The Education Minister says financial limitations restricted hiring despite wider demand, as government moves to expand digital learning and improve education delivery.

The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has defended government’s decision to recruit 7,000 teachers, saying fiscal constraints prevented a larger intake despite rising demand in schools across the country.

He explained that while the education sector requires far more personnel, budgetary limitations have restricted the scale of recruitment for the current cycle.

“If resources were available, we should be employing and recruiting up to 50,000 teachers across the country, but due to budgetary constraints, we are unable to do that,” he said.

He made the comments during the launch and communications briefing of the 19th edition of the eLearning Africa Conference on Tuesday, April 14, where concerns were raised about whether the recruitment figure was sufficient to address staffing gaps in schools.

According to him, the Ministry of Education obtained clearance from the Ministry of Finance to recruit 7,000 teachers with degrees and diplomas. He added that the process had been publicly advertised and conducted in a transparent manner.

CBI News reports that the Minister maintained that the recruitment exercise followed established procedures designed to ensure fairness and equal opportunity for applicants.

Iddrisu said government is also preparing to roll out a digital education policy aimed at addressing structural gaps in the sector and improving learning outcomes through technology-driven reforms.