Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has hinted of the plans by his administration to increase the number of teachers in the Ogun Teach Programme currently now at 4,000 interns to 6,000 in order to bridge the student-to-teacher gap in the state.
Abiodun, who made this remark in his office when he received the management team of Teach For All and the Teach For Nigeria programme, who are in the state for their retreat, explained that his administration, in line with the current realities, had increased the entitlement of each Ogun Teach intern in the state to N80,000.
He clarified: “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 the employment or recruitment of teachers while also taking into account our budgetary allowance. We introduced the Ogun Teach programme, 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”, Abiodun added.
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.
The governor assured that his administration would continue to absorb fellows of the Teach For Nigeria programme 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 programme to thrive, saying that the Ogun State Government has been extremely supportive and also open to dialogue.
Adeniyi explained that the mission of programme was 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.
According to her, the 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.
She expatiated: “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”, Adeniyi added.
