FG commences recruitment of 500,000 unemployed graduates for teaching jobs June 12

Muhammadu Buhari

The Federal Government has announced that it will start taking applications online for positions in the 500,000 direct teacher jobs scheme, through an internet portal named npower.gov.ng.

A statement by Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, ‘Laolu Akande, on Wednesday said while the portal would be live on Saturday June 11, applications are expected to start coming in on June 12, the beginning of next week.

It said young unemployed Nigerians are advised to visit the website and apply.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in his May 29 Democracy Day broadcast to the nation formally launched the social investment programmes already provided for under the 2016 Appropriation by the administration.

The statement said the 500,000 Teacher Corps, nicknamed N-Power Teach on the portal, is one of the three direct job creation and training schemes Nigerians can start applying for from Sunday, June 12.

Others are N-Power Knowledge which will train 25,000 Nigerians in the area of technology, and N-Power Build, which train another 75,000 in the areas of building services, construction, utilities, hospitality and catering, automotive vocations, aluminium and gas services.

All trainees would be paid for the duration of their training.

The N-Power Teacher Corps initiative, which will engage and train 500,000 young unemployed graduates, is a paid volunteer programme of a two-year duration. Unemployed Nigerians selected and trained will play teaching, instructional, and advisory roles in primary, and secondary schools, agricultural extension systems across the country, public health and community education-covering civic and adult education.

Besides their monthly take home pay estimated at about N23,000, the selected 500,000 graduates will also get computer devices that will contain information necessary for their specific engagement, as well as information for their continuous training and development. They get to keep the devices even after exiting from the programme.

According to the plan of the Buhari administration, the N-Power Teacher Corps programme will help to address the problems of inadequate teachers in public schools.

Persons enlisted under the scheme will gain work experience and acquire key competencies through academic and non-academic capacity building programmes intended to improve their competitiveness in the workplace. Their devices will come loaded with knowledge-oriented applications and software that will enable them acquire the skills and capacity.