36 teachers in a public school in Maiduguri are set to be punished for being absent while the Borno state Governor, Kashim Shettima, paid an unscheduled visit to the school.
The Governor, who visited the school on Wednesday afternoon, decided to take a roll call of teachers at the Lamisula Primary and Junior Secondary located in Maiduguri, the state capital.
He directed the state’s Head of Service, Yakubu Bukar, to call out names of teachers in order to identify those who were absent.
With a total of 87 teachers, 43 of them were identified as absent, including seven persons said to be on official leave.
Lamisula Primary School is one of the schools rebuilt by the state government after it was razed down in the early days of the Boko Haram insurgency when they held sway within the capital city.
Shettima was on a routine tour to assess infrastructure and facility needs of schools and to supervise renovation works being carried out in schools across the state.
On his arrival, students were found sitting on the bare floor and expressing his displeasure he questioned the situation, stating that he had ordered the state mechanical workshop to convey desks to the school.
“It is really disturbing that in the heart of Maiduguri, our children are sitting on the floor to learn despite thousands of school desks we have distributed.
“We have desks here that are bad and kept in one class, no one brought this to my attention and children who are desirous of learning are now seating on the floor. Even when the pupils are here seating on the floor, more than 40% of teachers are absent.
“Those absent will face punishment to serve as deterrent to other teachers and workers,” Shettima decreed.