President Bola Tinubu has approved the commencement of the recruitment process for 3,252 verified Parent-Teacher Association teachers into the Federal Civil Service.
The intervention is expected to address the shortage of teaching personnel in Federal Unity Colleges and Federal Technical Colleges across the country.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced the approval in a statement issued on Thursday by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah.
Alausa said priority would be given to qualified PTA teachers who had already been verified, many of whom had worked in federal schools for between 10 and 25 years without permanent appointments.
The minister said, “This is a President who cares deeply for Nigeria and for the future of our country.
“The President has approved the recruitment of teachers. Priority will be given to absorbing verified PTA teachers, many of whom have served in our Federal Unity Colleges and Federal Technical Colleges for almost 25 years.
“This approval provides them with the opportunity to become part of the mainstream public service.”
The minister explained that the approval followed a comprehensive screening exercise conducted by an inter-ministerial committee.
According to him, the exercise covered PTA teachers working in Federal Unity Colleges and confirmed the eligibility of 3,252 applicants.
The teachers were verified across the cadres of education officers, assistant education officers and technical instructors.
Alausa said the screening had cleared the way for their regularisation after the completion of the remaining statutory procedures.
He described the decision as one of the Tinubu administration’s most significant interventions to strengthen the federal teaching workforce.
Recruitment To Reduce Staffing Gaps
Alausa said the recruitment would improve the teacher-to-student ratio in Federal Unity Colleges and enhance the quality of classroom instruction.
He added that integrating experienced PTA teachers into the public service would preserve institutional knowledge and reward personnel who had continued teaching despite years of employment uncertainty.
“The recruitment forms part of the Federal Government’s broader efforts to improve teacher quality and reposition the colleges as centres of academic excellence,” he said.
The minister maintained that experienced teachers were essential to improving learning outcomes and sustaining standards across federal schools.
According to him, the regularisation would also reduce the dependence of schools on temporary teaching arrangements funded by parents.
Alausa said the education ministry would continue working with relevant government agencies to complete the statutory processes required for the final recruitment approval.
He assured the affected teachers that the exercise would be carried out transparently, fairly and in accordance with public service regulations.
The minister thanked Tinubu for approving the process, saying the decision demonstrated the administration’s commitment to placing education at the centre of national development.
“Investing in teachers is fundamental to building a stronger education system, as no education system can rise above the quality of its teachers,” Alausa stated.
He reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to policies aimed at strengthening the teaching profession, improving learning outcomes and ensuring that students in Federal Unity Colleges were taught by competent and dedicated personnel.
Federal Unity Colleges have for years relied on PTA teachers to fill staffing shortages caused by inadequate recruitment into the federal teaching service.
The teachers are engaged and paid through Parent-Teacher Associations but often perform the same classroom duties as colleagues employed directly by the government.
Many of them have worked in the colleges for more than a decade without permanent appointments, pension benefits or the employment security available to regular civil servants.
Successive administrations had received appeals from the affected teachers, parents and education stakeholders seeking the regularisation of their appointments.
Stakeholders argued that the prolonged dependence on PTA-funded personnel placed an additional financial burden on parents while leaving thousands of qualified teachers in uncertain employment.
