Declare state of emergency in education sector, Ondo traditional ruler tells Akeredolu

A traditional ruler in Ondo State, the Akala of Ikaram, Oba Andrew Momodu, on Sunday, decried the inadequate of teachers in public schools in the state, urging the state government to fill the vacancies created by those who have retired.

The monarch who stated this in Ikaram, Akoko in Akoko North-West local government of the state, during the finals of the Worthy Purpose Foundation annual quiz competition for secondary schools, said the scarcity of teachers has contributed to the inability of schools to effectively implement the new school curriculum.

Oba Momodu noted that the recent recruitment of 1000 teachers by the state government has failed to solve issues of the dearth of teachers in public schools especially in the rural area but specifically called on the state government to make recruitment of teachers into public schools an annual event,

According to the monarch, there were only two teachers in public schools within his domain and the community resorted to employing teachers for the schools to teach their children

Momodu however, called on the state and federal government to declare a state of emergency in the education sector, calling for recruitment of teachers.

He said “Community schools are operating on local staff that the community is paying for. Quite a number of public-spirited individuals are paying staff in these secondary schools.

“We encourage the PTAs to take up this challenge. This challenge cannot be completely addressed by the PTA. We thank Governor Akeredolu for recruiting teachers into public schools for the first time in 10 years.

“We want the governor to make it an annual event. Recruitment of teachers should be a continuous exercise until the acute shortage is addressed.

“This quiz competition is good for the students. It is a challenge for the students to work hard. To achieve good results, you need a system of rewards.

“The quiz competition is a reward system because of the recognition and the gift they get. It encouraged them to take their studies seriously.”

Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council, Federal University of Lafia, Nassarawa State, Bashorun Seinde Arogbofa, said the country’s education system could still be salvaged if the government show the will and dedication towards reviving education, noting that the public concern for education was at its lowest ebb.

Convener of the foundation, Dr Funmilola Williams Daudu, said students in public schools would do better if equipped with the right tools.

Dr Daudu explained that the quiz competition was borne out of the need to revive academic decadence in public schools.

She stated that she planned to extend the programme to all the 18 local government areas of the state.

“This is the second edition. We started last year with Akoko Northwest. This year we expanded it to cover Akoko Northwest and Akoko Northeast.

“In this part of the state, we observed that no teacher in the public schools. The performances of students in public schools were poor last year.

“None of the public schools in this town got to the finals but his year, we decided to get contract teachers to coach them. The wife of the king also supported and a public school from this town came to the third position in this second edition.”

In the competition, Akoko Anglican Grammar School, Arigidi Akoko took the first position, Mount Carmel Girls Secondary School, Ikare came the second position while Otolomi High School, Ikaram took the third position.

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Declare state of emergency in education sector, Ondo traditional ruler tells Akeredolu