2500 Teachers engaged to boost Qualitative education under transformative Governor Alex Otti
By Chukwu Elvis
Education remains the bedrock for development in society leading to the quest for its consistent advancement over the of human history. All advanced societies and communities place a high premium on qualitative education and such societies have always traced their advancement to a formal learning sector which captures the grooming of individual members to contribute to societal advancement.
On coming to office, Dr. Alex Otti identified the education sector as one requiring urgent attention owing to it’s moribund state arising from many years of neglect and mismanagement. So much had already gone wrong in education when this administration came on board more so that teachers were on strike because of a backlog of salaries being owed by previous state governments prompting mass industrial protests by the teachers union.
The first move by the new administration was to call for a truce followed by rounds of negotiations with the teachers union leading to the promise by the government to tackle the unpaid backlog of wages and rapidly improve the overall face of education in the state.
Counting from then on, the outlook of education has changed in Abia with the recovery of landed property belonging to public schools encroached upon by those lacking a sense of decency and value for education. Some recovered schools and a select others are being renovated and equipped by the current government to meet the demands for todays’ learning.
The administration recently concluded a training programme for teachers in the state. The ‘train the trainer’ programme aims to equip today’s Abia teacher with techniques for effective teaching and this was achieved with the help of consultants versed in teacher training, called upon by the government to help Abia come out of the doldrums in the education ecosystem.
With the unbundling of the Ministry of Education to create two separate ministries; Basic/secondary education and Tertiary education, the government has beamed it’s focus on scaling up the quality of teaching and learning in public schools at the primary and post primary level without leaving out the tertiary level. These concerted effort aims to ensure Abia children are properly trained to compete in a 21st century world bearing in mind that what worked yesterday may not work today or tomorrow.
Governor Alex Otti has continued to say that schools in Abia will look a certain way when remodelling and retrofitting are done with by his administration.
The recent implementation of the “no child out of school” policy starting from January 2025 is another drive to improve the lot of education in the state, not leaving any child who is of school age behind. The state government has set up a task force with education marshals under the ministry of education to enforce the policy with a threat of prosecution for parents or guardians who deliberately deny children under their watch access to education.
Latest reports from schools show an explosion in enrolment never before witnessed in the state, expressing a desire for learning among Abians hitherto stifled because of poor infrastructure and a lack of motivation for instructors leading to a mass migration from education to other sectors perceived to be more lucrative by qualified hands.
Governor Alex Otti has gone a step further to approve the employment of 2500 qualified teachers to strengthen the teaching workforce in Abia. Shedding more light on the modalities for the engagement, commissioner for Basic and secondary education Elder Goodluck Ubochi assured that the process is structured to be as transparent as possible because applications will be received on-line only. No interested candidate will be required to submit application documents to any one face to face.
This the commissioner assured is to block influence peddling which will compromise the process and defeat the aim of engaging qualified persons into the critical teaching workforce of Abia to secure a brighter future for the youths.
At the last count, over 17,000 applications have been received from interested candidates seeking to be engaged into Abias’ teaching workforce.
Governor Otti has reiterated the plan to introduce a discriminatory compensation package for teachers in the state. This will favour teachers who are posted to serve in remote rural communities, encouraging them to give their best for the benefit of the pupils in such communities.
Looking through the actions so far taken by the present administration in the education sector, it is indeed obvious that governor Alex Otti places a high premium on teaching and learning, desiring for Abia to be number one; a leader in qualitative education in the country and beyond. In placing such a high premium on education, the governor deems it mandatory for the sector to receive priority attention particularly the public school system.
The governor notes that he is a beneficiary of the public school system from the past acknowledging that standards have since fallen to abysmal levels. His vision therefore is to revamp the sector, reviving public confidence in the education system managed by the state government.
It is worthy of note to mention that the current administration is also focused on ensuring that private schools in the state maintain minimum standards in teaching, teaching aids and learning. Several interventions have been made by the government to improve standards among private schools; going as far as shutting down schools judged to be substandard.
In the 2024 and 2025 appropriation act under the administration of Gov. Otti, a massive 20 percent is being voted to education underscoring the premium his government has placed on the sector.
The future looks very rosy for education in Abia considering the significant budgetary allocations and other interventions by the government. Positive results have started trickling in though it is yet early days to start counting. For one, the explosion in school enrolment is paradigm shift from what the situation was in past.
Dr. Alex Otti has scored yet another one for God’s own state and the march is on to the promise land to the glory of GOD and the benefit of humanity.
Alas, we behold the New Abia ably led by the visionary and focused Alex Chioma Otti.
Chukwu Elvis, public Affairs Commentator