Teachers Scarcity Hits Private Schools as Cost-of-living Goes Up Across Nigeria

Teachers in some Nigerian private schools are deserting the classrooms in protest over salaries too low to shield them from a rampaging cost-of-living crisis.

It’s a difficult time not only for private school owners who are struggling to hold on to their staff but also for parents and their wards with quality education at risk.

This is creating teacher scarcity as most upcoming private schools in Nigeria pay these teachers a monthly salary that is below N50,000 ($33) a month.

Many pay a monthly salary of N25,000 which is below Nigeria’s minimum wage of N30,000, a pay that the Nigerian Labour Congress and other trade unions have been calling for a review owing to the biting current economic situation.

Presently, ordinary Nigerians are battling to keep their heads above water amid soaring living costs, which have continued to escalate since President Bola Tinubu introduced economic reforms that led to the removal of both petrol and forex subsidies in June 2023.

For 40-year-old Rasheed Babafemi, a school proprietor in the Songo-Ota area of Ogun State, the situation has not helped his school business.

He was excited to become a proud owner of a nursery and primary school, which opened its doors to pupils in the 2021/2022 academic session, but little did he know that he was up for a new challenge in his career.

Two years down the line, Babafemi and his co-founder of the school are struggling to find teachers and caregivers to take up the classes due to their inability to pay a living wage to willing teachers.

Babafemi blamed the scarcity of teachers on poor pay given to them as he confirmed that the school would not be able to raise its payroll above its present numbers due to a lack of finances to fund a bigger payroll.

His plight was worsened by the surging inflation that has battered many families and made it near impossible for families to put food on their tables.