***Raises the Alarm of shortage of Staff in the Institution
The Niger state College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has honored members of staff of the college for their outstanding contribution to the academic excellence and the development of the college, with a call on the government to as a matter of urgency address the acute shortage of manpower in the institution.
This was part of activities as Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark this year’s UNESCO world Teachers day.
The recipients of the awards which include cash, food items and other materials are retirees, serving and late staff of the college who have distinguished themselves in the service of the institution since its establishment decades ago.
No fewer than 25 staff of the college were honored with cash rewards of N200, 000 each, 50kg bags of rice and other materials which the Chairman of COEASU, Niger state college of education chapter, Dr. Hassan Mohammed said were in recognition of their contribution to the college and the development of education in the state.
The COEASU Chairman in his welcome address at the awards ceremony on Friday at the college of education main campus in Minna, the state capital said though the awards are the first of its kind in the Institution, the Union could not allow the world Teachers day celebration come to pass without recognizing its members both those who have retired and those that are late.
Dr. Hassan pointed out that while the government continues to pay lip-service to the welfare of Teachers in the country, “it is high time we begin to recognize our colleagues and reward them here on earth”, adding that era of Teachers to wait for their reward in heaven is over.
He however used the occasion to draw the attention of the authorities to the shortage of manpower in the institution both Teaching and non Teaching staff which according to him is not only crippling academic activities in the college but putting undue pressure on the few available Teachers in the institution.
He disclosed that while the welfare of the Teachers remains a source of concern, they (Teachers) have been over stretched both mentally and physically due to the current shortage of manpower, adding that “people have died, some have retired and others left the service voluntarily yet there is no replacement for them.
“This is a threat to quality delivery in our education system because this situation is not peculiar to college of education Minna alone”.
This was collaborated by the Provost of the college, Professor Yakubu Muhammad Auna who said there is a huge gap in the manpower requirements of the institution and this, he admitted is taking the toll on both academic and non academic activities of the college.
Giving the statistics of the manpower requirement of the institution, the provost disclosed that as at 2017 when he was appointed as the provost of the college, the manpower shortage was 178 but today the gap has widen to 529, stressing that “this is a common knowledge in the institution and the government is very much aware of the current situation”.
In his goodwill message at the occasion, the state commissioner for education, Dr. Hadiza Asabe Mohammed said the current administration in the state is committed to addressing the current challenges facing the education sector in the state which include shortage of manpower.
He added that “the education sector in the state is in dire need of transformation and we can only do that when we have enough and well trained Teachers”.
She equally expressed concern over the mass exodus of Teachers from schools in the rural areas and therefore call for community based Teachers in other to close the gap, pointing out that “there must be a deliberate effort by government towards community based Teachers if we must revive the decline”.