Abia State Government has announced a second phase of Teachers’ Recruitment Exercise aimed at engaging more qualified candidates and establishing a robust data bank of trained educators to strengthen the State’s Education Sector.
The Commissioner for information, Prince Okey Kanu made the disclosure on Monday, while briefing Newsmen on the outcome of this week’s Exco Meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.
“As a thinking and compassionate Government, the State Executive Council has approved the conduct of another round of teachers recruitment exercise to give those who could not participate in the first phase a chance to participate this time around
“Additionally,the outcome of this round of recruitment interview would afford the Ministry the opportunity to have a data bank of very qualified teachers to draw from any time the need arises for teachers.
“As the school enrollment in the State increases due to the free education policy of the State Government, the State Government will respond by employing more teachers”, Prince Kanu said.
The Commissioner also revealed that over 2,200 teachers would be trained between April 10 and 19 by the Education Reformation and Innovation Team (ERIT) across the three senatorial zones to improve teaching standards and student learning outcomes.
The exercise according to Prince Kanu will hold in Aba, for Abia South , Umuahia for Abia Central and Ohafia for Abia North.
The Commissioner further disclosed that the State Government has concluded final selection phase of its Teachers’ Recruitment Exercise, which featured over 7,000 candidates who scored 45 percent and above and included special provisions for 180 persons with disabilities.
He said that candidates who scored between 40 and 44 percent were placed on a reserve list, to address the possible short falls that may arise due to absenteeism or disqualification.
Prince Kanu noted that between March 31 and April 4, shortlisted candidates underwent certificate verification and oral interviews, conducted by a 30-member panel comprising professors, PhD holders, and top education experts from across the State.
“The 30-man panel compromising six professors, 16 PhD holders , and very senior educationists in Abia State University, Uturu, Micheal Okpara University, Umudike, the Colleges of Education in the State, retired Permanent Secretaries, participated in the interview.
“It is an indication that the very high standards set at the beginning of the teachers recruitment exercise have been maintained all through”, he said.
Kanu who described the process as “orderly, inclusive, and devoid of any ugly incidents”, said that sign language experts were on hand to assist disabled applicants.
He warned Principals and Heads of Schools who surreptitiously collect School Fees and levies from Students despite the State Government’s Free Education Policy for Primary and Junior Secondary Schools to desist from such unwholesome act.
“The State Government has come up with a deliberate policy of providing impress for principals and heads of schools to run schools, therefore those who engage in this dishonest and corrupt act do not have any justifiable reasons to continue to do so
“By this warning all offenders henceforth would be made to face the full wrath of the law including possibly losing their jobs”, he said.
Contributing, the Commissioner for Basic Education, Elder Goodluck Ubochi, emphasized that the second phase of the State Government planned recruitment Exercise is to address the growing demand for teachers in response to the overwhelming rise in school enrolments due to the Free Education policy.
He noted that the surge in student numbers has placed additional pressure on available teaching staff, and added that the Government aims to build a “data bank” of qualified teachers who can be deployed when needed, to avoid the delays experienced in the past.
According to him, the upcoming recruitment will focus particularly on technical and vocational subjects, where teacher shortages are most acute pointing out that many individuals with expertise in areas like basic electricity and further mathematics lack formal teacher training, a challenge which he said that the Ministry is working to overcome.
“We intend to get them involved and show them some level of training to get them qualified to be in our schools”, he said.
The Commissioner clarified that the State Government’s free and compulsory education policy applies only to primary and junior secondary levels, from Primary 1 to JSS3 and explained that for Students in Senior Secondary Schools, a minimal fee of N3,300 is to be collected, as reduced from earlier tuition fees.
He assured that the State Government would drive effective implementation of Education policies in Private Schools across the State.
