By Ifeanyi Maduako
The last time I checked, Imo State public schools, especially those in the basic and secondary levels, were grossly ill-equipped with qualified teachers.
The foundation of sound and meaningful education is at the basic level, and any government that neglects the basic level usually fails at both the secondary and tertiary levels.
Sometime in May 2023, the government of Imo State advertised for employment of teachers primarily for the basic level. Over 50,000 applicants of Imo State origin applied from all over the country.
Since the announcement was done in May last year which was the last term of the 2022/2023 yearly academic session, the applicants had expected that the successful ones among them would be recruited and deployed to their various schools at the beginning of 2023/2024 academic session which started in September.
This writer was reliably informed that the recruitment of the successful 5,000 applicants has long been concluded since September last year in the belief or hope that they would begin in the first term. However, the management of the Imo State Universal Basic Education Board seems to be waiting on Governor Uzodimma for his approval to post out these applicants to the various schools, especially those in the hinterlands that need their services.
Lastly, the current government of Anambra State had last year employed thousands of teachers since Governor Chukwuma Soludo became the governor in March 2022. If Soludo could employ thousands of teachers in less than two years in office, Uzodimma has no plausible reasons to keep his newly recruited teachers in the doldrums since last year knowing full well that he has not done any new employment in the last four years.
• Maduako writes from Owerri