The Federal Government College Ilorin Old Students' Association (FGCIOSA), has applauded the plan by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, to recruit about 500,000 teachers for primary and secondary schools in the country.

National President of FGCIOSA, Mr. Gbenga Olaniyan gave the commendation at the weekend while speaking on the sideline of the 5th annual general meeting (AGM) of the association in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

Olaniyan, however, said majority of those that would likely go for the teaching jobs might do so due to unemployment and not necessarily because they loved teaching, and expressed the worry that they might cause more harm than good to the schools at the end of the day.

He said, "Well, two things, for some people, the problem is that they don't have teachers; for others, it is the quality of the teachers. So the decision of the Federal Government to recruit more teachers will solve the first problem, which is the teachers in terms of numbers. But then, we don't know where these teachers are gotten from.

"It could be people who are out of school and don't have jobs, and are not really interested in teaching. By the end of the day, might do more damage than good, because they will just be doing the job while looking for another job. But seriously speaking, I think it is a good step because it is better to do that than sit down and do nothing."

The FGCIOSA President decried the dropped in the quality of teachers in unity schools and other government owned secondary schools in the country, saying the best of the teachers have been attracted to private schools that pay higher salary.

Olaniyan said, "Speaking generally, in my own opinion and the opinion of a lot of educational consultants is that the quality of teachers has dropped. We are concentrating on the secondary education here.

"The quality of teachers has dropped mainly in the schools that are at the lower end, that the less fee paying schools as well as the Federal Government Colleges, because a lot of schools that have very high fees are taking away a lot of these teachers. They are able to attract the very best, leaving behind just those who are really not the best in class.

"econdly, even the schools themselves, because I now want to compare the Federal Government College and the private schools. Even the schools themselves are not attracting the best candidates. If you have somebody who is normally a student that is below average, he is not like going to have a distinction, but you can push to be above average and when these are the students attracted to the Federal Government Colleges, then you know it defeats the purpose.

"By and large, the main problem is the quality of the teachers and even what is happening in Nigeria now where teachers don't concentrate. They leave school and they are going to do another job; they are patching up with two jobs. So, by and large, this is definitely affecting the education system."