While commending the Union of teachers in Edo State for protecting its interests and supporting him during the elections that made him governor, Adams Oshiomhole has said he would rather lose his job than “keep it and fail to use it to secure the future”.
“Edo State government will not retain in its employment, anyone whose suitability in a classroom has not been ascertained,” he warned.
This is coming after majority of the teachers in the State failed to turn up at the assessment test conducted to determine the training needs of the teachers. Oshiomhole further promised to forge ahead in his quest for better education for Edo students as “leadership requires courage to do what you are convinced about particularly when it is informed by the good of the people”.
Appearing on Sunrise, Oshiomhole explained that the test was in a bid to assess the teachers and determine what kind of training they would need to be able to deliver their best. However, “the unions have made it a big issue”, he noted.
He stressed that the educational foundation laid for Nigerian students will determine the future of the nation, adding that even “the poorest of the poor must have at least a sound basic education, which in Nigeria we call Universal Basic Education.”
He explained that the reason why his administration grants free education for students up to the secondary level is to give the foundation to build their lives on.
He complained of the State’s inability to boast of its teachers despite the investments made in building schools and ensuring that children have access to education at no cost. According to the governor, a student had complained of teacher’s absence during school hours, while he was on a visit to one of the schools in the State.
Teachers had been absent from classes on the average of two out of five days while many did not resume at the specified time.
Despite his stern warning to the teachers, Oshiomohle expressed hope that those unwilling to take the assessment test would change their minds after seeing how those who did are treated.
“Some people have done the test. We are waiting to see the results. By the way we treat them; I hope others would recognise that this whole thing is not about punishment.”
