No fewer than 10,000 residents of Nasarawa State applied for 1,000 primary school teaching positions approved by the state government under a specialised rural recruitment scheme aimed at strengthening basic education.
The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abdullahi Sule on Public Affairs, Peter Ahemba, disclosed this on Monday during a bi-monthly press briefing held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists Secretariat in Lafia, the state capital.
Speaking on the recruitment exercise being conducted by the Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board, Ahemba said the state government approved the recruitment of 1,000 primary school teachers to address manpower shortages in rural communities.
He stressed that the exercise would be conducted transparently to ensure that only qualified candidates were recruited.
The governor’s aide added that all successful applicants from the state’s 13 local government areas would be posted strictly to rural schools to improve the quality of education in underserved communities.
Ahemba said, “To ensure fairness and credibility, the government bypassed standard internal procedures and handed the recruitment assignment to an independent consulting firm.
“The selection process recorded a massive turnout but a very low pass rate. While the full breakdown of scores is yet to be released, over 10,000 candidates applied for the 1,000 available slots.”
He assured applicants that the process would remain merit-based, noting that the rural posting policy was designed to bridge the shortage of teachers in hard-to-reach communities across the state.
Ahemba urged applicants to await further communication from SUBEB and the consulting firm on the next stage of the recruitment exercise.
He added, “The state government approved the recruitment of 1,000 rural teachers. The recruitment exercise was handed to a consulting firm to ensure that everything was done properly and transparently.
“During the period under review, more than 10,000 applications were received from applicants with qualifications ranging from the Nigeria Certificate in Education to diplomas and university degrees.
“A screening exercise was conducted to identify the most qualified candidates. Out of the over 10,000 applicants, 8,000 participated in the screening examination, but only 600 passed.
“Only 600 out of the 8,000 candidates who sat the examination passed, which is below the number the government intends to recruit. The consulting firm has concluded that stage of the process and handed it over to the State Universal Basic Education Board for the next phase.
“As we speak, the board is reviewing the process to ensure that only qualified candidates are eventually employed.”
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