26 September 2019
CHAIRMAN, State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, in Cross River State has flayed reports that Senator Ben Ayade, the governor of the state has given directives for the termination of appointment of one thousand primary school teachers.
Dr Odey said the governor gave approval for the recruitment of two thousand teachers and five hundred security men after he sent a memo to the governor and he went ahead to employ two thousand and twenty seven after due diligence and due process in view of the poor financial situation of the state.
He said at no time has the governor contemplated or given directives for any teacher to be sacked whether the newly employed ones or those who have been in the system before the employment of new ones.
"His Excellency approved four thousand teachers and we went through due process and employed two thousand and twenty seven teachers considering the poor financial situation of the state and they were payrolled and captured by the state civil service commission making them substantive workers in the state and nobody is talking of sacking them."
He said the state has a total of fourteen thousand primary school teachers with a wage bill of eight hundred and thirty million naira monthly and non is being owed any salary.
"Some people will be criticising the governor without considering the responsibilities he is shouldering. For instance these teachers are paid alongside other workers every month and he does not owe anybody. Is that in itself not an achievement?"
The SUBEB Chairman said the state is operating three model secondary schools in the three senatorial district's of the state and owing to demands by parents, the schools are now in senior secondary one and will continue to senior secondary three for the students to write the West African Schools Certificate Examination.
"Following the high educational standard in the model schools, parents said we should continue because if we send the students to others schools, the standard already inculcated in their children will not be maintained".
