The Lagos State Government says it is not obliged to retain teachers posted to the state under the ongoing N-Power programme of the Federal Government.
Mr Obafela Bank-Olemoh, Special Adviser to state governor on Education, made the declaration in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
“We have made it clear from the very beginning that in the N-Power programme, we are not obliged to employ anybody.
“They are there and when that programme is finished, they are eased out.
“The governor has given us a clear mandate that as teachers retire from the system, we replace them immediately.
“Our teachers are something we are very passionate about.
“This administration has employed over 1,300 new teachers into the system and we are paying them.
“But we also know that there are challenges there and it is work in progress.
“We are committed to training and retraining of our teachers.
“We would continue to do it and over the next one or two years, they are going to see us do a lot more in strengthening our teachers.’’
NAN reports that the N-power initiative, which was inaugurated in 2016, seeks to address youth unemployment by providing large-scale skills acquisition and development opportunities to participants.
To that end, the programme deployed at least 5,436 teachers to Lagos State in 2017, and many more to other states.
Speaking on the shortage of teachers in the state, Bank-Olemoh said the state government had plans to employ more teachers through the state’s agency charged with continuous recruitment.