From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
A coalition of Civil Society Organisations in Osun State, The Osun Masterminds (TOM), has described the delay in the recruitment of teachers by the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke as a dangerous thing for the education sector.
Governor Adeleke had sacked 1,500 teachers recruited by his predecessor, Adegboyega Oyetola, allegedly for lack of due process, and promised to recruit another one.
The TOM in its monthly state-of-the- state address by its executive director, Prof. Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, at the weekend in Osogbo, lamented the state of education in Osun since the government of Adeleke came to power almost three years ago.
“We recently received news of plans by some Osun citizens who have been screened and interviewed in the teacher-recruitment process, to protest the continued delay of the recruitment process.
“While we do not support any needless protests, it must also be stated that the continued delay of the recruitment process does not augur well for the development of the education sector in the state. Pupils and students are turned out of our schools every year, having passed through a short-staffed education system that clearly could not have delivered quality education to them.
“The delay in recruitment of critical manpower also currently affects the health sector in the state, whereas shortage of manpower in the education and health sectors slow down, not just the development of our society, but the growth and development of the humans who people the society. We cannot continue to spend humongous sums on the renovation of health centres without providing adequate manpower to run them,” Alli said.