In recent times, teachers on the payroll of the Lagos State government, appear to unhappy with their employer over steps taken by the latter, which the former thinks are hurtful.

Only recently, allegations of irregularities wafted out from the camp of some aggrieved teachers, in the wake of the 2015 promotion and assessment exercise, conducted for public school teachers.

This development compelled a group of lawyers who were in solidarity with the affected teachers, to appeal to the state government to quickly address the issue.

In the statement, which was jointly signed by Gbenga Paseda and Adeniji Adediji, the concerned lawyers, faulted aspects of the promotion exercise, which they claimed brought about “deep unease among teachers in the six education districts of the state.”

The statement a copy of which was obtained by The Guardian maintained that the unease was occasioned by a revelation that some teachers had “been allegedly secretly selected for promotion even when the results of the examinations have not fully been released and made public.

“It appeared that the Lagos government was working against the teachers’ career progression, where hard work, commitment and performance would not be recognised and rewarded,” the statement added.

The discovery, according to the statement, spontaneously sparked disappointment and anger among the affected dedicated teachers, who described the development as a total violation of the new Performance-Based Promotion Policy of the state government introduced by the Babatunde Raji Fashola-led administration.
The new promotion parameter, as gathered, pegged written examination between 20-30 per cent while the actual job performance was increased to between 45 and 50 per cent according to the officers’ grade level.

Having participated in both the 2015 written and oral examinations, and performed relatively well, the teachers anxiously awaited the final results of their promotion exercise. But, shortly after the exercise, many of them said they were shocked and confused when only the results of the written part of the examination were released and pasted across the six education districts.

I really don’t know the reason for transfering a teacher from Ikeja to somewhere in Badagry. How do they expect one to cope with that? 

Those that scored up to 10/20 or 12/25 or 15/30, accordingly, were still rejoicing when information got to them that only the written part would be used for their promotion.
The concerned legal practitioners, who claimed they were touched by the teachers’ plight, had denounced the policy as unjust and unfriendly to the affected workers’ career.

They consequently challenged the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), All Nigerian Confederation of Principal of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) and the Tutors-General of the six education districts not to leave the affected teachers to their current travails.

Just as the affected teachers were battling to come to get over the alleged violation of the new Performance-Based Promotion policy, a band of secondary school teachers in the state are currently lamenting their redeployment to new districts far away from where they currently work.

Hitherto, teachers’ transfer seemed to have taken cognizance of the proximity between the their residences and the schools they work. That appeared to have been thrown overboard now, as the current exercise overlooked such factor.

While a good number of the 797 affected teachers say they were not averse to routine posting exercises, the recent redeployment from one end of the state to another, came as a surprise hence their description of the entire exercise as “inconvenient, inconsiderate and a killjoy.”

But while the affected teachers are groaning, their umbrella body, the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) says it was working with the government to review some cases. The state government on its part says the move was in the best interest of Lagos students, and geared at filling the gaps in districts grappling with the problem of inadequate teachers.

The Guardian gathered that affected teachers in District One, covering schools in Alimoso, Agege and Ifako-Ijaye, last week got notice of their redeployment to District Five.

By implication, teachers who live in places like Abule-Egba, Ajasa-Command, Aboru and Idowu-Egba now have to work in schools around Badagry, Ojo, Festac, Ajegunle and Falomo in Ikoyi among others.

One of the affected teachers, who simply identified herself as Kehinde, claimed to have been transferred to a school in the Badagry axis of the state. Her concern is the travel distance, the increased fair to be spent and the several man-hours that would be lost on transit.

Her words: “I really don’t know the reason for taking a teacher from Ikeja and posting same to somewhere in Badagry. How do they expect one to cope with that?
“I’m sorry to say, there is something vicious about the move. Where is the place for worker’s welfare in all of this? What happens to the civil service rule that an employee should work in close proximity to his or her place of abode? This is just not fair,” Kehinde lamented.

Kehinde, like hundreds of others are yet to report at her new station, citing an order from their union that all affected teachers should maintain status quo.

State chairman of the NUT, Mr. Segun Raheem told The Guardian that the leadership of the union has already started moves, working with the Deputy Governor/Commissioner for Education, Dr. Idiat Aderanti Adebule, to review some cases considered genuine.

According to Raheem, after the redistribution exercise and the fuss it generated, “the deputy governor met with us and gave reasons for the redistribution of teachers and asked that the exercise should not be seen as a punitive step, but one taken in the interest of our students.

“We were also asked to review the list of transferred teachers and bring out those that have genuine cases. That we have done, and are going to meet with the government tomorrow (today). Some of our members are okay with the transfer and have even resumed. But some are not and we will also take their letters along to the meeting with government.

One of those that have reported to her new school for fear of sanction is a social studies teacher redeployed from State Comprehensive College, Moshalashi, Alimoso. According to the teacher who craved anonymity, she has already reported to the District 5 office in Agboju area of Festac.

“I went to the new place last Tuesday and I have been there three times till date, but they are yet to deploy anyone to the school and that is why I don’t go often,” said the teacher, who spent eight years at State High School and State Comprehensive College, Alimoso.

She lamented the huge cost of “traveling” from Alimoso to Agboju District Office, which she said the average travel time sometimes goes as high as five hours per trip.

She said: “The posting comes with a lot of pains. Imagine leaving home at 6:30am and not getting to your work place until 10 or 11 o’clock. The same thing applies when you are returning home. The big problem is made worse when added to the N1, 200 transport fare spent on daily basis.”

We have excess teachers in Agege. This is because of many teachers living around Ota and Agege. They kept getting transfers to Agege. So, we found out that there are too many of them in Agege, while many other areas are lacking. As a good manager, we have no option than to redistribute them

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Olabisi Ariyo, however, explained that the postings were not unconnected with the need to spread the teachers statewide, rather than have then concentrate in Agege and Alimoso areas.

According to Ariyo: “We have excess teachers in Agege. This is because of many teachers living around Ota and Agege. They kept getting transfers to Agege. So, we found out that there are too many of them in Agege, while many other areas are lacking. As a good manager, we have no option than to redistribute them,” she said.

Contrary to claims, the permanent secretary said that the government has taken cognizance of the need to make life easy for the teachers, “by providing buses for them and that is what is on ground right now.”

On complaints that the buses were not visible, Ariyo said that the government would buy more buses to complement the two that are now available.

“Presently, there are two buses leaving Agege by 6am. The buses get to Pen Cinema and you will see them. One goes towards Yaba and the other towards Amuwo-Odofin. What we are even trying to do is to get more buses. We don’t want our teachers to suffer, but at the same time, we cannot leave them doing nothing while there are students somewhere without teachers,” said Ariyo, who stressed that the civil service was at liberty to deploy workers to any part of the state.

“Any employee can work anywhere in the state. Those that cannot be moved anyhow are those on levels one and two. Senior officers can work anywhere in the state. I live in Ajah and I get to Alausa everyday.

“Those posted to District 5 are not necessarily going to Badagry, Agboju, Ojo or Mile 2. They are going to schools along the axis or towards Iba area of the state. We don’t want to inconvenience them sincerely speaking.

“We have even spoken to their union and explained our stand to them. At the end, we all resolved that for those of them with health challenges, we would revisit their cases. They are submitting their names and cases and hopefully by the end of the week, we would have done something about it,” Ariyo assured.

National President of the NUT, Michael Olukoya, also confirmed that the union had intervened in the matter and a machinery set in motion to resolve the grey areas, particularly the inconveniences in the redeployment, “at least to reduce same to the barest minimum.”