Some teachers and students in Omu-Aran, Kwara, on Tuesday described the continuous absence of instructors to handle key subjects in community schools as a stumbling block to academic development.

The respondents, in separate interviews, said the development could jeopardise government's efforts at uplifting the standard of education in the area if not urgently addressed.

Moses Adeyemi, an SS3 student of Government Secondary School, Omu-Aran, said the continued absence of teachers in key subjects like Mathematics and Biology could negatively affect his future academic pursuit.

"I still can't imagine why we don't have enough teachers to handle key subjects like Mathematics, Biology and Computer studies in some of the schools.

"Does it mean that there no qualified teachers for these subject, or the authority has failed to engage them?

"Definitely, this is going to be very difficult for somebody with the desire to pursue science related courses in their future academic plans," Adeyemi said.

Miss Abosede Ibiyemi, a JSS 2 student, said the dearth of teachers was compounded because almost all the schools in the area were faced with similar problems making switch-over very difficult.

"If the situation is limited to a particular school, you can envisage a movement to another better school.

"But the problem is the same in the schools. In spite of the fact that we have computer equipment installed in the schools, the non availability of computer teachers remains a big problem.

"Most of the equipment is now rotting away," she said.

Mr Segun Abifarin, the Principal, Government Secondary School, Omu-Aran, said schools authorities had notified government of the development while waiting for a positive response. "We have done our best in this circumstance by notifying the relevant government authority of the problems at hand," he said.

Also speaking, Mr Bidemi Olawuyi, the Principal of Omu-Aran High School, Omu-Aran, said the development was presently beyond that of schools authorities.

Olawuyi, who is also the Secretary of Omu-Aran Development Association (ODA), said the association had to intervene by employing teachers in some of the schools when the problem got to a climax.

"After equipping four of the schools with computer equipment worth N30 million, we were forced to engage some teachers and security guards for some of the schools with our own finances," Olawuyi said.

NAN