KAGOTE Recruits 800 Volunteer Teachers For Ogoni Schools

The apex social cultural organization of the old Ogoni Division in Rivers State, KAGOTE, has recruited 800 volunteer teachers to augment teaching gaps in public schools in the area. The acronym KAGOTE represents Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme.
The recruitment interviews were conducted last month in the four local government areas to recruit volunteers from among retirees, unemployed graduates and trained teachers that have not secured employment.
At the end of the exercise, 800 volunteers were shortlisted and assigned to schools near where they reside. National Point gathered that each of the volunteers would be paid a monthly allowance of N50,000 from a fund that KAGOTE has generated for the purpose.
A source close to KAGOTE said the President of KAGOTE, Chief Lesi Maol, who initiated the programme has set aside N10 million every month to support the scheme, while the local governments in the area were being lobbied to set aside allocations for it.
The source also said that KAGOTE was also reaching out to other sources to fund the project, which will run until government is able to recruit teachers to fill the yawning vacancies in public primary and secondary schools in the Ogoni area.
Dearth of teachers in public schools in Rivers State has been of grave concern to the government and stakeholders in education. While many parents and wards were willing to send their wards to public schools to save costs, lack of teachers has been dissuading them from doing so.