Newly recruited teachers protest in Ondo over exclusion from data capture

Fearing their employment may be nullified, some teachers newly recruited by the Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board and Teaching Service Commission have protested their exclusion from the data-capturing process.

The government is conducting a biometric data-capturing exercise to finalise the recruitment process.

It was gathered that while many are participating in the process, some of the teachers have been excluded despite receiving appointment letters.

The protesting teachers stormed the Governor’s office at Alagbaka-Akure to register their displeasure and demanded their inclusion in the capturing exercise being carried out by officials of SUBEB.

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They called on the state governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, to immediately intervene.

It was reliably gathered that some of the affected teachers actually got their employment through the back door.
The letters of appointment they were brandishing, it was learnt, were fake.

The state Commissione for Information, Idowu Ajanaku, told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday that everybody legitimately recruited would be captured.

He confirmed that there were reports of people who did not follow due process in their recruitment and that the government was making sure such persons did not make it into the system.

“Let me assure you that every person will be captured at the end of the day, but we are trying to ensure that those who are captured are genuine,” he said.
He said the state was in the process of hiring more teachers, but only the best and qualified would be allowed to fill the vacancies.

“We don’t want a situation where we hire teachers who do not know the subjects they are teaching,” he said.

“Particularly, we are targeting science teachers, and you know this is the first time the state government is hiring teachers, past administrations did not do it,” he said.

Mr Ajanaku also urged the protesting teachers to be calm as the exercise would be transparent and those who deserve to be captured would scale through.

The state’s anti-graft agency is currently investigating the racketeering that attended the recruitment process some months ago, after there were allegations that candidates paid several sums to procure employment.

The agency had invited officials of SUBEB and TESCOM for interrogation.

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Despite the hoopla that attended the scandal, the anti-graft agency has yet to come out with any results, claiming investigations were still ongoing.

Mr Ajanaku, however, said the state government was still awaiting a report from the commission on the scandal, and no action would be taken until all investigations were concluded and a report submitted.