Add as a preferred source Jigawa State Governor Malam Umar Namadi has approved the recruitment of 1,100 graduates to enhance the quality of education in the state and address the shortage of qualified teachers in senior secondary schools. Governor Namadi made this announcement during the presentation of appointment letters to the selected candidates in Dutse. He emphasised that this initiative is part of his administration’s commitment to improving teacher-student ratios and strengthening the education sector in the state.
The recruitment includes 1,100 teachers who will be converted to permanent and pensionable positions, along with 820 newly hired personnel under the Jigawa Teachers Employment and Capacity Enhancement Programme (J-TEACH). Namadi said the recruitment would complement other interventions aimed at improving access to education, particularly in underserved rural communities where shortages of qualified teachers remain a concern.
He explained that the appointments were designed not only to strengthen the teaching workforce at the post-basic education level but also to provide employment opportunities and sustainable livelihoods for qualified young people. The governor recalled that his administration had recently distributed school uniforms, bags and writing materials to thousands of learners across the state to improve school attendance and create a conducive learning environment.
He said the government was determined to ensure that investments in school infrastructure, instructional materials and technology were matched with adequate numbers of qualified and motivated teachers. According to him, education remains central to his administration’s vision for a greater Jigawa, stressing that the quality of teachers is critical to improving learning outcomes.
Namadi said the government would sustain teacher development through induction, continuous training, retraining and professional development programmes to improve teaching methods and classroom performance. He noted that the recruitment fulfilled a commitment made at the inception of his administration to address unfavourable pupil-teacher and student-teacher ratios through the employment of qualified teachers and a more balanced deployment policy.
The governor said the objective was to ensure that schools, particularly those in rural communities, had the appropriate number of teachers and the relevant subject specialists needed to deliver quality education. Giving an account of previous interventions, Namadi said the J-TEACH programme had engaged 7,500 personnel in basic education since 2023, with 3,000 subsequently converted to permanent and pensionable appointments after completing the required training and selection process.
At the post-basic level, he said nearly 2,000 personnel had been engaged through the programme, while 1,000 had subsequently secured permanent appointments. He added that the government had also deployed more than 2,100 graduate teachers and employed about 600 teaching and non-teaching staff for Mega Schools and other boarding senior secondary schools across the state. Namadi urged the Ministry of Higher Education and school administrators to ensure that the new appointments translated into improved lesson delivery, reduced pressure on overcrowded classrooms, better school attendance and improved academic performance.
He stressed that the deployment of teachers should be based on verified staffing needs, qualifications, subject specialisation and performance to prevent a recurrence of imbalances between urban and rural schools. The governor charged the beneficiaries to demonstrate discipline, punctuality and dedication to their duties, urging them to accept postings to communities where their services were most needed.
He also called on education authorities, traditional and religious leaders, parents and communities to support the teachers and hold them accountable for improved learning outcomes. As part of the intervention, the governor announced the distribution of 450 bicycles donated by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) to pupils and students who travel long distances to schools in hard-to-reach communities.
He said the bicycles would ease transportation difficulties, improve punctuality and attendance, and help reduce the risk of pupils dropping out of school because of the distance between their homes and schools. Namadi commended GTBank for the gesture, describing it as an example of how private-sector partnerships could complement government efforts to expand access to education.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Higher Education, Professor Isah Yusuf, said the recruitment was intended to bridge the teacher shortage in senior secondary schools. Yusuf explained that the 1,100 permanent and pensionable appointments and 820 new J-TEACH engagements would complement the deployment of 2,720 teachers from the basic education sector, alongside other recent recruitment exercises and approvals for schools.
He urged the newly recruited teachers to be hardworking and dedicated, expressing the expectation that the intervention would improve teaching and learning across the state.
