…greater number do not possess basic teaching qualifications- commissioner
Ebonyi government is set to train unqualified teachers in the state, commissioner for Education, Hon. Stephen Odoh, revealed.
The commissioner stated this during a recent interaction with newsmen at the ministry.
He said the training is imperative because greater number of teachers in Ebonyi state do not possess the basic teaching qualifications and are not qualified to teach.
Odoh, reiterated that government alone cannot solve the problem of education in the state, adding that an alternative education funding model, support can be elicited from stakeholders to provide basic infrastructure and facilities in schools.
He maintained that, despite efforts by the Umahi-led administration to bequeath qualitative education to Ebonyi citizens, the desired result had not been achieved, especially when compared with other states in the southeast.
“The ministry intends to embark on the training/retraining of teachers using our local resource-the faculty of education in EBSU, Ebonyi state college of education, and indigenous professionals many of whom have expressed their willingness to contribute to the development of education sector in Ebonyi state.
“This will not only enhance the skills of teachers, it will also act as a motivation to them. The justification of this is that a greater teacher did not possess the basic training qualification.
“Technically, they are not qualified to teach. While they are encouraged to acquire the needed teaching qualifications in the long term, the ministry will use in-house training to enhance their skills and competencies in the short term and medium terms in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the system.
“The ministry of education will organize Ebonyi state education summit in the first week of December to drum support of stakeholders towards building functional and qualitative education in Ebonyi state. It will be an advocacy summit where the state of our education and the vision of the governor will be unveiled”.
The commissioner advised that through public private community partnership(ppcp), the government would garner the needed funding to support what government is doing
“The idea here is for the community to have a sense of ownership of schools located in their community. The ministry intends to engage communities and their illustrious sons and daughters living in or outside their communities on the need to support government efforts in raising quality education in their localities”, he stated.
