The management of Imade College in Owo Ondo State has urged Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to address its shortage of teachers and personnel.
It said the manpower shortage has been putting pressure on the school.
The management of the state-owned secondary school established by the late Governor Adekunle Ajasin said its old students had employed 29 ad hoc teachers at a monthly salary of N70000 each to prevent disruptions to teaching and learning.
Members of the Imade College Owo Old Students’ Association (IMACOSA) expressed concern over the weekend during the school’s 80th anniversary celebration and the association’s annual general meeting.
Speaking at the event the association’s Vice President Ambassador Godson Echegile said the alumni had repeatedly appealed to the state government to address the staffing challenges. chegile who represented IMACOSA President Felix Ajibade noted that adequate staffing was necessary to sustain effective teaching and learning ensure the safety of students and staff as well as support the smooth running of the institution.
‘We have a shortage of teachers. That is why the old boys’ association that is IMACOSA decided to employ 29 ad hoc teachers each of whom we pay N70000 every month. Otherwise the students will suffer’ Echegile said.
The IMACOSA vice president noted that the shortage of essential personnel remained a major challenge requiring government attention stressing that adequate staffing was crucial to maintaining the school’s standards and providing students with an environment that is conducive to learning.
Echegile appealed to the government to recruit more teachers and provide drivers for the school’s three vehicles as well as security personnel to protect the college during the day and at night.
‘We also appealed to the government to help us in these areas. Give us more teachers. That’s our plea’ he added.
The IMACOSA vice president also urged the state government to complement efforts by old students through the recruitment and deployment of qualified teachers and other workers needed to meet the school’s operational requirements.
Amid the challenges the association said it had invested about N200 million in infrastructure and other projects to improve learning conditions at the school.
The Chairman of the Anniversary Planning Committee Yinka Akinola said the association executed about 10 projects through contributions from individuals and various graduating sets of the association.
Akinola stated that the projects included classrooms laboratories accommodation facilities three-bedroom flats and public toilets.
‘These projects could not be less than N200 million that we have spent on the projects. People have spent a lot on the projects’ Akinola said.
The committee chairman expressed concern that the alumni had been forced to shoulder the responsibility of employing teachers noting that the funds used to pay their salaries could have been channelled into other areas of the school’s development.
‘This year alone we have paid about N11 million. We pay salaries to more than 29 members of staff and we pay them maybe more than the minimum wage so that they can live and be hardworking’ Akinola said.
He urged the state government to complement the association’s efforts by recruiting additional teachers noting that the growing student population had increased pressure on the school’s existing facilities.
According to him the association has supported students through scholarships and other educational interventions including the payment of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board examination fees.
The Chairman of the Ondo State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) Dr. Oluwadiasi Oke said the state government was taking steps to address the shortage of teachers through recruitment and improved welfare packages.
Oke said education remained a priority for the administration adding that teacher training and retraining regular salary payments and attention to pensioners’ entitlements were among the measures the management was pursuing to improve teachers’ welfare and encourage more young people to join the profession.