Enugu Assembly calls for fresh recruitment exercise of teachers

MEMBERS of the Enugu State House of Assembly on Tuesday called for the re-conducting of the recruitment exercise of over 2000 primary school teachers to include those that were not given the opportunity to participate in the controversial exercise.

The resolution to reconduct the recruitment exercise followed recommendations contained in a report submitted to the House by the House Committee on Education, Science and Technology, charged with the responsibility of looking into the exercise.

It will be recalled that the House had earlier moved for the outright annulment of the exercise as a result of complaints of irregularities and shoddy deals noticed during the exercise that took place in September conducted by the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board, ENSUBEB.

The House resolved to mandate the Committee to carry out further investigation into the exercise after  they had invited the management of ENSUBEB and Commissioner for Education but were not satisfied with their defence and explanations on how the exercise was conducted.

The Speaker, Edward Ubosi, had mandated the Committee to carry out the investigation and report to the House within two weeks.

Among other things, the House Committee recommended that fair and equitable distribution of qualified candidates in the recruitment exercise in each local area should be observed and adhered to.

The report, which was presented by the House Committee Chairman on Education, Hon. Matthew Ugwueze, Igbo-Eze South, also submitted that qualified volunteer teachers should be considered for the recruitment.

Leader of the House, Hon. Ikechukwu Ezeugwu, thanked the House Committee on Education for the painstaking exercise.