The Rivers State Government has been advised to play down political patronage and prioritise merit in its plan to recruit 5,000 teachers to fill vacancies in primary and secondary schools across the state.
An educationist, Dr. Emmanuel Osilem, gave the advice while describing the proposed recruitment as a welcome development that would create employment and address the shortage of teachers in schools.
He, however, noted that a previous recruitment exercise in the state was flawed, alleging that many of those employed failed to report to their duty posts, especially in rural communities. To avoid a repeat, he recommended a localisation approach in the employment process.
“I rather recommend that we do what we call localization of employment that the people government will employ primarily have to be qualified but they should be resident in the specific area when the school are situated that was what happened that government was paying money for jobs not done,” he said.
Dr. Osilem also suggested that non-indigenes who may be recruited should be made to commit to serving in their assigned locations and not abandon their posts.
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He called for a proper needs assessment to determine the exact number of teachers required and the subject areas where they are most needed. He further stressed the importance of collaboration between the state government, local government authorities, and host communities to monitor performance.
“They have to be a synergy between the state government the local government and the communities if you employ someone in a particular community the community should also make sure that their sons and daughters take real responsibility in the jobs that they are employed to do if they do that it will be a more effective approach to dealing with lack of teachers in secondary and primary school,” he added.
Describing teachers as key drivers of national development, Dr. Osilem maintained that the recruitment exercise must be strictly based on merit to ensure quality education delivery in the state.
