The Gabchyari community in Darazo Local Government Area in Bauchi State has cried out that there are only three teachers for the only Primary and Junior Secondary School (JSS) in the community with a student population of 350.
They said the situation has led to the high number drop out from school in the area and appealed to Bauchi State Government to post more teachers to the school.
A local, Malam Isa Ibrahim, said the inadequate number of teachers in the school had also discouraged many parents from sending their children to school.
“We want the government to help us to bring more teachers here, teachers are very important and needed in this school,” he added.
Similarly, Yahaya Adamu, another local, called on the state government to renovate the school, to make the environment conducive for teaching and learning, adding that of the three blocks of six classrooms in the school, only two are in good condition.
Adamu said the community has no water thus contributing to the nonchalance of the students and parents to learning.
“It is very hard for the students to get water before they go to school, they spend most of the time searching for water during school hours.
“This makes them not to attend classes on time. And even if they go, they are always tired from the rigour of fetching water,” he said.
One of the three teachers, Abdullahi Muhammad, said the school has only two teachers for the JSS classes and one for the primary school section.
“Sometimes, people ask us `what do you teach them, because you are only three teachers in the school’.
“We have one teacher who doubles as the headteacher with more than 200 pupils in the primary school and 150 JSS students.
“Most times, I and my partner in the JSS assist by teaching in the primary classes. We go there to do our best,” he said.
The spokesperson of the Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board, Abdullahi Muhammad, said posting of teachers was the responsibility of local governments’ Education Secretaries.
Mohammed however said Gov. Bala Mohammed has promised to recruit more teachers to address the dearth of teachers in the state.
He assured that the recruitment of teachers by the state government was imminent, adding that the governor was very committed to the pledge.
On school renovation, Muhammad said the governor had approved huge amounts of money for such projects, adding that rehabilitation work was ongoing in some schools across the 20 LGAs of the state.
He charged the people especially in rural areas to improve their maintenance culture with a view to protecting school infrastructure and other facilities provided by the government.
