UK, Jigawa Government to end out-of-school children, shortage of teachers

By Faida Idris
Kanempress
9th November 2023

The United Kingdom Government has pledged its continued support to the Jigawa State Government to tackle out-of-school children and the shortage of teachers.

Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, Senior Education Adviser, Mr Ian Attfield made this commitment while on a courtesy visit to the Jigawa state Governor and the Cabinet as part of one-day visit.

Mr Attfield stated he was in Jigawa was to assess the impact of the intervention in improving foundational skills and quality learning in the state.

He expressed satisfaction with the state government’s commitment to tackling its challenges, particularly in the critical areas of education and healthcare.

“We are satisfied with your commitments and we are ready to strengthen our partnership to achieve the desired goals,” Mr. Attfield said.

In his reaction, Governor Namadi acknowledged the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) for its support in addressing most of the state’s challenges in sectors, such as education, health, and good governance.

“With Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) support through its Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE) and Partnership for Reform and Learning (PERL-ARC) programmes, we have been able to address most of our problems in education, health, and good governance,” Governor Namadi stated.

The governor also mentioned that Jigawa State has allocated over 2.6 billion naira to recruit, train, and induct 6,000 new teachers to help bridge the significant teacher shortage in the state.

According to Kanempress Jigawa state has a shortage of about 30,000 teachers.