Over 1,500 ghost primary schoolteachers have been uncovered by the committee set up by the Niger State Universal Basic Education Board to audit its staff register.
The committee also reported that 1,000 teachers did not have the qualification to teach in any primary school in the state.
The Chairman of the committee, Usman Katako, made the findings known while submitting its report to the Chairman of the board, Isah Adamu, in his office on Monday.
Katako, who did not give details of the ghost workers, explained that 28,058 persons were on the payroll of the board but that only 26,070 showed up for screening.
He said 1,000 among those who appeared for screening were discovered not to have certificates and “cannot read and write.”
“The verification covered all the LEA administrative staff and classroom teachers. We are more particular with teachers and administrative staff because administrative staff members supervise those in the classrooms. And about 50 per cent of those with issues of certificate racketeering are class teachers. We found that over 1,000 of them couldn’t read and write,” Katako stated.
The committee advised the board to implement the approved promotion of some teachers who had been on the waiting list since 2018.
Adamu said he would ensure the full implementation of the report to put the teaching profession on a proper footing.
He stated, “If you cannot read and write, you cannot be a teacher; so, everybody must work according to his capacity.
