By Esther Akaa, Lafia
The Nasarawa State Government has disclosed plans to compensate the over 4,000 teachers employed without proper authorisation in the 13 Local Government Areas of the State.
The government said the decision was part of broader efforts to resolve the controversy surrounding their recruitment.
Commissioner for Education, Dr John Mamman, made the disclosure during a ministerial briefing in Lafia, the state capital on Monday.
He explained that the issue arose when the previous management of the Nasarawa State Teachers Service Commission exceeded the approved recruitment figure of 1,000 teachers, leading to the cancellation of the exercise and subsequent approval for the recruitment of 1,500 new teachers to fill existing vacancies.
According to the Commissioner, an investigation is ongoing to determine the roles of the management staff in the scandal.
” We discovered that some of the teachers were posted and had worked for some months, and others were posted and reported but did not work, and others were posted but refused to report, but the records of the last group could not be found anywhere.”
“We gave a fresh opportunity to the 4,000 wrongly employed teachers to participate, but only 781 were found qualified and were subsequently employed by the consulting firm handling the recruitment exercise.
“The government plans to pay those who worked for some time, while those who only reported will receive N100,000 each,” he added.
Dr Mamman emphasised the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability in recruitment processes to improve education standards in the state.
The commissioner who reflected on the journey so far, noted that “Nearly two days when the governor was inaugurated 2019, I became one of the first appointees of this government. I served as SSA under him for a period of two weeks. I became a special adviser under him. So all these were there before I became commissioner for education.”
He said he was committed to improving education in the State while acknowledging the challenges that lay ahead, saying, “Despite these challenges, the government had made significant strides, including partnering with the World Bank on the Adolescent Initiative for Learning and Empowerment which encompasses education of both the boys and girls.”
Dr Mamman said that the initiative had already begun to bear fruit, with 490 schools set to benefit from various development projects.
The commissioner also said that the state was aware of the issues plaguing private schools in the state. “We have met with them. We have issued announcements,” he said, emphasising the need for regulation and oversight.
On his part, Commissioner for Information, Culture, and Tourism, Dr Ibrahim Tanko, highlighted the government’s efforts to inform the public about its policies and projects.
He appealed to the public to protect government facilities and announced that the governor approved N5.6 billion for the digitalisation of the state-owned media house, Nasarawa Broadcasting Service (NBS) for effective service delivery.