As part of efforts meant to fish out fake teachers parading themselves as being competent, the Cross River State’s Ministry of Education has entered into partnership with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Cross River State Council.
Stephen Odey, Commissioner for Education, dropped the hint in Calabar, the State Capital when he hosted Archibong Bassey, the State Chairman of NUJ and other Executive members.
According to the Commissioner, some teachers are paying money to be made School Principals, while some teachers are with fake certificates.
The Commissioner however promised to collaborate with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Cross River State Council to help fish out fake teachers, among the entire teaching staff of the State.
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BusinessDay recalls that the fight against fake teachers started when the Commissioner was the Chairman of the State Primary Education Board where over 1,572 teachers were dismissed.
“In my interactions with the governor (Governor Bassey Otu), I told him to give me two years to sanitize the system”, he said.
Odey also said he recently debunked publications that since 2018 Cross River State Government had not employed teachers.
“We employed teachers in 2015 and right now I have written to the governor for approval to employ 6,000 teachers and that report is not correct”, he added.
Earlier, Archibong Bassey, Chairman of NUJ Cross River State Council, said that the Council had been following the Commissioner of Education’s activities with keen interest, pledging to collaborate with the Ministry of Education in its efforts to fish out fake teachers in the Education sector.