The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has reported a significant teacher shortage in public primary schools across Nigeria, with a shortfall of 194,876 teachers for the 2022/2023 period.
The UBEC report indicates that only 499,202 out of the needed 694,078 teachers are currently available at the primary school level nationwide.
More concerning is that over 16 state governments have not conducted teacher recruitment in basic schools for five years, exacerbating the problem.
Experts say this shortage is hampering learning in basic schools, as many pupils miss important subjects due to a lack of teachers, which stunts their intellectual growth and affects their academic performance.
Nigeria has 79,775 public schools and 91,252 private schools. The UBEC report reveals that in 2022, there were 1,686,533 teachers in the basic education sub-cadre, with 354,651 in Early Childhood Care Development Education (ECCDE), 915,596 in primary schools (both public and private), and 416,291 in junior secondary schools.
In 2022, recruitment in the early childhood unit rose by 124% (from 43,368 in 2018 to 96,956), while recruitment in public primary and secondary schools decreased by 21% in 2023.
The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has highlighted the teacher shortage, particularly in rural areas. Temitope Obisesan, a senior secondary school teacher, explained that many retiring teachers are not being replaced promptly, leading to an increasing workload for the remaining teachers and negatively impacting the quality of education.
Obisesan noted that this shortage forces available teachers to cover multiple subjects, diminishing students’ learning experiences and interest in the subjects.
Boye Ogundele, an educationist, mentioned that the teacher shortage extends to federal universities, pointing out that there has been no recruitment in the past five years. He attributed this to the government’s lack of interest in education, as reflected in budget allocations.
Oyebola Ajiteru, another teacher, described the situation as detrimental to students and the nation, emphasizing that the teacher shortage undermines the quality of learning outcomes.
According to the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), states such as Abia, Bayelsa, Bauchi, Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Kogi, Ogun, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, and Zamfara have not recruited teachers between 2018 and 2022.
Stakeholders are also concerned about the quality of teachers employed, especially in public schools. Kingsley Moghalu, president of the Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation, stressed the importance of setting high standards for teacher certification and professional development to ensure quality teaching.
Human capital issues in Nigeria’s public basic schools are evident in the number of qualified teachers in each cadre. In the ECCDE cadre, 24.7% of teachers are untrained, 65.1% have certificates, 9.2% hold first degrees, and 0.9% have postgraduate diplomas.
In primary schools, 24.2% of teachers are untrained, 59.1% hold certificates, 15.1% have first degrees, and 1.6% have postgraduate diplomas.
At the junior secondary level, 19.7% of teachers are untrained, 34.5% hold certificates, 37.6% have first degrees, and 8.3% have postgraduate diplomas.
Moghalu pointed out that these challenges contribute to broader systemic issues in education, leading to a disconnect between academia and industry.
