Lagos Assembly considers bill to re-establish Teaching Service Commission

A bill to re-establish the Lagos State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) cancelled in 2005 is presently before the state House of Assembly committee on education and establishment respectively.

Chairman of the House committee on education, Olanrewaju Ogunyemi while addressing the lawmakers during plenary said the bill would provide uniform guidelines and control of post-primary institutions in the state.

He said further that notable gaps were observed in the state educational system since TESCOM was cancelled.

“The bill would ensure the management of the careers of teachers in the state secondary schools. The six districts operate differently and disjointedly. It would ensure that teachers have an appellate body in the commission, where they could air their views. It would empower the commission to make decisions on promotion, discipline and employment of teachers with the approval of the governor,” he said.

The House Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa however queried the essence of the bill and why TESCOM needed to be resuscitated.

He said: “The House passed the law that established the districts. Have we noticed any defect since we passed the law? Nobody has spoken on the need to bring back TESCOM.

“We should be able to identify if the system is working. We must determine if the existing system has failed to stand the test of time. Creating a new commission means we have not done the right thing. Why can’t we insert TESCOM into the existing law rather than creating a new law,” he queried.

Reacting to this, the majority leader, Sanai Agunbiade clarified that TESCOM would not reduce the powers of the districts, which he said could only do little in the area of discipline of erring teachers.

According to him, the districts have not failed, but TESCOM would solve the problems the districts and the ministry cannot solve.

On his part, Chairman of the House committee on education, Lanre Ogunyemi said there is a strong conviction from the ministry that there is need for the harmonisation of the districts with TESCOM.

“The districts would now handle the disciplinary cases of teachers on levels one to six, while TESCOM would handle those on level seven and above. The district heads would report to TESCOM which has powers to take decisions,” he said.