The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr Abbas Tajudeen, says the distribution of motorcycles to teachers in Zaria will improve their mobility, punctuality and attendance, particularly those serving in rural schools.
He stated this during the distribution of motorcycles to 500 teachers of conventional schools at the Nuhu Babajo Stadium in Zaria.
Dr Tajudeen said many teachers travel long distances to their schools and spend a significant portion of their income on transportation.
He explained that the intervention would reduce their transportation costs and enable them to arrive at school earlier and attend more regularly.
According to him, the ultimate objective is to reduce the distance between teachers and their schools and, more importantly, improve children’s access to quality education.
The Speaker expressed concern over the shortage of trained teachers and poor learning outcomes, particularly in the North-West.
He said Nigeria requires nearly 200,000 additional trained teachers, while fewer than 10 percent of children aged seven to 14 in the region can read with proper understanding.
Dr Abbas Tajudeen stressed that although infrastructure, textbooks and technology are important to education, teachers remain central to improving learning outcomes.
He noted that his constituency interventions had also supported school facilities, students, vocational training and digital learning, while earlier programmes provided motorcycles to teachers.
The Speaker urged the beneficiaries to use and maintain the motorcycles properly, obtain the necessary documentation, wear helmets and obey traffic regulations.
He also called on education authorities to monitor the impact of the intervention on teachers’ attendance, punctuality and classroom performance.