Primary school teachers Nigeria - Over 1,000 primary school teachers across the 11 local government areas of Gombe State risk losing their jobs for lack of requisite qualifications, Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo has said. The governor said this at the weekend during the annual celebration of Tangale Day (Pissi Tangale) organized by Tangale Community Development Association (TCDA) in Billiri Local Government Area of the state.

He said the report of an emergency committee set up by his administration had revealed that over 1,000 teachers had been teaching for many years "without evidence of any educational qualification in their employment files".

The governor, who wondered the kind of educational quality those teachers imparting to the pupils, described the situation as shocking and unacceptable.

According to him, a committee has subsequently been set up to review the primary school curriculum which will introduce about 18 subjects to be taught in both primary and secondary schools to make students self-reliant.

Dankwambo attributed the situation to the poor performance of students from the state in public examinations.

"To address the dearth of quality teachers in the state, the government has initiated a process for the establishment of a college of education in Billiri in addition to the conversion of Kumo training school to a school of basic and remedial studies", he said.

Lawal Ibrahim

Daily Trust/03/01/2012