…explains why Teacher Bank App was developed in Nigeria

By Joseph Erunke, Abuja

A Teacher Bank App, designed to help public schools in Nigeria find qualified teachers and educators build their capacity through professional courses and training modules have been launched by Restored Heart Foundation, a non-governmental organization committed to equitable access to education.

The Teacher Bank App which is under the Teacher Bank Project of the Restored Heart Foundation,aims to address the shortage of qualified teachers in public secondary schools across the country.

The project initiated in partnership with the African Union, AU, in 2024,has so far trained and deployed teachers to Niger State, Nasarawa State and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT,respectively.

Speaking during the official launch of the app at Junior Secondary School, Area 11,Abuja, on Saturday, the Executive Director of the Foundation, Mr. Samuel Oluwatimilehin, described it as an innovative tool designed to ensure educational equity in Nigeria.

“The aim of this which of course, is in partnership with the African Union, is to ensure that we send as many qualified teachers as we can, to the remote secondary schools in Nigeria. This app is a tool to further supplement our efforts by ensuring that we use the app to recruit, train and deploy teachers to these schools, to ensure that at the end of the day, access to education is free across Nigeria.

We want to let the government know that we are supporting their efforts towards ensuring that education in Nigeria gets to as many communities as possible.

“The Teacher Bank App is more than just a platform; it is an innovative tool designed to ensure educational equity in Nigeria. Through this new innovation, our public schools can now find qualified teachers, educators can equally build their capacity through professional courses and training modules, leading to sustainable improvement in our education landscape in Nigeria, “he explained.

He said the event marked a significant milestone, not only for the Restored Heart Foundation but for the future of education in the nation’s public schools, especially in rural communities.

“This initiative is a bold step toward ensuring quality education for every child, particularly in underserved communities with vulnerable populations where access to qualified teachers remains a pressing challenge.

“We all cannot over emphasize the importance of education as it remains a major foundation of any thriving society. However, despite its importance, our communities and schools, particularly in rural areas, struggle with a shortage of qualified teachers. This reality has weakened the quality of education in our public schools hindering the potential of millions of children across Nigeria. It was in response to this urgent need that the Restored Heart Foundation launched the Teacher Bank Project in 2022 to mitigate this growing challenge.

“In our quest to further ensure the success of the project we thought it important to leverage innovative technology to broaden the scope of the project. This is why we are gathered here today”, he further explained.

According to him, “This vision would not have been possible without the generous support and commitment of our esteemed partners under the African Union Civic Tech Fund 2.0 which the Restored Heart Foundation is privileged to be part of.”

Mr. Oluwatimilehin thanked the African Union, the Civic Tech Innovation Network, GIZ African Union, and Ushahidi, for their invaluable contributions, support, and belief in the Foundation’s capacity which made the vision a reality.

He appealed to both the federal and state governments, private sector partners/corporate organizations, NGOs, and individuals to join the Foundation in scaling the initiative “so that together, we can transform education across our communities, particularly in our public schools. “

“We are looking forward to expand to other states but of course, this expansion comes with more funding. We are working towards ensuring that across the six geo-political zones in Nigeria, every state has at least, one or two schools where we will train teachers, recruit them and send them across to teach and ensure that students in those areas enjoy dividends of education free, “he said.

Also speaking, the Finance Manager of the Foundation, Mr. Kingsley Ameh, explained that the idea of the app is as a result of the need assessment carried out where a gap was identified between schools, basically in rural communities that are under staffed and undeserved and the need to support such schools with the required manpower to support the quality of education.

“So we came up with this idea of developing an app where we are able to serve as a bridge between schools that are in need of teachers and of course, getting these teachers to come in. And while these teachers are expected to earn a living from it, we also expect them to align with the goal of providing quality education so that in the end, the students will be the winners of the project, “he said.

Informing that the project had been tested manually before developing the app, he explained that,”As part of the redesign, the Teacher Bank Project is now being implemented in three diverse communities across Nigeria. “

The implementation, he said, is in Junior Secondary School, Area 11 Garki in the Federal Capital Territory; Government Secondary School, Tudun-Wada in Nasarawa State; and Government Day Secondary School, New-Bwari, in Niger State.

“These schools have been selected to serve as the launch points for the expanded initiative, with plans to reach even more regions in the future, ” he further explained.

Speaking further, Ameh said the most interesting thing about the app is that apart from schools,a concerned citizen that comes across the app can identify a particular school in need of specific teachers through the app and get needed intervention.

He said the organization is doing it to support the efforts of the government in providing the people access to education.

A teacher, Mrs. Mary Simon,who is one of the beneficiaries of the initiative and currently teaching at JSS Area 11,Garki in Abuja, described the app as a game changer in the nation’s quest to have qualified and professional teachers in schools, especially in remote areas of the country.

She appealed to governments at all levels to intervene by supporting the foundation with funding not only to expand the project but also make it sustainable.

A student of JSS Area 11,who identified herself as Madu Faith, expressed appreciation to the Restored Heart Foundation for giving public schools opportunities to have needed qualified and professional teachers through the app, noting that the development has enhanced students’ educational development.

Miss Faith said before the project, they were faced with lack of teachers in some of the key subjects,adding that most teachers they have in some subjects in her school came in through the project.

The event featured a panel session where panelists-Omoniyi Lawson; Nelson Egbunu; Pelemo Nyajo and Ritmwa Gokir, variously shared their expertise and perspectives on the nation’s education challenges, especially at the basic level and the best way forward.