Abia State Government has commenced a five-day orientation for newly recruited public-school teachers, urging them to uphold professionalism, discipline, integrity and dedication to duty.
The exercise, which began on Tuesday and ends September 12, is holding at the Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, Aba, and Federal Government Girls’ College, Umuahia.
Speaking at the Aba venue, retired Permanent Secretary, Civil Service Commission, Mr. Sam Okwuchi Njoku, described teaching as a responsibility beyond government employment, urging the recruits to demonstrate punctuality, discipline and integrity.
The TRCN Team Leader, Mrs. Blessing Ogbonna, advised teachers yet to obtain their professional certificates and licences to enrol through the appropriate National Teachers’ Institute programme.
The Executive Director of the Abia State Universal Basic Education Board, Mrs. Lydia Onuoha, urged the teachers to embrace technology, creativity, critical thinking and learner-centred methods, noting that learners have different abilities and needs.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr. Kelechukwu Nwosu, disclosed that 4,074 teachers were selected from about 36,000 applicants after a competitive recruitment process.
Nwosu urged the recruits to justify the confidence reposed in them by the government and maintain appropriate professional boundaries with learners.
The Rector of the Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, Engr. Dr. C. K. Okoro, warned against extortion and other unethical practices in schools, while the Executive Director in the Ministry of Secondary and Basic Education, Dr. Chinedu Ubochi, urged the teachers to embrace modern approaches to teaching.
Participants commended the state government for the orientation, pledging to apply the lessons learnt and remain committed to the effective education of Abia children.
