Lagos to new principals, VPs: We have set high target for you

THE Lagos State government has charged the newly appointed 100 principals and 96 vice principals in the state-owned junior and senior secondary schools across the six education districts of the state on optimum performance in their new roles.

The new appointees and for this year alone are part of 629 principals and vice principals elevated by the state government to their new positions within the last two years to replace those who retired from active service having reached the statutory age of retirement .

The chairman of Lagos Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Mrs Elizabeth Olabisi Ariyo, charged them at a two-day induction programme organised for the new school administrators recently.

She noted that both the new appointees and those of last year sat for promotional examinations including written and oral interviews before they were found worthy among their colleagues for their new assignments.

Mrs Ariyo asked them to see their elevation as a call for additional responsibilities and better service.

She said the capacity-building workshop was put together by the commission to introduce them to the scheme of activities demanded of their new roles and sharpen their knowledge and skills to be able to contribute meaningfully to the education development of the state.

While noting that the state government would continue to fill vacant positions created due to retirement or deaths of teachers and school administrators with new capable hands periodically, the TESCOM boss said the government would also give priority to their training and retraining on the job.

In her address, the permanent secretary of the commission, Mrs Toyin Machado-Onanuga said the importance of the induction programme was to integrate and equip them with requisite leadership skills that would take them through the new career path and also turn them into more resourceful individuals.

Speaking on the theme of the event, “Re-imaging leadership in the management of post-primary school education in Lagos State,” Mrs Machado-Onanuga, said the state government is expecting much from them.

In his remarks, the chairman of Baysil Consults Limited, a consultancy firm which handled the training, Mr Ademola Badru, said the participants were taken through many aspects of their new roles in the post-COVID-19 work environment.

He told the participants that the training would help them to develop the right leadership skills and also improve their ability to influence positive change and inspire confidence in their respective assignments.

He said notwithstanding the various challenges that might be faced at work, in the families and society at large, they should strive to overcome them to achieve the main goals.

Some of the participants told Nigerian Tribune about the challenges confronting public schools in the state to include overcrowded classrooms, inadequate teachers, students’ truancy and poor infrastructures as the major ones.

They promised to put in their best towards moving the teaching profession and education sector to greater heights in the state.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.