Oyo State Government has ordered the immediate suspension of 13 primary school headteachers, two assistant headteachers and a classroom teacher for alleged extortion and various misconducts.
Dr Nureni Adeniran, Executive Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board ( OSUBEB), gave the order during an inspection tour of some schools in Ibadan metropolis.
According to a statement by Adeniran’s Media Aide, Olamide Adeniji, the board handed down the suspension to the erring teachers due to established facts met on the ground at the various schools they supervised.
He also confirmed that the teachers were indicted of insubordination, refusal to comply with posting instructions and illegal collection of fees from pupils.
Adeniran added that the suspended teachers would face a disciplinary committee set up by the board.
According to him, the committee has been mandated to ensure a thorough probe of the allegations and give all concerned fair hearing.
He said that the state would not tolerate inequity and gross indiscipline amongst teachers.
It would be recalled that Oyo State Government, after announcing free and qualitative education in May 2019, also approved the payment of N526 million running-grants to primary and secondary schools for the first term of 2019/2020 session.
The schools were expected to submit records of disbursements to the state government at the end of each term.
The SUBEB chairman said: “It was during our tour of schools that we discovered the failure of some teachers to comply with posting instructions, while some of them were collecting illegal money from the pupils, despite reiteration of the free-education policy of this administration.
“So far, we have discovered that some saboteurs are among the teachers, who are flouting the state government’s directives and pulling down our efforts to sanitise the teaching system in the state,” he stated.
Adeniran described the acts of the teachers as unruly, adding that the government would set up a standing disciplinary committee to handle the misdemeanor.
“We discovered that the absence of supervision and monitoring of educational activities in the state has given so much room for impunity and indiscipline. We will not allow this to happen henceforth,” he added.
Speaking further, the SUBEB chairman said: “This will serve as a deterrent to saboteurs among headteachers in the state.
“They shall know henceforth, that the state government will not tolerate indiscipline.”
He said that the state’s stance to put a stop to quackery and indiscipline in the teaching profession remained unchanged and urged recalcitrant teachers to desist from illegal acts.
The chairman said that Governor Seyi Makinde-led government would not relent in creating a conducive teaching environment for teachers, through the provision of infrastructure, payment of running-grants and prompt payment of salaries.
He, however, warned teachers not to take the administration’s compassion for timidity.
