23rd August, 2017
The Plateau State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) has employed 5,253 teachers to address the acute shortage of teaching personnel in its primary and junior secondary schools.
Mr. Michael Gowon, the board’s Director, Planning and Research, disclosed this on Wednesday in Jos, while presenting SUBEB’s achievements under the chairmanship of Prof. Mathew Sule.
Sule assumed office in August 2015.
According to Gowon, the board opted to regularise the employment of 4,850 casual teachers and also absorbed 403 temporary teachers engaged under the Federal Teachers Scheme, instead of looking elsewhere for new hands.
“All the employments took effect last year; the measure has effectively addressed the shortage of teachers which had been our main headache for years,” he said.
He said that SUBEB had also procured 6,430 plastic chairs and tables for primary schools, while the Junior Secondary Schools had 3,750 shared to them.
Gowon said that the board had also renovated and constructed 293 schools, while a Unified General School Timetable was developed for primary schools to ease monitoring of teachers efficiency and students progress.
The official further said that instructional and sporting materials, 30 desktop computers, 11 laptops and many other items were distributed to boost teaching and learning in the state.
He listed other achievements to include the resuscitation of inter-school sports, debate and quiz competitions, as well as the completion of the lingering bio-metric capture of teachers inherited from the previous administration.
Prof. Sule, who also spoke at the briefing, attributed the successes to the freedom given to the board to order its priorities.
He urged SUBEB staff and other stakeholders to work together toward improving the quality of education in view of the sector’s relevance to societal growth and development.