By Ashiadey Dotse
The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has defended the government’s decision to recruit 7,000 teachers, despite concerns that the number is insufficient to meet the country’s growing educational needs.
He said financial challenges have made it difficult for the government to hire more teachers at this time. According to him, although there is strong demand for teachers across schools nationwide, budget constraints have limited the recruitment exercise.
The Minister made the remarks on Tuesday, April 14, during the launch and briefing of the eLearning Africa Conference.
“If resources were available, we should be employing up to 50,000 teachers across the country,” he said. “However, due to budgetary constraints, we are unable to do so.”
Mr Iddrisu noted that the Ministry of Education received approval from the Ministry of Finance to recruit up to 7,000 qualified teachers with degrees and diplomas. He added that the process has been advertised openly and conducted in a transparent and fair manner.
Despite the criticism, the minister insisted that the recruitment process follows all required procedures to ensure equal opportunity for applicants.
He also revealed that the government is working on a digital education policy aimed at addressing challenges in the sector and improving learning outcomes across the country.
