The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Rivers State Chapter, again expresses serious concern on the plights of the newly recruited teachers, whose salaries are being owed by the Rivers State Government after several months of their engagement.
The PDP sympathizes with the teachers over what it discovers as deliberate fraudulent activities by the Rivers State government through the operators of the system, who are only acting out the script of the State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, using the scheme to secure political patronage and support.
The Party wonders why up till this moment, none of the employed teachers knows how much he/she is entitled to, as monthly salary, as the letters issued to them do not state how much they will be paid monthly by the government.
The Party also uncovers that, by the appointment letter, the teachers ought to be paid seven months salaries, but the government, through the later introduction of the Biometric exercise, is counting four months, instead of seven months, thereby reducing their entitlements by three months.
The PDP also notes with dissatisfaction the calculated delay in the biometric exercise started over a month ago with the Junior Secondary, which is being supervised by the Universal Basic Education, UBE. The Party observes that while the Biometric exercise for the Junior Secondary is still not concluded, those of the Secondary section is yet to commence, wondering when the whole process will be completed for the starved teachers to be out of their dilemma.
The PDP again requests the government to give details of the exact number of persons employed, as apart from the conflicting figures at public domain, most of those who enrolled in the scheme have since abandoned the job for greener pastures.
Another source of worry to the Party is the revelation of secret employment going on now in the State Education Ministry, where applicants are made to pay the sum of N200, 000 each for a teaching slot with the UBE or Post Primary Schools Board.
The Party says its intention was to bring to public knowledge all these fraudulent activities in the education section in the State, and urges Rivers people not to yield to the demands by the government agents, as doing to so will further destroy the academic standard in the State.
It further warns officials of the relevant ministries and departments to resist the pressure on them by the Governor and his political agents to subvert our education sector for their selfish gains and ambition.
Signed:
Jerry Needam
SA, On Media to
State PDP Chairman
Friday, February 14, 2014
