Udom recruits additional 3, 000 primary school teachers in A/Ibom

Worried by inadequate manpower to drive the free and compulsory education policy in Akwa Ibom state, Governor Udom Emmanuel has employed another batch of 3, 000 teachers.

The recruitment is the second after the first batch of the same number were employed last year by Gov. Udom through the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and Ministry of Education.

Speaking to our correspondent in Uyo on Tuesday, the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Nse Essien said the recruitment of teachers is necessary to address the inadequate manpower in primary schools in the state.

Prof. Essien, who was speaking through the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mrs. Helen Ante, said the recruitment of new teachers is also meant to close the gap arising from retirement and dead among the primary school teachers.

He said though the number is not enough, but it would add to the existing manpower to drive the free and compulsory education policy of the state government.

“I am not comfortable; the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) recently recruited another batch of 3, 000 teachers. Yesterday, when we were monitoring resumption of schools, I saw three of them at Utia Oro reporting for duty at the school they were posted to,” he observed.

Prof. Essien debunked the allegations that principals and head teachers of public secondary and primary schools in the state inflate students’ enrolment figures to get more subventions from government.

It was gathered that in public schools especially in some rural areas in Uruan, Ikono, Ini and Oruk Anam Local Government Areas among others, some principals and primary school head teachers inflate the number of students’ enrolment.

Some of the aggrieved teachers allege that the school heads make them to mark an inflated register of students every school day, set and mark the examination papers and record the results of the said students but give them no financial inducement in return for their work.

But, the commissioner said there is no truth to the allegations as government gives subvention to school heads based on the record of head count of students it gets from the State Secondary Education Board (SSEB), State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and the State Technical School Board (STSB).