Abiodun Hires 3000 Teachers, Provides Housing, Funds, And Schools For His Team

Dapo Abiodun

Abiodun hires 3000 teachers and gives his workers and schools houses and cash on World Teachers' Day.

In honor of this year's World Teachers' Day, Ogun State Governor Prince Dapo Abiodun has approved the immediate hiring of 1000 Ogun Teach Interns.

The act is intended to decrease the student-teacher ratio and fill open positions in public schools.

The governor also approved the hiring of 2,000 additional OGUNTEACH applicants to join the 2000 interns who were already hired, as well as the awarding of bungalows and cash awards to teachers who performed admirably for the State while carrying out their tasks.

At the 2023 World Teachers' Day event, which was hosted at the Oba's Complex in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, with the theme "The Teachers We Need for Education We Want; the Global Imperative to Reverse Teachers Shortage," Prince Abiodun made this announcement.

The governor stated that the new teachers' appointments are effective immediately and added that the administration is making every effort to increase the number of teachers.

He said: "It is my great joy to announce to you that Ogun State will be having an education summit soonest, for cross-fertilizing ideas by critical stakeholders in the sector, to proffer workable solutions to how to improve our education sector beyond this point and institutionalize the desired excellence in all our schools in line with the dreams of our founding fathers.

"To complement this initiative, we will be inaugurating an education trust fund to fund education infrastructure across the various levels. Also, a special committee on the rehabilitation of public schools to complement SUBEB's interventions will be inaugurated soon."

The governor reaffirmed that his administration places a high priority on the welfare and wellness of teachers along with its continued commitment to making education a top priority when allocating funds for the state and all local governments in order to close the sector's deficit.

While listing some successes in the field of education, Governor Abiodun stated that his administration has started training 750 STEM teachers in a new teaching methodology called PSI- PMI in an effort to displace the traditional method of instruction, particularly in the field of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education.

The governor said he had ordered the issuance of promotion letters for 2021–2022, two months of leave incentives for public employees, and N10,000 payments to all public officials and pensioners in the state in order to motivate teachers to perform at their very best.

"According to the data unveiled for 2022 World Teachers' Day, 5.4 million teachers are needed at the primary level in sub-Saharan Africa and 11.1 million teachers at the secondary level if we are to achieve the targets set by the 2030 Agenda," he added.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Science, and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, praised teachers for their efforts in upholding the State's educational standards in his welcoming address and referred to them as wonderful patriots who are in the business of molding young minds.

In his message of goodwill, the state chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Abiodun Akinola, praised Governor Abiodun for continuing the annual celebration and for continuing the Excellency Awards for the best educators in the state. He also urged the government to hire more teachers in order to lighten the load on the currently employed ones.

Comrade Felix Agbesanwa, the State Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUS), said that the world, including Nigeria, is currently experiencing an unprecedented teacher shortage. He added that the goal of this year's celebration was to stop the loss of teachers and to highlight strategies that would draw in, keep, and inspire those who work in the teaching field.

Agbesanwa commended the Governor for implementing five years of promotion in four years for workers in the state, and for abolishing all levies in schools as well as initiating through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, various policies and interventions geared towards increasing students Higher Education Potential in the state.

 

Highlights of the event were Mr. Akeem Badru receiving the keys to a two-bedroom bungalow, Mr. Togbe Ganiyu receiving the Cambridge Dedicated Teacher's Award for the first time in Africa, and Mr. Akeem Badru receiving the keys to his public primary school.

Amosun Temitope Olaoluwa of Remo received a cash reward of N2 million for being the best teacher in the junior secondary school category, and Mr. Ganiyu Wasiu of the Egba Division received a N2 million cash prize for being the best teacher in the senior secondary school category.

Samza Omolara from the Ijebu Division won the award for best school administrator in junior secondary school, while Kusimo Oluseyi was named the best administrator in senior secondary school from the Egba division and received a cash prize of N1 million. Ajayi Abosede won the award for best primary school administrator from the Egba division.

The winning public secondary school was Baptist High School (Junior), Saje, Abeokuta, which received N7.5 million in prize money. Remo Secondary School (Senior), Sagamu, also received N7.5 million.

Angela Otabo, an educator from the Egba Division, received N500,000 after winning the award for best teacher in a private school.