Cross River State Commissioner for Education, Sen. Stephen Odey, has disclosed that he uncovered 1,572 teachers with fake certificates while serving as the Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
Odey disclosed this on Tuesday in Calabar when the leadership and members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Cross River Council, paid him a courtesy visit in his office.
The Commissioner who served as the Chairman of Cross River SUBEB between 2015 and 2022 before he was elected senator in a by-election said he also discovered many teachers who bought their certificate with as much as N300 thousand.
He said looking at the challenges in the educational sector in the state, he has refused to fold his hand and allow the rot in the system, adding that, teachers should be exemplary in everything.
“The rot in the educational system is enormous and we are facing this daunting challenge, that is why we need the support of the media to help in the fight to sanitise the sector.
“I won’t fold my hands to the fact that people are paying money to be appointed principal or head teachers when they don’t even have the capacity or where you give approval for a principal to collect N4,000 and he goes ahead to collect N8,000 from students.
“Since I came into office as Commissioner and from my days in SUBEB, I have seen a lot because while you are trying to do the right thing people will fight back, however, I am happy that people now know that we are doing the right thing,” he said.
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Speaking further, Odey said education was supposed to be the centre of excellence in the state because if that sector was affected negatively the state was finished.
He also used the opportunity to debunk claims made earlier in a media report that some states including Cross River had not recruited teachers since 2018 adding that, while as Chairman of SUBEB in 2019, he recruited 2,500 teachers.
He added that he had written to Governor Bassey Otu for approval to recruit 6,000 teachers because the greatest problem affecting teaching and learning in Cross River was inadequate teaching staff.
Earlier, the Chairman of the NUJ, Mrs Archibong Bassey, who commended the doggedness of the Commissioner said the media in the state would continue to support him as he strived to sanitise the educational sector in the state.
According to her, “We need to groom our children to be able to compete with the children in other climes.
“I have been following your activities as Commissioner and I have seen your passion, even to the point of clamping down on schools that did not meet the state’s criteria.”