Nahimat Adekoga
The Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, has directed the State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) to regularize the employment of personnel that were recruited into the Commission in 2014 without approval.
The governor also directed that the employment of 63 teachers, which was approved, but not implemented should also be normalized.
A statement signed by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication to the Governor, Dr Muyideen Akorede, said that while Ahmed frowned at the authorized employment and had approved sanctions for the erring officials, he is reluctant to throw the affected staff into the unemployment market.
The statement therefore stressed that following Governor Ahmed’s directive, TESCOM is to conduct relevant processes for the normalization of employment of the affected personnel, who include both teaching and non-teaching staff. With regard to teaching staff, emphasis would be on those with qualifications in Maths, English and Science subjects.
According to the statement, the processes include certificate verification and other due processes that must be followed in the recruitment of staff into TESCOM.
The statement further noted that the affected personnel’s employment would be regularized upon satisfactory confirmation of their suitability and eligibility for employment into the Commission.
Ahmed had in 2014 given TESCOM approval to employ 449 staff for Mathematics, English and core Science disciplines to cater for the shortfall of teachers in those subjects as well as security guards.
However, the Administrative Panel of Inquiry set up by the State government discovered that the Commission illegally recruited more staff than the 449 approved by the governor.