Honourable Akinade Alamu, the current chairman of the Oyo State Post Primary Schools Teaching Service Commissions (TESCOM) in this interview speaks to MODUPE GEORGE on the activities of the commission, his achievement in office, the recently approved recruitment of teachers by the government, among other issues.
How has it been steering the commission for over five years?
It’s been very tough due to the position in which this present administration meets the education sector. Things were in very bad shape when governor Seyi Makinde came on board, but with determination and the charge he gave us, we settled down to work to make improvements on the teaching and learning activities in all the post primary schools in the state. When we came on board, there were not enough teachers and that affected the performance of our students, but then, we took the bull by the horn. The governor, being a forward-thinker, approved the recruitment of more teachers and that was why we were able to breach that gap. A total of 5000 teachers were recruited in February 2021. The approval was given in 2020 but we had to go through several processes before the recruitment exercise was concluded.
In specific terms, what are your achievements so far?
TESCOM is saddled with a lot of responsibilities; one of them is recruitment of staff. When we recruit staff, we also train them and that is what we did in May this year, when we trained all the principals/vice principals in our secondary schools. We’re also involved in discipline and that has improved the attitude of our teachers to work. We are also keen about the welfare of our staff, I’m bold to tell you that every month, we give out car loans to our teachers, a sum of 50 million is given by the government to our teachers as car loans every month. The government also gives grants of 15 million every month which brings the money we give out to about 65 million. A teacher is entitled to a sum between N500,000 and N750,000 as car loan. Though this may not be able to buy a car, it can be used for one thing or the other as it pleases the owner. Governor Seyi Makinde is a lover of public servants and for this reason, he approves their promotions personally. Before he came on board, we have grade level 15 officers being principal of secondary schools and before then, if there are no vacancies in schools, you don’t promote principals; you don’t promote people to grade level 16 but when Governor Seyi Makinde came on board, he said we should not play with the fortune of our teachers; they should be promoted as and when they are due and not as subject to vacancies. As a result of this, many teachers were promoted to grade level 16 and even now, many have been promoted to grade level 17. We even have teachers who are not yet principals being promoted to grade level 17 because Governor Seyi Makinde said once you have spent three to four years on a grade level, you should automatically be promoted to the next higher level. So, that has been the practice and this gesture has brought joy and encouragement to all the teachers in the state and that is why they’re performing well.
In addition, another thing that we have done to enhance education in the state is the creation of more zones across the states. There were six zones in the entire Oyo State, with just two zones in Ibadan, but we felt that there are so many schools in each of these zones, so, we created two additional zones, making four zones in Ibadan. In all, we now have 10 zones; four in Ibadan, Iseyin, Eruwa, Oyo, Ogbomosho, Saki and Kishi.
One striking thing about the addition is that before, each of these zones were being headed by the senior principal of a secondary school but we made a request to the governor and he approved that each of them should be headed by a permanent secretary also known as tutor-general. So, instead of having one permanent secretary at TESCOM, we now have 11; one at the headquarters and the other 10 heading each of these zones with an additional 11 from the Ministry of Education. They were jealous so they also asked for a permanent secretary to head their own zones as well so the governor approved it for them as well, which now makes 22 permanent secretaries in both the Ministry of Education and TESCOM. This is to enhance the status of our staff.
There is free education at both the primary and secondary level in the state, the payment of any kind of fee has been abolished and that has resulted in the government giving school grants because if the parents are not paying, how will the school run? The government gives a total sum of about N200 million to TESCOM every term which we distribute to the schools as the running grants. The burden has been lifted off the parents’ shoulders; the government has taken over the expenses and things have been working well. The government is spending a lot of money and this has resulted in an increase in the enrollment of students to the schools. Parents are now withdrawing their wards from private secondary to public secondary schools because we now have better teachers and the standard of teaching has improved. Before we came on board, the enrollment was about 400,000, now we have well over 500,000 students in secondary schools in Oyo State.
You sounded as if there were no challenges?
Obviously, there are challenges; the issue of funds is a general challenge all over the country. You don’t always have enough money to do all that you want to do. However, since the inception of Governor Makinde’s administration, the budgetary allocation to education has increased. About 20 percent of the annual budget is earmarked for the education sector, but the issue is that we have more students to cater for, meaning that we need more teachers.
Another challenge is this issue of Japa; a lot of teachers have resigned to seek greener pastures overseas. Again, there has been an exodus of teachers; we have recorded mass retirement of teachers who completed their 35 years in service. Any keen observer will notice that many lives have been lost to COVID-19. All of these have culminated in losing our experienced staff; such experience cannot be gained overnight. This means that we must recruit fresh hands and when we do, we have to train them all over again.
The general decadence that has eaten deep into the fabrics the society is also posing a challenge in our schools today. Some of the students are unruly; we put in extra efforts to actually curb their excesses. You now hear of cult incidences even in secondary schools. We have always risen up to the challenges by educating and partnering with the parents in moulding the children. I’m optimistic we are winning the battle.
Recently the governor gave approval to recruit into both primary and secondary schools in the state, tell us about the development and how prepared is your commission to handle this to ensure the process is seamless?
The previous exercise was quite hitch-free except that one or two people were discovered trying to slot in names into the list of those who actually wrote the Computer-Based Test (CBT) and passed the oral interview. We had a total of 5000 appropriately recruited, but some people went behind to fraudulently slot in names. Concerning the people who claimed not to receive their employment letters, they were the people whose names were manoeuvred into the genuine list.
However, we are more experienced now. Firstly, we will ensure that those who are applying this time use their personal telephone number and not their relatives’. Then, while applying which will be on our portal, they must input their national identity cards; this is to avoid any interference with the list. Once you have done the needful in these regards, no one can impersonate with another person’s particulars. These are some of the measures we are deploying. Once you have passed the CBT, you have over 50 percent chances of being employed. We are better informed, so there will be no problems at all.
How are you going to ensure the process is not politicised?
We TESCOM officials are no longer popular among our family members, owing to the position during the previous exercise, which was based purely on merit. There were my relatives who did not pass the test and there was nothing I could do to assist. The governor has directed that “whoever fails the test should not be considered. Don’t say he/ she is from the governor.” So, if the governor could be so frank, I have also determined not to soil my name and my staff will have to follow suit. That’s why I said we are not popular with the people. We have made it clear that people shouldn’t solicit assistance for whoever does not pass the test. It is simple, we are just echoing the governor’s directive to the big politicians and top government functionaries.
How soon is the exercise and what is the figure?
The governor has approved that we recruit a total of 7,500 teaching and 3,000 non-teaching staff into secondary schools across the state. The portal will soon be opened for application and there will definitely be a closing date. Application will be continuous and once we have reached the required figure, the portal will be closed.
Who can apply, is the opportunity also open to non-indigenes?
We have 33 local governments in Oyo State and people were recruited from every of the local government areas, even wards. It might interest you to know that 10 percent of the people that were recruited during the last exercise were non indigenes. They applied and passed the test, so the governor directed that we should appoint 10 percent out of the 5000. Meanwhile, we also recruited over 300 people who are physically-challenged.
Recently, you conducted a training workshop for school principals/vice principal in the state, one of the salient issues spotlighted was the level of decadence among the secondary school students today; does that bother you?
Most of the problems we are facing today in terms of immorality among secondary students in most cases stem from the home. Charity they say begins at home. A parent who is sending the child to buy hard drugs and drinks, cigarettes, among others is passing on something to the child. It is unfortunate that our schools are bearing the brunt of these anomalies from homes. That is one of the reasons why we conduct frequent training to educate our school administrators on the way to approach some of these situations in their various schools; the way to handle a student who is on drugs is different from the ways to deal with the one innocent ones. A student who is on drugs can slap the teacher, if he is not unprofessionally handled. We’ve had instances of where a student engaged in a fight with the teacher. We – the teachers, parents, society, and government all need to join hands in combating these anomalies. The interesting thing is that this is not peculiar to students in school, it is found among the children who are learning trades. The school cannot be completely isolated from what is happening in the society. It is a place where we can make the difference, produce good examples for others to follow.
It is no longer news that teachers welfare in Oyo State is now something to write home about, but the issue of infrastructure development is still lingering, some of the schools are still without fences, what do you have to say to this?
When things are bad and you want to make amends, you have to start somewhere. The government is aware that there is a need for improved infrastructure. The issue such unpaid salaries, owing pensions in arrears, lack of promotion, among others are now things of the past. Let me announce to you that currently, the focus of the Oyo State government is on improving the infrastructure in our schools. The governor has made it public that in the next three years, no school will be without a fence and adequate furniture. The World Bank saw the performance of the Oyo State government and it gave grants to it to renovate some of the schools and to build more new junior secondary schools in the state. It is the performance of the state government that attracts the World Bank to the state. The governor believes that when the teachers are happy, they will be liberal to the learners and will also be at their best. However, the next focus is on the infrastructures as well as renovation where necessary which the government is determined to pursue vigorously and it has started.