Our man, EMMANUEL ADENIRAN, recently had an encounter with the Chairman of Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission (TSC), Hon. Babatunde Abegunde. He spoke on the efforts of the state government towards ensuring that the quality of education in Ekiti is not compromised, among many salient issues: Excerpts below:
Can we formally meet you?
I am Hon. Babatunde Abegunde, a politician, a two-term member of the House of Representatives in the Second Republic and currently, the Chairman, Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM).
Can you share your experience as the Chairman of Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission?
It has been very interesting and challenging but we have applied ourselves to do the maximum we can do. We have conducted staff verification exercise, which enabled us to know the number of staffs that we have in the commission, which is a statewide assignment.
We have conducted the recruitment of teachers and we recruited over 600 secondary school teachers. We discovered that some people are agitating and quarrelling over people who do not want to stay outside Ado Ekiti and we have deliberately sent them out to the suburbs. The suburbs cannot be suffering when the state capital is over populated. There are different people coming with issues relating to transfer and we have to decide and make people comply with the transfer instruction that was approved and authorized by the governor, His Excellency, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi.
To make the rural areas attractive, we will soon be proposing to the Governor on the rural allowance scheme for teachers, it was terminated some years back but we want to restore it so that teachers will be eager to be posted to rural areas instead of staying in Ado Ekiti. Posting of teachers to the rural areas is not a punishment rather it is to make the rural areas attractive to our teachers.
Can you shed more light on the rural allowance scheme for teachers serving in the rural areas?
Yes, it has started but it was terminated midway because the scheme was co-financed by the state Government and the World Bank. Now, we want to do it on our own now without depending on the World Bank. We are proposing to re-arrange the financial involvement of the Ekiti State Government towards the teacher’s welfare. We are still on the drawing board and we intend to do that very soon – we hope to resolve it with the Executive Governor.
What is the government doing to address the current state of Infrastructural deficit among public secondary schools in the state?
During the first tenure of Governor Kayode Fayemi, He removed all the structures and roofs of the schools that are dilapidated. All the red roofs in Ekiti schools were constructed by the JKF administration and since we were elected into office, more infrastructures and works have been carried out particularly in the junior category. SUBEB is doing much work in the area of roofing and fencing for security reasons and it is an ongoing project. In addition, you might see some roofs that have been removed, it is an ongoing project and a continuous exercise to mend all the dilapidated structures. Some of these schools in reality are very old; it is like using a new dress for a while and after sometimes, it will start tearing off. The maintenance culture in our African society is still not perfect enough. Therefore, we are trying hard to see what we can do to refurbish some of the old school structures.
Considering the recent result from NECO and WAEC, it was reported that Ekiti state result was not as good as it used to be, what is your view on this?
Concerning that, we need to verify from the Ministry of Education, I do not have the records here and I know we are not doing badly. Whoever has been coming first in NECO or WAEC knows how they came about it. I know the quality has improved and we have injected new blood into the system, which will make the performance higher. Nevertheless, the records are available in the Ministry of Education to cross check. Now, I am sure that we have higher quality of teachers in the system because the teachers underwent systematic exams and vigorous interviews before they were recruited and there was no favoritism unlike before when you are recruited based on familiarity. The quality of teachers that we have in our secondary schools now is of higher quality than what we have been experiencing over the years.
What is the government’s plan towards motivating teachers for effectiveness and productivity?
Hopefully, we are working towards it and it will be held during the World Teacher’s Day celebration. Presently, we have a scheme for car and housing loans and we are paying salaries regularly, which I believe is better than giving car loans to four or five people or having backlog of unpaid salaries. We have tried not to have backlog of salaries. If you give cars to teachers and they do not receive three to four months salaries, what is the joy and motivation? What is important to the present administration is the welfare of teachers. Therefore, the priorities must be in proper perspective. We are not doing show business, what we are interested is in qualitative and motivational program to encourage teachers to enjoy their stay in service.
The motivation exercise is a continuous one, these are the ingredients we are using to motivate our teachers, I am sure that the teachers who have received their salaries for August 2021 will be eager to resume to school.
What are the programs, agenda, and vision scheduled for the current academic year?
Yes, we are monitoring our teachers’ resumption on a regular basis. From the first day of resumption, we go around touring, monitoring schools to make sure that the resumption compliance is observed and the environment is suitable for teaching and learning processes.
Before the end of the week, we will make sure that the transfer instructions have been effected among all the schools concerned.
What is the government’s effort in assessing that the quality of education in the state is not compromised, and its efforts towards reducing truancy among students in the state?
The government, teachers, and parents have their roles to play. We have a virile Parents Teachers’ Association (PTA) where issues of discipline and other matters relating to class attendance are enforced.
If the parents, teachers are not actively involved in enforcing discipline among students, there is little government the can achieve. The stakeholders involved in this exercise are all aware of the focus of the government in ensuring that education is made affordable for all people in the state. Teachers, Parents and the Government have collaborated to ensure that students are punctual and regular in class. Even if the teachers are ready to teach and the students are nowhere to be found, it will amount to fruitless effort and that is why we are encouraging our teachers to be regular and punctual in schools.
In November, the Ekiti State Government is hosting the National Festival of Arts (NAFEST) and some of the facilities in the schools will be used to host the contingents from other states, what is your level of preparedness towards this?
You are very proactive. If you checked our calendar, we have given room for elongated mid-term from 12th to 20th November 2021 to allow the invited guests have a place to stay. We have given advanced notice to our schools concerning the upcoming events.
What is the statistics of the number of secondary schools we have in the state?
The schools are increasing and we have just opened a new one in Ifaki Ekiti now. We are opening another in Ado Ekiti during the week and we are contemplating opening another in Ikere Ekiti. Spanning across the three senatorial zones in the state – we have over 191 secondary schools in the state.
What is the statistics of the Teaching and Non-Teaching staffs in the state?
It is over 8,000. We cannot give an accurate data now for the teaching and non-teaching staffs because some people will be retiring. The accurate figure is unknown now since we are not employing new people. Nevertheless, I know we have the highest number of employees in the state compared to those in the civil service.
Can you give us your specific message as schools begin another academic calendar?
Naturally, students should look forward to the day of resumption. It is because they do not go to farm anymore just as we experienced during our own time. During our days, resumption to school is a time we look forward to with joy and anxiety and it is an opportunity to get new shoes and uniforms especially for new intakes. It is also a time that you will be relieved of domestic chores, farm work, and other errands by parents, neighbors and a time to meet new friends in your new class and school.
