UK, Jigawa Governments move to end out-of-school children, shortage of teachers

The UK Government, through the British High Commission in Nigeria, has pledged continued support to the Jigawa State Government to address the issue of out-of-school children and the shortage of teachers in the state.

Mr Ian Attfield, FCDO’s Senior Education Adviser, made this commitment during a courtesy visit to the Governor and his State Cabinet as part of his one-day visit to the state.

Mr Attfield stated that the purpose of the visit was to assess the impact of their intervention in improving foundational skills and quality learning in the state. He expressed satisfaction with the state government’s commitment to addressing its challenges, particularly in the critical areas of education and healthcare.

“We are satisfied with your commitments and we are ready to strengthen our partnership to achieve the desired goals,” Mr. Attfield said.

In his response, Governor Namadi acknowledged the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) for its support in addressing most of the state’s challenges in various sectors, including education, health, and good governance.

“With Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) support through its Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) and Partnership for Reform and Learning (PERL-ARC) programmes, we have been able to address most of our problems in education, health, and good governance,” Governor Namadi stated.

The governor also mentioned that Jigawa State has allocated over 2.6 billion naira to recruit, train, and induct 6,000 new teachers to help bridge the significant teacher shortage in the state.

According to reports that the state has a shortage of about 30,000 teachers.