Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has said that his administration will raise the bar of teacher recruitment in the state by increasing the number of teachers in the Ogun Teach initiative, currently pegged at 4,000 interns, to 6,000.
The move, he said, is to ensure that the gap in the student-to-teacher ratio in the state is closed.
Governor Abiodun stated this in his Oke-Mosan office when he received the management team of Teach For All and the Teach For Nigeria program, who are in the state for their retreat.
Prince Abiodun noted that his administration, in line with current realities, has increased the wages of the Ogun Teach interns in the state to N80,000.
“And I think we borrowed from the Teach For All and Teach For Nigeria schemes. Seeing the gap in the teacher-to-student ratio and how underserved our students were, we tried to plan how we can fast-track employing or recruiting teachers while also taking into account our budgetary allowance. We introduced the Ogun Teach program, which has been extremely successful.
“Out of the 4,000 who were employed under Ogun Teach, 2,000 of them have been given permanent employment. This has allowed us to have teachers in our rural areas.
“To date, Ogun Teach has employed over 4,000 teachers. We are about to employ another batch now, which will make that 5,000. I have promised to raise that to 6,000,” he said.
The governor noted that he had to declare an emergency in the education sector because of what his administration met on the ground, adding that his administration had been able to implement a wide range of policy initiatives like the Learners Identification Number, which helps to track each student in public schools in the state, and the Education Revitalization Agenda, which has helped to make education in the state seamless.
Governor Abiodun said that his administration would continue to absorb fellows of the Teach For Nigeria program who meet the requirements of the state government, as the state is committed to becoming the reference point for the Teach For Nigeria program in the country.
Earlier in her remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Teach For Nigeria, Mrs. Molade Adeniyi, commended the current administration in the state for creating an enabling environment for the Teach For Nigeria program to thrive, saying that the Ogun State Government has been extremely supportive and also open to dialogue.
Mrs. Molade Adeniyi noted that the mission of Teach For Nigeria is to ensure that every child has access to excellent and quality education, adding that their mandate aligns greatly with the ISEYA mantra of the Ogun State Government.
She said that Teach For Nigeria only recruits highly qualified, energetic, and disciplined young men and women who then go through a two-year fellowship as a deliberate effort to build leaders who are passionate about tackling inequity in education and, at the same time, passionate about providing quality education.
“When we think about our progress and achievements, we cannot help but talk about the Ogun State Government. They have provided an enabling environment for us to be able to do our work. They are always extremely supportive; they are open to dialogue and discussion, so we are actually able to come to the table and talk about what the challenges are, what the problems are, and what the solutions are. They really do give us their one hundred percent backing.
“So, for us, the open-door policy of communication and the high level of integrity have always been top-notch, and therefore our partnership has been excellent all the way. We look forward to partnering with the government more as we continue to tackle education inequity and ensure that every child has access to excellent education,” she said.
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