The Enugu State Government has sacked 16 out of the 17 local government education secretaries in the state.
The workers were accused of conniving with ex-council chairmen in the State to perpetrate fraud.
Also fired is the general manager of the State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency over poor performances, which it said had constituted a drawback to good governance in the state.
In another development, however, the state has set machinery in motion for the recruitment of 2000 primary school teachers to shore up the operations and good standards in the state’s primary school system.
The State’s Commissioner for Information, Dr. Godwin Udeuhele, disclosed this on Saturday following a meeting of the State Executive Council that lasted into Friday night.
The council, according to him, took far reaching decisions, including the ratification of the recommendation of a probe carried out by the State Universal Basic Education Board that had recommended the sack of all education secretaries of the 17 local council areas in the state, except that of Awgu LG who was appointed just last June.
The commissioner explained that the termination of the appointments became necessary to inject fresh ideas and impetus into the administration’s resolve of enhancing basic education in the state, a drive that was no longer found in the operations of the sacked secretaries:
“The termination of appointment of the local government education secretaries with the exception of that of Awgu is to enhance and strengthen development of basic education in the state”, Udeuhele said.
The council accused the officers of practices inimical to the desired growth in the basic education system of the state, adding that they connived with the past local government chairmen to bring the system down, especially in effecting some illegalities.
To strengthen the sector, the commissioner said that the council also approved the recruitment of 2000 primary school teachers in the state to enhance teaching and learning.
On the move to employ some 2000 primary school teachers, he stated that “those to be employed must have a minimum qualification of National Certificate on Education (NCE) from recognized institutions.
He said, “This recruitment must reflect at least 100 persons each from the 17 local government areas of the state and should be evenly spread across the 260 electoral wards in the state,” adding that the process has already begun and would be completed before the next academic session kicks off.
The state government has also ordered immediate withdrawal of the recently reinstated traffic regulations enforcement team of the State Ministry of Transport following public complaints against their activities.
The council also approved the dissolution of the board of the State Water Corporation and removal of the managing director of Enugu State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency over poor performance.
