A new report by a government committee in Sokoto State says Thirty-one percent of teachers in public schools in the state are not qualified but educated enough to be trained to enhance their qualifications to be in the classroom.

Led by Chairman of the Sokoto Government’s schools needs assessment committee, Dr. Shadi Sabeh, the committee recommended the employment of additional 548 teachers in order to achieve a teacher/student ratio of 1:40, the standard set for public schools in the state.

This was part of the recommendations of the schools needs assessment sub-committee of the committee on state of emergency set up by Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal to proffer practical solutions to challenges confronting education in the state.

The committee said a total of 360 schools were assessed and that there is need for the government to urgently act to restructure the imbalance in teachers’ distribution especially between rural and urban areas.

“There’s need to repost 537 teachers from some schools that are over-staffed within the Sokoto metropolis to the many that are lacking teachers in rural areas,” he said.

In his remarks, Tambuwal assured that the report will be implemented, while other measures will be put in place to ensure turn around in the fortunes of the sector.

He said a new training schedule will be drawn up by the government to ensure all teachers are provided with opportunities for refresher courses.