Prof. Babagana Zulum, the governor of Borno State, has approved the allocation of N1 billion to educate basic-level teachers in the state’s 27 local government areas.
Inaugurating the recently appointed local government Education Secretaries, who would oversee primary education matters in their respective local governments, Zulum announced approval on Tuesday in Maiduguri.
The governor said that more than a thousand educators who currently hold Ordinary Level Certificates as their highest degree will receive further training to enable them to obtain the minimal requirements for teaching.
The Governor stated that the training would be for teachers who were determined to be qualified to teach based only on the results of the competency test that was administered, even though they did not hold teaching credentials.
Governor Zulum indicated that since taking office in 2019, his administration has been working to reconstruct the damaged school infrastructures to improve learning results. As a result, he claims, the number of children who are not in school has decreased from over two million to 800,000.
The governor issued a challenge to the recently appointed Education Secretaries to meet the standards and issued a warning that anyone found to be operating below par will be replaced.
“It is important to remember that enormous privilege comes with great responsibility. As a result, I’ve instructed the Honorable Commissioner for Education to send me quarterly reports detailing each education secretary’s performance. “Those who don’t live up to the standards will be replaced,” Zulum declared.
Following the secretary’s installation, Zulum distributed 58 utility vehicles, giving each one a Volkswagen Golf 3 wagon and a Toyota Hilux double-cabin 4-wheel-drive pickup truck.
While acknowledging that the utility cars were designed to improve mobility, the governor issued a warning, stating that only authorized drivers and official uses should be made of them.
In his remarks, Engr Lawan Abba Wakilbe, Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation, said that the December 2023 job advertisement followed in the appointment of the Education Secretaries.
The 27 successful education officials were chosen from 126 applications, according to Engineer Wakilbe.