Nigeria's Education Crisis: 592,077 Teachers Struggling to Educate 31.8 Million Learners

Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Education has raised alarm over a deepening teacher shortage crisis, revealing that just 592,077 teachers are responsible for educating 31,827,244 learners across the country's public schools.

The figures, drawn from the Ministry's Digital Nigeria Education Management Information System (DNEMIS), put the national learner-teacher ratio at approximately 53.8 to one meaning each teacher is, on average, responsible for nearly 54 children. This is more than double the benchmark of 25 learners per teacher recommended by UNESCO for quality basic education.

The crisis is not evenly spread. Some states are bearing a significantly heavier burden than the national average. Kano recorded the highest learner-teacher ratio in the country at 88 to one, followed by Katsina at 87.4 to one and Imo at 82.2 to one.

Classroom shortages compound the problem. Nationally, the learner-classroom ratio stands at 60.1 to one. Katsina again tops the list with 107 learners squeezed into a single classroom, followed by Kano at 91.7 learners per classroom.

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has separately flagged a shortfall of 194,876 teachers in public primary schools alone, describing the gap as alarming and warning that it threatens the quality of basic education nationwide.

Education analysts say the shortage stems from a combination of stalled recruitment with some states reportedly failing to hire new teachers for several consecutive years alongside low wages and poor working conditions that continue to push qualified teachers out of the public school system.

With over 31 million children depending on fewer than 600,000 teachers, stakeholders are calling on federal and state governments to urgently scale up teacher recruitment, training, and retention if Nigeria hopes to reverse the decline in learning outcomes.

Mustapha Bature Sallama medical Science communicator, Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,United States Institute of Peace (USIP), [email protected] +233555275880

Sources:
Federal Ministry of Education, Digital Nigeria Education Management Information System (DNEMIS) https://emis.education.gov.ng/portal/

S.A.F.E For Children Info Bank, "Nigeria's Teacher Crisis Leaves Millions of Children in Overcrowded Classrooms" https://childreninfobank.com/nigeria-teacher-shortage-32-million-learners/

RFI Hausa (original Hausa-language item) https://rfi.my/CyPe