I Didn’t Disengage Any Qualified Anambra Teacher, Soludo Clears The Air On Protest

Prof Charles Soludo

Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State on Thursday said his administration has not disengaged any qualified teacher from the state education system.

Recently, some teachers engaged by the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) purportedly converted to permanent staff in Anambra state schools, protested that they were sacked by the Soludo administration.

The protesters who barricaded the entrance of the state House of Assembly in Awka displayed placards with various inscriptions, claiming to have been engaged by the state government before the termination of their jobs.

They had claimed that some of them had worked for over 10 years before the last administration decided to hold a recruitment and conversion exercise to make them permanent staff.

According to them, about 1,000 of their members were shortlisted, and they got their appointment letters in November 2021 to resume fully, but for over seven months, they have not been paid, and have just been told that their appointments have been terminated.

Reacting to the protest in a statement, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Christian Aburime, said for the avoidance of doubt, that no qualified teacher in the state’s school system has been relieved of his/her appointment.

According to him, the government is rather repositioning the education sector according to standard practice and in line with the objectives of the Soludo administration.

He explained that the affected PTA teachers who were “converted” to the school system in the last days of the last administration in an irregular, hazy circumstances, were only asked to regularize their employment with the government by taking part in the online teachers’ recruitment test initiated by the state.

“Teachers all over the world are recruited through a serious and systematic pedagogical based process.

“The “conversion” method is rather new to the teaching field and is totally unacceptable in the State.

“The idea is to ensure that only those with requisite qualifications, proven capacity and commensurate experiences are recruited into the system.

“It is not to witch-hunt anybody or take away anybody’s job.

“Please ignore any mischievous or unfounded publication on this matter.

“At all times, Prof Soludo means well for the good people of Anambra State and will stop at nothing in giving them the best, education inclusive,” he said.

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