7th July, 2014
The supervisory Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, on Monday said the Federal Government would address the shortage of qualified English and mathematics teachers in the country.
Wike gave the assurance at the opening of the 2014 Capacity Building Workshop for teachers of mathematics and English language held at the National Mathematical Centre (NMC) at Sheda in Kwali, Abuja.
NAN reports that the result of the NMC 2013 survey showed that the ratio of mathematics teachers to students in the country is 1 to 350.
Wike, who described the ratio as unacceptable, called for commitment of mathematics and English teachers in federal unity colleges.
He said the Federal Ministry of Education organised the workshop for mathematics and English teachers in federal unity colleges using inclusive education approach.
“I expect that at the end of this workshop, every participant will be adequately equipped to cascade the skill and competencies acquired to their colleagues,” he said.
Wike said the ministry had continued to enhance the quality of teachers in Federal Government colleges through capacity building and developmental programmes.
He further explained that the ministry considered “numeracy and literacy” as critical to students’ success, adding that, it adopted inclusive approach for the workshop to teach teachers how to help them to gain knowledge.
He said the workshop was organised to improve teaching skills and competences of mathematics and English language teachers.
Director, NMC, Prof Adewale Solarin, described the programme as timely because students’ poor performances in the two subjects is discouraging.
“It is an open secret that there is a shortage of qualified English and mathematics teachers in the country,” he said.
According to Solarin, acquiring the right skill through training is crucial to improving the teaching and learning of the two subjects.