request for ‘community-based’ posting of teachers already has the support of the state Universal Basic Education Board (ADSUBEB) which said it was working towards such a policy.
In an interview with newsmen on the sidelines of the Teachers’ Day ceremony at the Mahmud Ribadu Square, Yola, the Executive Chairman of ADSUBEB, Dr Murtala Babayi, said the state government had bought into the idea and would henceforth post teachers to the communities in which they reside.
Governor Fintiri was represented at the World Teachers’ Day ceremony by his deputy, Professor Kaletapwa Farauta, who said the ongoing recruitment of 5,000 teachers and a plan to recruit 3,000 more, as well as the renovation of dilapidated classrooms, were efforts to ensure that all children in the state go to school and receive adequate attention.