Plateau govt may sack 155 newly employed teachers over dual appointments

The Plateau State Government has threatened to sack 155 teachers holding dual appointments with both the Local and State Government.

This was disclosed by the Chairman, State Teachers Service Commission, Mr Vonjen Lar, in an interview with journalists in Jos.

It would be recalled that the State Government had in February recruited a total of 834 teachers for its Secondary Schools but recently found 155 of them already engaged by the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) as teachers in the primary schools.

Lar, a retired Permanent Secretary, said that the discovered 155 teachers had violated the civil service rule number 030402 (q), which frowns at holding two government appointments at the same time.

“What these teachers have done is gross misconduct punishable by outright dismissal”, he said.

“It is a common law that you can’t be working in two places with the same civil service of a state. You have to resign in one and take the other and not the two at once.

“When we advertised the employment, we were categorical that anyone who has a job with either the Local or State government need not apply because it is against the civil service rule.

“But surprisingly, we discovered 90 permanent teachers and 65 Ad-hoc teachers with SUBEB that did apply and were offered another appointment to teach in our secondary schools”, he lamented.

According to him, the defaulters were discovered when a soft copy of list of the 834 newly employed teachers were sent to SUBEB for scrutiny.

He said most of them expect the commission to allow them transfer their services from the local government to state government, which he said was not possible because of the embargo placed on such transfer by the government.

Lar expressed government’s worry over the attitude of the teachers, pointing out that as the schools resume next week, there would be shortage of teachers in the primary schools.

“Can you imagine the crisis we are going to face in the primary schools next term; when the pupils would enter their classes and they will not see their teachers coming to teach them?

“This is a gross dishonesty; teachers are supposed to be people of high integrity, but for them to have started like this, is very unfortunate and worrisome’.

The TSC Chairman, however, called on teachers holding dual appointments to report to the commission or face the consequence.