by crossriverwatch admin
Even as teachers in Cross River State are on indefinite strike, Professor Offiong Offiong, the state’s Commissioner for Education has secured approval to bring in a consortium of Indians to recruit 500 science and mathematics teachers into the state school system.
The project, competent sources at the ministry told CrossRiverWatch is costing the state government the sum of 20 million Naira as honorarium and other allowances for the over fifty Indian expatriates that would conduct both the written and oral tests for candidates across the three senatorial districts of the state.
Our source said Professor Offiong who has made several trips to India in the past three months to finalize plans for the arrival of the Indian consortium has convinced “His Excellency, Senator Liyel Imoke, who was initially skeptical about the project that Indians are the right people for the job and he has approved the colossal sum of 20 million Naira for him”.
The importation of the Indian consortium is seen as a waste of time and resources by many professionals in the teaching field. Our source said: “The project is nothing but a drainpipe by the commissioner. Why Indians? These are people who may not be familiar with the aggregate content of our educational curricula”.
The source continued that there exist a large number of retired and active educationists who for just a quarter of that sum could do a better job. “We have many retired professors and mathematics experts who can do a better job for just a quarter of that sum that they are giving away to Indians”.
When CrossRiverWatch called at the Ministry of Education, Professor Offiong was said to be out of the office and our reporter was asked to “kindly come back next week”.
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