The Nasarawa State government has warned that it would take decisive measures against teachers and other basic education workers who failed to stay at their duty posts.
The warning was sequel to reports that teachers and workers, especially at rural schools, rarely stay at their workstations to impact teaching and learning to pupils.
The executive chairman, Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board, NSUBEB Dr Kassim Muh’d Kassim gave the warning during an unscheduled visit to some primary and junior secondary schools in Lafia Local Government Area of the state.
At the ST Williams Primary School, the executive chairman directed the immediate suspension of the Education Secretary of Lafia local government, Alhaji Usman Aliyu for failing to turn up during an inspection visit to the school.
He said the suspension of the education secretary would serve as deterrent to others who may want to sabotage to the state government’s lofty efforts aimed at transforming the basic education in the state.
“I’m not happy with what Iam seeing because it is against our guidelines and civil service orientation, and I will not accept it because he is expected to be in the office, this is office hours, may be he thinks it is business as usual, but he won’t find it funny with me, ” he said
The chairman, who also visited some training centres for the ‘School Base Cluster Training’ taking place in some designated centres, lamented the level of encroachment in schools and directed perpetrators to desist or face the wrath of the law.
Addressing a series of complaints received by the head teachers in a number of schools he visited about their challenges, decayed infrastructure, lack of payment of training allowances, shortage of teachers and lack of instructional materials, Dr Kassim immediately granted approval for the payment of their training allowances.
On shortage of teachers, the new NSUBEB boss assured that in no distant time, the board will carry out recruitment of qualified teachers into the various primary schools to be posted mostly to rural areas in the state with strict warming that they must stay in their place of posting to improve the quality of basic education in rural areas.
He also assured that all PTA teachers will be absorbed into full-time jobs with the board, and urged them to exercise a little patience with him.
On the complaints about decayed infrastructure in schools, especially in rural areas, the NSUBEB boss expressed deep shock and disappointment at the deplorable state of facilities in primary and junior secondary schools in rural areas and promised to focus his attention on rural schools.
He, however, reassured the management and teachers of all primary schools across the state of his unwavering commitment to fix the dilapidated structures and make it conducive for teaching and learning.
