From Mustapha Adamu, Kano
Kano state government has said it has so far discovered over 50, out 3,268 teachers, posted to voluntary and community schools, working for private schools in the state.
Recall that the state government had recently declared that it would recall its staff with education qualification for teaching in schools across the state.
The state government then directed the Ministry of Education to form a committee for screening of the staff to be recalled for teaching.
In a statement on Tuesday, signed by Aliyu Yusuf, Chief Public Relations Officer of Ministry of Education, the ministry said barely three days after the commencement of the screening exercise by the ministerial committee, 3,268 teachers, initially posted to teach at voluntary and community schools, over 50 of them ended up teaching in private schools in the state.
The committee, according to the statement, headed by Dr. Ibrahim Bichi, Executive Secretary, Kano State Library Board had further discovered that some of the identified staff had spent more than ten to fifteen years teaching in private schools while enjoying monthly salaries from either state or local government pay rolls.
It was also discovered that while on such postings, the teachers are enjoying their consistent promotions upto directorate cadre, this is in addition to furthering their studies for higher degrees ranging from M. Sc and PhD certificates.
According to the interim report of the committee, it was similarly gathered that a single private school has more than 50 teachers posted from government schools over the years, a negative development that must be put to a halt to address the lingering problem of teachers shortfall in public schools in the state.
“Parents and members of the general public are therefore called upon to be patient, as the whole excercise was aimed at sanitizing the state education system for the better,” said the statement.
