Ogoni group target 1,000 teachers to strengthen primary education

Public schools in the Ogoni area of Rivers State are to receive 1000 fresh teachers, in a bid to strengthen primary education in the area.

The initiative is part of efforts by the socio-cultural group, Kagote, to address shortfall in the number of qualified teachers in primary schools across Ogoni communities.

The Ogoni area comprises communities in four local government areas of Rivers State. These are Khana, Tai, Eleme and Gokana.

The 1,000 teachers, made up of graduate volunteers and retirees, are to strengthen primary education in the ethnic nation.

Bodo Kaka-Addo, chairman of Kagote’s Education Intervention Committee, said the program was designed to provide temporary support to primary schools struggling with inadequate teachers.

The committee chairman, in a statement on Wednesday, called for “applications from suitably qualified individuals to participate in the Kagote Primary School Teachers Intervention Scheme.”

He stressed that the Kagote initiative was in furtherance of its commitment to addressing the shortage of qualified teachers in primary schools across Ogoni land.

Kaka-Addo further said applications are expected from graduate volunteers, and retired but active teachers who are willing to contribute to the development of primary education.

“Successful applicants will receive a monthly allowance funded through a central intervention purse administered by the committee and powered by Kagote President Lesi Maol, with counterpart funding from the four local-government councils.”

“This initiative represents a timely intervention aimed at salvaging primary education in Ogoni land,” he said.

Meanwhile, several organisations within the Ogoni nation, such as the Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme Development Foundation, have lauded Kagote’s initiative.

They urged graduates and retired teachers within the Ogoni area to participate in the effort to boost primary education in the area.

Kagote’s efforts follow repeated calls for a state of emergency to be declared in Rivers State’s education sector.

The Martin Amaewhule-led state House of Assembly, the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), and others have lent their voices to such calls.