Teachers in Anambra State on Monday protested the state government’s directive for them to resume from the Christmas and New Year holiday before the students.
The state Commissioner for Education, Prof. Kate Omenugha had last weekend directed schools to resume on Monday with only teachers, while students and pupils resume on 1st February.
However, while many of the teachers failed to resume as directed by the government, the few that showed up in schools protested the government’s decision to bring them to schools before the students.
The teachers complained that the Anambra State government was yet to pay them their leave allowances for last year and despite the harsh economic condition, the government wants them to spend scarce resources to come to school to sit idly.
A principal of one of the public schools in Awka anonymously said “Okay, we are in school now, what will we be doing here? We do not deal with files, our job is to impact students with knowledge. So, what are we doing here without our students?
“This policy by the Anambra State government is wicked. We have not been paid our leave allowances, yet they want us to spend money to come to school every day to sit idle. They should ask the students to join us. The students they are keeping away from school are either in the market or in other places where they can still contract COVID-19. It is better for them to be in school here.”
A teacher at Igweuike Grammar School, Awka said that asking teachers to resume without students was meaningless.
She added that many of the teachers didn’t follow the government’s directive to resume and even those who did left already because they had nothing to do.
The Commissioner for Education, Prof Omenugha said while reacting to the situation that the reports she received showed that compliance with the school resumption order was high.
“I can tell you that the compliance was very high. We have received reports to this effect. That is what I can say for now,” she said.
However, she didn’t mention what the objective of asking teachers to resume school without students was.