New Telegraph-Admin 
One of the underlying principles and fundamental features of the world’s most developed economies such as Ireland, Singapore, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Switzerland and the United States (USA), going by their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is sustained quality education delivery.
That is, in both the public and private sectors. The significance of having well-bred, resourceful and dedicated teachers and adequate ones at that cannot be overemphasised.
That perhaps explains why the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has recommended a teacher to 25 pupils at the preprimary school stage, one to 30 pupils for primary schools and one to 40 students at the secondary school level.
The worrisome aspect of the Nigerian educational situation however, is that of having an abysmal ratio of 1:45 at the primary school level, with Yobe State having 1:95.
According to UBEC there were 915,593 teachers for 32 million primary school pupils, giving a ratio of 1:35 in November 2023. The agency stated that there are 47 million pupils in 171,027 public and private primary schools, as well as Junior Secondary Schools (JSS).
The total number of public schools stands at 79,775 while private schools are 91,252. UBEC has also revealed that there are 354,651 registered teachers in pre-primary schools, 915,593 in primary schools and 416,291 currently in Junior Secondary Schools across the country. Put simply, the dire situation of inadequate teachers to the numbers of pupils should be a matter of national concern to the leaders.
That should be more so, because of the low level of budgetary allocation to the critical sector at both the state and Federal Government levels.
Worsening the scenario is the absurdity of states refusing to recruit new teachers to replace those who have retired. Amongst the 18 states involved between 2018 and 2022 are Abia, Bayelsa, Bauchi, Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi,
And that both the public and private schools guarantee quality education delivery with the recommended ratio of teachers to pupils/ students
Edo, Gombe, Kogi, Kano and Zamfara. The burning question therefore, is just how the country will enhance its human capital development in the fields of agriculture, education, healthcare delivery, engineering, science and technology in the information age of the 21st century, with this crass disregard for quality education development?
According to the recent warnings from the National Union of Teachers (NUT), the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) all of which have raised public outcry over the issue, urgent steps must be taken by the states concerned to redress the drastic decline to mass ignorance.
For all the aforementioned anomalies to keep playing out in a country ranked as one with the highest figure of school-aged children currently out of school put at 20 million, the dangers of low and far below-the-par education delivery are imminent. In the words of the Registrar of TRCN: “The surge in the population of school children and the increase in the number of schools in Nigeria, both government and private, present a complex challenge for the education system.
“The availability and quality of qualified teachers are crucial factors in ensuring students receive quality education.” The bottom line is how to devolve more policy thrust, fulfil financial obligations, and have in place well trained teachers encouraged by adequate incentives to deliver impactful education for the all-round development of the future generation of Nigerians.
Such will be achieved under an enabling infrastructural environment with adequate learning facilities. It has therefore become a necessity for the lawmakers to come up with laws that would make it compulsory for the state governors and the president to ensure that 26% of the budgetary allocation goes to education.
And that both the public and private schools guarantee quality education delivery with the recommended ratio of teachers to pupils/students.
