Ikpeazu approves employment of 7 PTA teachers for Abia community school

Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia has approved the employment of seven PTA teachers with NCE certificates engaged by the Ezulerim Community Nursery and Primary School in Umuahia South local government area.

The governor announced the gesture on Thursday when members of the Amaise Nsirimo Development Union paid him a courtesy visit in Government House, Umuahia.

Ikpeazu, who was responding to the appeal by the union for the government to address the dilapidation and dearth of teachers in the school, also promised to release N5 million for the maintenance of the roads in the community.

“I have granted waiver for the employment of the seven PTA teachers and I have directed Abia State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB) to do something about the dilapidated school building.

“I will have 50 desks delivered to the school before seven days. I believe it will go a long way because each desk can contain three pupils.”

The Governor said that Abia government had resolved to allow communities handle the execution of projects that cost below N10 million, adding that it would make citizens active participants in developing Abia.

“Abia government has earmarked N5million for the execution of palliative work on the Nsirimo roads to make the lives of the people easy in the interim until proper road construction will begin in the area.

Ikpeazu said that an initial amount of N2 million would be given to the community to begin palliative work and N3 million would be released in a week’s time for the completion of the project.

Mr Kenneth Chikwendu, the Secretary-General of Amaise Nsirimo Development Union, had narrated the sordid state of the community to the governor during the visit.

He said that the government-owned school had five only teachers who had the responsibility of teaching no fewer than 150 pupils in Nursery one through Primary six in the school.

Chikwendu said that efforts made by the community to draw the attention of the Umuahia South Education Authority and ASUBEB had not produced good results.

According to him, “in a bid to give the pupils an opportunity of having a better future, the community employed seven PTA teachers who are NCE holders to help out in teaching the pupils.

“The headmistress of the school, who is an indegene of Nsirimo, took it upon herself to pay the salary of one of the teachers employed by the community.

“This is the current state of things in that school and we do not have the capacity to keep up with this arrangement for too long.

“We appeal to the state government to come to our aid by assuming responsibility of paying these seven PTA teachers by absorbing them into the civil service.”

He appealed to the government to also provide desks for the school as well as renovate the classrooms adding that the roof of the building was in a dilapidated state.

Chikwendu disclosed that the roads in the community were in deplorable condition, which had made it difficult for farmers to transport their farm produce to the market and caused untold hardship in the area.

He also urged the state government to treat the issue of deplorable condition of the roads in the community as a matter of urgent importance.