Some stakeholders in the education sector have suggested the re-introduction of teachers training colleges as part of measures to address the manpower gap primary and post-primary schools in the country.
Responding to newsmen yesterday, the stakeholders also called for massive recruitment of qualified teachers and provision of incentives for teachers serving in rural areas.
They also said the current security challenges in some parts of the country were discouraging teachers from accepting posting to rural areas.
Malam Ibrahim Aminu, an educationist in Kaduna, said providing incentives to teachers serving in rural areas would encourage young people to accept posting to high risk areas, thereby bridging the manpower gap.
He said the level of insecurity, especially in the northeast and northwestern parts of the country, had create a huge gap in manpower needs in schools in those areas..
He said many primary and secondary schools across Local Government Areas in Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Borno among others states affected by insecurity were facing the challenge of dearth of quality teachers.
He also said that dearth of funds was another factor and suggested the adequate funding of the education sector.
“In 2021, a lot of teachers, especially in north western parts of the country, were recruited, in a bid to bridge the manpower gap, but as I speak to you now, they are yet to be posted to schools due to dearth of funds.
“Again, welfare of teachers is not encouraging. That is why a lot of primary school teachers keep switching to other careers at the slightest opportunity,” he said.
According to him, another factor that stagnates the progress of primary and post-primary education in the country is inadequate training  needed to enhance efficiency and career progression.
“Talking about gap in manpower, we are also talking of the enabling environment and training that will enable manpower progression, with a view to bridging existing gaps,” Aminu said.
On his part, Mr Musa Dona, a secondary school teacher in Kaduna, said one way of bridging the manpower gap in primary and post-secondary schools is for the government at all levels to engage in massive recruitment of qualified teachers.
“When you survey our government schools, you will discover that they are always under-staffed.
“There are a lot of instances where one teacher is teaching three or more subjects in different classes in a particular public school,” he said.
Similarly, Kano State Government said it had recalled 6,995 of its teachers posted to private and community schools, as part of efforts to address the manpower shortage in public schools in the state.
The State Commissioner for Education, Mr Sanusi Sa’idu-Kiru, told The Tide source that the teachers, who were on government payroll, were posted to such schools to help meting their teaching needs.