Jalingo, Nigeria
Dr Agbu Kefas, governor of Taraba State says his administration plans to make a master’s degree the minimum academic qualification for prospective teachers wishing to join the state’s secondary schools teaching service.
Kefas also said a university degree will be the minimum academic qualification to teach in primary schools within the State.
The governor stated these during a dinner with journalists in Jalingo on Sunday.
He said the current era when the National Certificate of Education (NCE) is the minimum academic qualification for primary school teachers will soon be over.
He added that History would be reintroduced as a subject in the basic education curriculum in schools in Taraba.
“We are going to reintroduce History studies in our primary and secondary schools in the state to lay a solid foundation for accelerated development,” Kefas said.
“In no distant time, primary schoolteachers in the state must be first degree holders while secondary school teachers must have a minimum of master’s degree to enhance the quality of education in the state.
“This is the main reason we have slashed the school fees for undergraduates in the state university.
“We must secure a good future for our children. Our free education policy is not a joke and anybody who stands on the way to achieving this will be crushed.”
He urged journalists in the State to monitor the implementation of the state government’s free education policy in primary and secondary schools to ensure that all the school administrators were doing the right thing.