Three teachers serve 350 students in Bauchi state community, say residents

The Gabchyari community in Darazo Local Government Area of Bauchi State has disclosed that the only Primary and Junior Secondary School (JSS) in the community with a student population of 350, has only three teachers.

Penpushing reports that the members of the community made this known in an interview, and passionately appealed to Bauchi State Government to deploy more teachers to the school, noting that the development has contributed to the high number of out-of-school children in the area.

The community member identified as Isa Ibrahim, said that the dearth of teachers in the school had also discouraged many parents from sending their children to school, and called for help to the government, stressing that teachers are very important and needed in this school,

Penpushing further reports that in similar vein, another resident, Yahaya Adamu,  called on the state government to renovate the school, to make the environment conducive to teaching and learning, pointing out that the three blocks of six classrooms in the school, only two are in good condition.

The resident added that the lack of potable water in the community had contributed to the nonchalance of the students and parents to learning.

“It is very hard for the students to get water before they go to school, they spend most of the time searching for water during school hours. This makes them not to attend classes on time. And even if they go, they are always tired from the rigour of fetching water,” he said.

Penpushing reports that a teacher, Abdullahi Muhammad affirmed that the school has only two teachers for the Junior Secondary School (JSS) classes and one for the primary school section.

‘Sometimes, people ask us `what do you teach them, because you are only three teachers in the school. We have one teacher who doubles as the headteacher with more than 200 pupils in the primary school and 150 JSS students. Most times, I and my partner in the JSS assist by teaching in the primary classes. We go there to do our best,” he said.

Penpushing also reports that the Public Relations Officer, Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board, Abdullahi Muhammed while reacting said that posting of teachers was the responsibility of local governments’ Education Secretaries.

The Public Relations Officer, however said Governor Bala Mohammed had pledged to recruit more teachers to address the dearth of teachers in the state, with assurance that the recruitment of teachers by the state government was imminent, adding that the governor was very committed to the pledge.

Penpushing reports that Muhammad on school renovation said the Governor had approved huge amounts of money for such projects, adding that rehabilitation work was ongoing in some schools across the 20 local government areas of the state.

The Public Relations Officer, Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board, charged the people especially in rural areas to improve their maintenance culture with a view to protecting school infrastructure and other facilities provided by the government.

Penpushing further reports that Communications Officer, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bauchi Field Office, Opeyemi Olagunju in his remarks said that the organisation had identified the community as one of the hard-to-reach areas in the state.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Communications Officer said that the community and similar others urgently need more teachers and conducive classrooms for learning as well as safe drinking water.

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