Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
The Anambra State governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo has explained that sacked teachers in Anambra school system were the ones employed under hazy and irregular circumstances by the out-gone Willie Obiano administration in the state.
The governor’s explanation followed Tuesdays massive protest by teachers in the state. The teachers numbering up to one thousand, stormed Awka, the Anambra State capital, to protest the termination of their employment by the incumbent governor.
During the protest, the teachers said they were previously engaged by the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) of the various communities in the state before the Obiano administration converted their engagement as permanent staff in state’s school system.
But in a statement by the Governor through his Press Secretary, Christian Aburime, the affected teachers were only asked to regularize their employment with the government by taking part in the online teachers’ recruitment test initiated by the state.
The statement read: “The attention of Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, has been drawn to publications on protest by Teachers engaged by the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) purportedly converted to permanent staff in Anambra state schools that were sacked by his administration.
“The protesters who barricaded the entrance of the state House of Assembly in Awka displayed placards with various inscriptions, claiming to have been engaged by the state government before the termination of their jobs.
“For the avoidance of doubt, no qualified teacher in the state’s school system has been relieved of his/her appointment.
“The government is rather repositioning the education sector according to standard practice and in line with the objectives of the Soludo administration.
“The affected PTA teachers who were “converted” to the school system in the last days of the last administration in an irregular, hazy circumstances, were only asked to regularize their employment with the government by taking part in the online teachers’ recruitment test initiated by the state.
“Teachers all over the world are recruited through a serious and systematic pedagogical based process. The “conversion” method is rather new to the teaching field and is totally unacceptable in the State.
“The idea is to ensure that only those with requisite qualifications, proven capacity and commensurate experiences are recruited into the system. It is not to witch-hunt anybody or take away anybody’s job.”
