The Chairman, Edo State Chapter of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Bernard Gbenga Ajobiewe, has said if truly education is the most potent tool by man for his own advancement, then the teachers who constitute the fabric upon which the success of the entire educational sector hangs deserve special recognition and appreciation.

Speaking at an event to mark World Teachers Day, he lamented that the education sector in Edo State is nothing to write home about. Leading the teachers in the state to grieve over the condition of service and the state of education, Ajobiewe, in his address, drew attention to shortage of teachers in public schools and several failed promises made to them by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led government.

“The schools are empty, the pupils are not learning. A situation where two or three teachers are teaching in an entire school, how do you expect effective teaching and learning to take place?

“In view of the acute shortage of teachers consequent upon retirement, death, resignation or other causes across the state, we wish to passionately appeal to the state government to recruit qualified teachers to fill such vacancies.”

He revealed that the situation is worse in the rural areas. Ajobiewe, whose address was intermittently greeted with thunderous ovations, also wanted the immediate implementation of teachers’ promotion, as well as that of those omitted during the exercise.

He decried the appointment of teachers that are junior in rank to head schools, while their seniors remain as classroom teachers, noting that such policy engenders rancor and acrimony within the school system, which is counterproductive, and unethical to educational system.