Only 915,913 teachers are available for no fewer than 31,771,916 learners in public and private primary schools nationwide, according to data obtained from the Universal Basic Education (UBEC).
This is as teachers in states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) battle with non-payment of minimum wage, and poor working conditions, among others.
Recently, teachers in the Federal Capital Territory embarked on strike, following the failure of the area councils to implement the minimum wage approved by President Bola Tinubu last year.
In 2024, The PUNCH reported how 18 states of the federation failed to recruit teachers from 2019 to 2024, a span of five years.
Similarly, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) raised concerns over what it described as the shortage of qualified teachers in the country.
It said the shortage was more pronounced in rural areas, exacerbating educational inequality.
The immediate-past Registrar of the TRCN, Prof Josiah Ajiboye, who spoke with our The PUNCH while in office, said, ‘The surge in the population of school children, and the increase in the number of schools in Nigeria, both government and private, present a complex challenge for the education system.
‘The availability and quality of qualified teachers are crucial factors in ensuring students receive quality education. However, the shortage of qualified teachers is a concerning issue in Nigeria for several reasons’.
He explained that with a growing population of school children and insufficient recruitment of new teachers, the teacher-pupil ratio in many schools had become unfavourable.
According to the data from UBEC and obtained by The PUNCH, the country has at least 131,377 primary schools (public stands at 65,529 and private, 65,848).
For the number of pupils in public primary schools, the commission pegged the figure at 24.2 million, while those in private stands at 7.4 million.
The President of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), Titus Amba, said the manpower crisis had left pupils to suffer learning poverty with a bleak future ahead.
According to him, the situation in junior and senior secondary schools, especially in rural communities, was worrisome.
Amba pointed out that in many schools, especially in rural areas, there were only one or two teachers available to manage large numbers of students, leading to what he described as ‘learning poverty’.
He said, ‘Reports from the field reveal an alarming manpower crisis, where some primary schools are barely managed by one or two teachers, leaving pupils to suffer learning poverty with a bleak future ahead’.
He urged governments at all levels to heed the global call to provide well-trained and well-supported teachers, asserting that every student deserved access to a qualified teacher for sustainable educational development.
