Abia Compensates Teachers In Difficult-to-Access Areas

The Abia State Government has approved the payment of compensation to teachers serving in public schools located in difficult-to-access areas of the state.

The Commissioner for Information, Okey Kanu, disclosed this while briefing the press on the outcome of this week’s Executive Council meeting chaired by Governor Alex Otti in Umuahia, the state capital.

According to him, “This is part of the ongoing reforms in the education sector, which include an increase in the number of newly recruited teachers and the regular payment of teachers’ salaries.

“Others are the increase in the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 years, regular training and retraining of teachers, and improvement in the learning environment.”

Kanu further revealed that there had been over a 100 per cent increase in school enrolment between July and October this year. He attributed this to the adoption of new curricula and other policy measures.

“The figures came from a recent data collection exercise conducted by the State Basic Education Board, based on data supplied by schools and local government education authorities.

“This is an indication that confidence and trust in our public school system are increasing by the day as a result of the reforms introduced in the education sector by this administration,” he added.

According to him, the successes recorded so far stem from the free education programme of the Otti-led administration in primary and junior secondary schools.