Ekiti: Commissioner, Workers Issue Counter Order To Newly Recruited Teachers

By Ayodele Oni

Newly recruited secondary school teachers in Ekiti state are entangled in ongoing administrative supremacy between the commissioner for education and career civil servants in the Ministry.

The State Teaching Service Commission had on Friday released lists containing names of those that scaled through the interview processes for appointment as teachers.

A statement by the Commission read “Following the recruitment exercise recently carried out by the Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission for the appointment of qualified

teachers into the State Public Secondary Schools, the Commission hereby releases the under-listed names of successful applicants.

“Accordingly, all successful applicants are enjoined to complete  their documentation at the Teaching Service Commission between

Monday, 28th and Thursday, 31st August, 2023.

“They are to come along with original copies of their credentials and receipts of payment for the sum of Five Thousand Naira

(N5,000.00)each for employment and document forms payable to: Account No:0537177025,

Account Name: Teaching Service Commission

Overhead Account Bank Name: FCMB.’

Sources at the commission disclosed that this has been the practice for newly employed teachers to pay N5,000, regarded as administrative charges for processing of their credentials.

Recalled that the state Civil Service Commission had earlier forced some job applicants to pay N3,000 to the state Treasury for inexistent job vacancies.The applicants are yet to be refunded their money.

The latest information for newly recruited teachers did not however go down well with the commissioner for education, Mrs Kofoworola Aderiye who views the order as exploitative of the new recruits.

Aderiye is coming to the ministry for second time as commissioner, after serving as Special Adviser in same ministry and could not have claimed ignorance of previous payment of ‘administrative charge’s by recruits.

A counter order by the commissioner states  “Further to the notification for the release of lists of successful applicants into teaching profession in Ekiti State Public Secondary Schools, the Honourable Commissioner for Education, Dr  ( Mrs) Kofoworola Aderiye mni has directed that successful applicants are not required to pay for the employment and documentation forms as contained in the earlier notification.

“However, they are to appear for documentation processes at the Teaching Service Commission from Wednesday 30th August, 2023 to Tuesday 5th September, 2023 at 9.00am prompt. This information supercedes the earlier notification in this regard.”

The Commissioner’s counter order was signed by the permanent secretary, Mike Omolayo.

Some Staff of the Ministry are surprised by the Commissioner’s counter order since she has been part of the system.

It was gathered that some of the successful candidates had already paid the money into the stipulated account before the Commissioner’s order.