By Awayi Kuje

The Nasarawa State House of Assembly has called on the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to seek the approval of Gov. Abdullahi Sule to open portal for the recruitment of 3,700 primary school teachers in the state.

This, the House said, was to fill the vacuum created as a result of retirement, death and resignations of 3,700 primary school teachers across the state.

Mr Danladi Jatau, the Chairman, House Committee on Education, Science and Technology, made the appeal during an oversight function to the SUBEB headquarters in Lafia on Monday.

Jatau said that the committee had discovered that a total of 3,700 primary school teachers vacancies were created as a result of death, retirement and resignation, which had remained unattended.

He said that the committee was in SUBEB to assess the board’s 2023 budget performance.

“We are here to assess your 2023 budget performance with the view of addressing any challenge, if discovered.

“We believe that no society can achieve speedy development without sound education, especially primary education, which is the foundation of all education,” he added.

The committee also charged local governments councils and the state Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to excuse themselves from the payment of primary school teachers salaries and allow SUBEB take charge for efficient service delivery.

The committee also urged the board to revoke all abandoned jobs by contractors in primary schools across the state.

Jatau added that the committee would visit the 137 contracts being executed by the board in the state to see things for themselves.

“Revoke all contracts that the contractors are yet to report to site, they cannot hold the state to ransom,” he said.

The committee chairman assured the board of its readiness to address their challenges.

He commended Sule for his passion for the education sector and called for its sustenance.

Earlier, the Executive Chairman of the board, Alhaji Mohammed Dan’azumi, revealed that the primary school teachers vacancies were created between 2011 and 2023.

He said that the death, transfer and retirement of teachers had created a huge vacuum in the primary education system of the state.

The SUBEB chairman said that primary schools across the state were in dire need of teachers. (NAN)