Edo state government audit of primary schools in the State has revealed massive falsification of age of Primary School Teachers in the State Public Schools.
In a town hall meeting on education in the state on Wednesday, Governor Adams Oshiomhole said the audit carried out by the state’s Information and Communications Technology showed that 789 teachers out of 1,379 obtained their Primary School Leaving Certificates before the age of 8 or 9.
The governor said that providing solutions to major crisis in the state educational sector is the aim of the town hall meeting.
Traditional rulers, Teachers, Parents, Legislators and Government officials all gathered at Imaguero College in Benin City to discuss the way forward in the state Primary Education sector.
A traditional ruler, HRH Kelvin Danesi Aidenojie, of south Ibie Kingdom, raised the issue of unqualified and insufficient teachers in the rural areas.
Governor Oshiomhole also said that the state has found out that some teachers in public schools are unqualified and that teachers no longer retire due to age falsification. He noted that only 1,287 out of 14,454 primary school teachers have records without discrepancies.
The State Governor also noted that many local government councils in the state cannot afford to pay primary school teachers which is their basic responsibility due to unchanging salary figures over the years. He added that the state has introduced electronic payment of teachers salaries to eliminate fraud in the system.The state commissioner of Education, Mr Ekpenisi Omorotionmwan, encouraged teachers to be committed to their job and be good role models for their wards to emulate.
Reacting on behalf of the teachers, the state Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers, Mr. Patrick Ikosimi said the governor’s figures were not authentic and that those in the civil service should also have their age and qualification data reviewed .
