The Lagos State Government has concluded plans to employ no fewer than 2,000 more teachers in its public primary schools, Vanguard has reported.
Speaking on behalf of the state government, the state Commissioner for Education, Folashade Adefisayo during an online show, Covinspiration show, moderated by a United Nations (UN) Youth Ambassador, Dayo Isreal, while giving scorecard of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu led administration within the 360 days, said the move to employ more teachers was aimed at the standard of public primary school education in the state.
She lamented that the pandemic has held the ministry of education back in the completion of its plans for the sector.
According to Adefisayo: “The administration after assumption of office decided to address the challenges in education aggressively in 2020 but the pandemic which country’s index case happened in Lagos has halted various plans for education in the state.”
She stressed that administration went back to the drawing as soon as President Muhammadu Buhari lifted the lockdown earlier imposed on Lagos and other states so as to fast track completion of 2020 plans which includes recruitment of teachers.
Adefisayo said, ‘The most important aspect of learning is the quality of teachers and we did not have enough teachers to actualize the set plan for learning in our public schools.
“And one of the earliest things we requested for and was granted by the governor was the recruitment of teachers.
“We have concluded the recruitment of 1,000 secondary school teachers. And we are currently working on the recruitment of 2,000 teachers for public primary schools.
“And we are looking at employing teachers every quarter because the rate of retirement of teachers is very high in Lagos.
“The administration has granted the ministry permission to replace retired teachers.
“Aside from recruitment, we have sent a lot on the training of current teachers to improve their teaching skills in classrooms. And this COVID-19 period was the time when we were able to do a lot of things in the education sector of Lagos state,” she added.