Date: 2016-05-26

The Kwara state Governor Alhaji AbdulFatah Ahmed has been urged to direct the State Universal Basic Education Board to allow the Education Secretaries in the 16 Local Government Areas of the State perform their statutory functions especially in the areas of staff recruitment and posting as well as preparation of salary vouchers for the staff under their jurisdictions.

This is part of resolutions of the State House of Assembly while considering the preliminary report of its Ad-Hoc Committee on the investigation on the actual number of basic schools and teachers in the State with a view to addressing the irregularities in the posting of teachers to primary and junior secondary schools under the Universal Basic Education Board(SUBEB).

The Speaker, Dr. Ali Ahmad while reading the resolutions, said the House arrived at the resolution in view of the urgent need to check usurpation of the statutory functions of Education Secretaries in all the 16 Local Government Councils in the State by SUBEB, thereby impeding effective administration and monitoring of basic schools at the third tiers of government in the State.

Dr. Ahmad who said the House under his headship would not fold its arms and watch deterioration of basic education in the State, expressed confidence that if the resolutions were implemented,it would check the current overriding power of SUBEB on the LGEAs in the State.

The House equally enjoined the State Governor to direct the State Bureau of Statistics to deploy technology to update the records of LGEA and SUBEB as they relate to retirement, resignation, death and other forms of exit from service as at when due to check alleged fraudulent practice in the running of basic schools in the State.

The Lawmakers also mandated that the gross salaries of retired teachers and would be retirees should henceforth be taken into consideration in the monthly payment to SUBEB as well the need for constant and proper reconciliation of records between the Local Government Pension Board and SUBEB.

It equally called on the state Government to direct the Universal Basic Education Board to immediately reduce the number of staff at both SUBEB and LGEA offices by posting them to schools in the state to complement the number of teachers in the classrooms and commended the State Governor for partnering with the House since January this year by starting the on going verification exercise for civil servants in the state.

The chairman of the Ad-Hoc committee and the House Leader Alhaji Hassan Oyeleke while presenting his report before the House had observed among other things that between 2013-2015, a total number of 1,833 teachers comprising retirees, dead and other forms of exit had left service without a corresponding decrease in wage bill of SUBEB, that Executive Secretaries were not adequately empowered to perform their statutory functions by SUBEB on schools under their jurisdiction, and observed series of anomaly which made it difficult for LGEA secretaries in Local Government Areas to monitor, supervise and recommend appropriately on erring teachers..

Members who spoke on the report commended the leadership of the House for ensuring that the Ad-Hoc committee carried out its assignment diligently.

In his remark, the Speaker who noted that the assignment was herculean said the House was proud of the Ad-Hoc committee for not compromising its integrity in the course of carrying out its investigation.