Plateau, Imo, Cross River Public Schools Worst Hit As Teacher Shortage Persists

By RICHARD NDOMA, Calabar; FELIX IGBEKOYI, Asaba; DAMILOLA ORIGBEMISUYI, Akure; EMMANUEL MGBEAHURIKE, Owerri; ACHOR ABIMAJE, Jos and ADEBAYO WAHEED, Ibadan

Many public major and secondary colleges throughout the nation are grappling with an acute scarcity of academics, a growth that threatens efficient instructing and studying, significantly in rural communities. Findings by LEADERSHIP Sunday have revealed that trainer retirements with out substitute, poor welfare and remuneration, rural-urban migration and unwillingness to just accept postings to distant communities are among the many main elements worsening the disaster.

LEADERSHIP Sunday investigations throughout Cross River, Delta, Ondo, Imo, Plateau and Oyo states confirmed various levels of trainer shortages, with Plateau, Imo and Cross River rising as a few of the worst-affected states. While some colleges function with solely a handful of academics dealing with a number of topics, others wrestle to supply certified academics for essential topics, leaving pupils and college students at a drawback.

In Cross River State, about 11,861 academics are instructing from Primary One to Six throughout the three senatorial districts.

The director of Administration (DA), State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Mr Joseph Effiom, who spoke on behalf of the chairman, Chief Margaret Fidelia Okpo Ene, disclosed this in an interplay with LEADERSHIP Sunday in Calabar.

Effiom stated the board couldn’t present the determine for Junior Secondary School academics from JSS 1 to three as a result of the authority for junior secondary training had but to be formally transferred from the Ministry of Education to SUBEB.

He stated SUBEB was in dire want of over 2,000 academics, in addition to 500 safety personnel to guard infrastructure throughout colleges within the state’s 18 native authorities areas.

“SUBEB is in dire need of 2,000 more teachers with 500 security men to safeguard basic infrastructure across schools in the state,” Effiom stated.

Findings by LEADERSHIP Sunday revealed that whereas the state Ministry of Education places the variety of secondary faculty academics at about 6,400 for over 280 public secondary colleges, many rural colleges have solely three to 5 academics dealing with all topics.

A trainer in one of many colleges in Calabar, who most popular to not be named in print, expressed dismay, lamenting that having one trainer deal with 4 topics was unhealthy for academic growth.

He decried the absence of Mathematics academics in a college in his hometown within the Cross River Central Senatorial District, the place he hails from.

A retired headmaster in Cross River State, Mr Abang (surname withheld), stated one of many causes behind the scarcity of academics was retirement with out substitute, noting that over 3,000 academics retired between 2018 and 2024 with out substitute resulting from an embargo on employment.

LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that different elements accountable for the scarcity embrace rural-urban migration, as academics posted to rural areas foyer their manner again to city centres comparable to Calabar, Ogoja and Ikom, leaving colleges within the hinterlands understaffed.

The Cross River State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Gregory Olayi, described the trainer scarcity as alarming, calling on governments in any respect ranges to not flip a deaf ear to the issue.

On his half, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in Delta State has lamented the acute scarcity of academics and tutorial supplies required for efficient instructing and studying in major and secondary colleges throughout the state.

The NUT chairman within the state, Comrade Dickson Poubeni, referred to as on Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to place the required equipment in place to deal with the problem and guarantee a peaceable and conducive instructing and studying atmosphere in colleges.

He stated there was a current approval for wage grade stage 17 development for college graduate academics within the major faculty system.

A retired trainer, Mr Cletus Momah, stated, “The issue of continued stagnation of University Graduate Primary School Teachers on SGL 14 had lingered for so long in Delta State under successive administrations until the recent intervention by Governor Oborevwori who put the issue to rest.”

The commissioner for Technical Education, Hon. Smart Ufoh, stated whereas the work of academics may not all the time appeal to public consideration, its impression was mirrored within the lives and achievements of their college students.

He stated the state authorities had plans to fill vacancies in colleges, particularly in distant areas and in essential topic areas.

On the challenges of trainer recruitment, some academics alleged that funds had been being demanded for most popular postings after appointments.

A trainer not too long ago transferred from Ekredjebor, Ughelli North LGA, alleged that, “The whole system is rotten. They collect money and transfer people to wherever they want. The choice depends on what you pay. I was transferred and paid N50,000 before I was transferred back to where I wanted after two weeks.”

A principal, Patricia, alleged that her lack of ability to pay influenced her posting. “Transfer is to the highest bidder, because I am a widow and don’t have the funds. I was taken to a school in a remote village without WAEC accreditation and less than 200 students,” she stated.

Another trainer, Victoria, stated: “I didn’t pay the N50,000 transfer fee, so I was transferred to a riverine school in Ewu. This has been the trend over the years, it is sad.”

Similarly, college students in some public colleges in Ondo State are struggling to be taught resulting from a scarcity of academics, with some secondary faculty college students getting ready for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) reportedly with out academics for key topics.

The state of affairs has raised considerations amongst college students and academics over its impression on educational efficiency, classroom studying and the workload of obtainable academics.

A scholar, Francis, from a college in Ido-Ani, a rural group in Ose Local Government Area, stated the variety of academics obtainable in his faculty fluctuated, affecting college students’ curiosity in attending lessons.

“In our own school, I don’t even know the number of teachers we have. At times, we will see four teachers in the whole school; other times, we will see two teachers. This has really affected us because most times, we are not even interested in going to school because there is no teacher available to teach us,” he stated.

A trainer, who spoke on situation of anonymity, stated the scarcity had elevated the workload of these nonetheless in service, with some dealing with a number of topics throughout a number of school rooms.

“Imagine a single teacher teaching two to three subjects in more than six classrooms, with each class having more than 100 students. The time we feel the stress the most is during examinations. Marking scripts is very stressful, and at the end of everything, we most times fall sick,” the trainer stated, calling on the federal government to deal with the state of affairs.

Reacting to the disaster, the Ondo State Commissioner for Education, Igbekele Ajibefun, attributed the scarcity partly to years of insufficient recruitment, throughout which academics retired with out being changed.

Ajibefun stated the state recruited greater than 2,000 academics in 2025, including that the train had improved staffing ranges however had not fully bridged the hole.

“Though not all schools have the required number of teachers now, I want to assure you that soon, more teachers will be recruited to continue to fill the gap,” he stated.

The commissioner stated the variety of academics required to fill the hole couldn’t be decided exactly as a result of retirements continued to alter the staffing state of affairs. He disclosed that greater than 100 academics might retire in a month.

He added that the federal government’s recruitment goal was to carry extra academics into the system than the quantity leaving via retirement.

Ajibefun additionally acknowledged that low salaries discouraged younger individuals from getting into the instructing career, arguing that higher remuneration was wanted to draw and retain academics.

The chairman of the Ondo State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Dr Oluwadayisi Oke, additionally acknowledged the scarcity, saying the federal government was making efforts to enhance academics’ welfare via coaching, retraining and the common cost of salaries and pensions.

Oke expressed optimism that improved welfare would encourage extra younger individuals to take up instructing, whereas indicating that additional recruitment was anticipated.

Meanwhile, the scarcity has prompted some faculty alumni associations to intervene. The Vice-President of Imade College Owo Old Students Association (IMACOSA), Surveyor Felix Ajibade, stated the affiliation had employed 29 advert hoc academics to help instructing on the faculty.

Ajibade stated the affiliation paid every trainer N70,000 month-to-month to stop college students from struggling the results of insufficient staffing. He appealed to the federal government to supply extra academics to public colleges.

Findings by LEADERSHIP Sunday confirmed that Ondo State has 6,880 academics in public major colleges, in response to data obtained from the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

However, the variety of academics serving in public secondary colleges and the estimated variety of further academics required to deal with staffing gaps throughout major and secondary colleges couldn’t be established.

Efforts to acquire feedback from the state chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Leke Alebiosu, had been unsuccessful, as he didn’t reply to repeated calls and messages.

The Imo State commissioner for Education, Ben Ikeguruka, disclosed that, in response to the ministry’s data, the state had 6,641 academics serving in public major and secondary colleges.

He stated the ministry’s wants evaluation revealed that the state required a further 12,000 academics to fill the present hole.

However, obtainable indications counsel that academics are grossly insufficient, a state of affairs confirmed by each the ministry’s and NUT’s data.

Feelers revealed that Governor Hope Uzodimma had but to recruit any academics however was making strikes to make use of extra academics.

The challenges confronting major and secondary training within the state embrace rural-urban imbalance, poor welfare and insufficient remuneration.

Teachers are additionally identified to reject postings to distant, riverine and hard-to-reach areas.

This perspective is essentially attributed to the absence of rural allowances and lodging, in addition to poor wage buildings.

The Imo State NUT chairman, Comrade Akujobi Nwokoro, stated the union had been participating with the state authorities on the necessity to recruit extra academics into the system.

“What we have for now is not enough to go round,” he stated, calling on the federal government to do the needful.

Similarly, the Plateau State chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Mr Kefas Nanpan, decried the extreme scarcity of academics throughout public colleges within the state.

He hinted that the variety of public faculty academics in Plateau State had plummeted from about 24,000 in 2013 to fewer than 13,000 in 2026.

According to him, the acute scarcity had left quite a few public and rural colleges working with only a headmaster and a single classroom trainer, or generally just one or two academics for a whole faculty.

Meanwhile, officers of the Plateau State Ministry of Education and SUBEB declined to reveal the variety of major and secondary faculty academics presently on the federal government’s payroll.

However, a retired trainer from Tudun Wada in Jos North LGA, Bulus Choji, advised our correspondent that academics in major and secondary colleges within the state had been grossly insufficient.

According to him, academics had been retiring with out substitute, including that mind drain, poor recruitment workout routines over the past 5 to 10 years, refusal to just accept postings to rural areas and insecurity in some LGAs had contributed to the scarcity of academics within the state.

The employees power in Oyo State’s public secondary colleges is 26,436, managed via the Post-Primary Schools Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), up from 13,730 in 2019.

This adopted recruitment drives, together with the current employment of seven,500 instructing and three,000 non-teaching employees.

According to the Nigeria Educational Management Information System (DNEMIS) Annual School Census, the full variety of academics throughout reporting major and secondary colleges in Oyo State is roughly 44,715, serving round 2,997,053 learners, with a learner-teacher ratio of 41.8.

Official data and statements from the Oyo State Government and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) point out the present trainer state of affairs and staffing wants.

A employees member of the state’s SUBEB, Adeniji Adeniran, stated the variety of academics in public secondary colleges elevated from 13,730 in 2019 to 26,436 following steady recruitment by Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration via the Post-Primary Schools Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM).

He added that the state not too long ago recruited 7,500 academics and three,000 non-teaching employees, alongside earlier recruitment cohorts of over 5,000 academics.

According to state and union assessments, secondary colleges now have a comparatively satisfactory provide of academics following these mass recruitment workout routines, though ongoing deployments proceed throughout the ten academic zones.

“While secondary staffing has considerably improved, the Oyo State Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and state officers have famous an pressing and chronic scarcity of academics in public major colleges.

“The state government has targeted basic education through the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), with plans and approvals to recruit thousands of primary school teachers (including previous batches scaling up towards 7,000 targeted basic education staff) to bridge the gap in rural and urban primary classrooms,” he added.

A retired trainer, Mrs Adejoke Olanrewaju, famous that with the recruitment of academics and non-teaching employees by the state authorities, there was no main hole left.