Nigeria’s Borno State in need of teachers amid Boko Haram insurgency

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About 6,000 additional teachers are needed in Nigeria's northeast Borno state to improve the quality of education in the area, an official said.

“The government is building state of the art schools with a decent environment, but our teachers lack motivation,” Jibril Muhammed, chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) said on Sunday in Maiduguri, the state capital.

“It is my firm belief that with the necessary motivations for our teachers, the problems in our education sector will be solved.”

Muhammed made the comments against the backdrop of 40 mega schools constructed by the government to cater for the education of 53,000 children orphaned by Boko Haram insurgency in the state.

Borno state has been greatly affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

The extremist militants have waged a war in the West African country for over a decase, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions others.

Muhammed noted in his remarks that at least 5,000 teachers are required for primary schools while additional 1,000 be deployed to secondary schools to boost teaching and learning.

He commended the government for prioritizing education in the state but said it should also accord priority to teachers' welfare.

The head of the teachers' union said that tutors were among the worst hit by the Boko Haram insurgency, with about 530 killed and 32,000 displaced.

Defeating the militants remains a key agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari's administration.

The 76-year-old earlier this month said he would employ “a new way forward that completely removes the threat of terrorism from Lake Chad sub-region.”

While gains have been made in the fight against Boko Haram, the militants continue to stage attacks occasionally, mostly using suicide bombers.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency