By Victor Akan
The Benue State House of Assembly has lifted the suspension placed on the recruitment exercise of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) for the overall interest of the applicants.
The suspension was lifted after the Ad-Hoc Committee Investigating Controversies Surrounding Recruitment of Primary School Teachers by the board concluded its assignment.
Chairman of the committee, Mr Cephas Dyako (LP/Konshisha), stated that a law to provide for the compulsory free universal basic education and for purposes connected therewith in 2018, section 7, 1 (b).
He said that the law allowed the board to recruit, appoint, promote, and discipline teaching and non-teaching staff on grade levels 07 and above.
He said that a total number of 74,574 candidates applied for the recruitment, while a total number of 48,895 candidates sat for the Computer-Based Test (CBT), and a total number of 7,224 candidates were shortlisted for the oral interview.
He said that the allocation of cutoff marks to each local government area was on the basis of performance, which was to avoid overdominance of some highly performed local governments over others in the recruitment exercise.
He further said that based on the needs assessment carried out by the board, no local government got less than 200 candidates shortlisted for the oral interview so far except Makurdi and Ohimini local governments, who got 144 and 126, respectively.
He added that a total of 2,476 were yet to be shortlisted due to the suspension of the recruitment exercise.
He disclosed that candidates were not originally shortlisted on the basis of their local government of origin, therefore, not reflecting the state character.
Mr Blessed Onah (PDP/Oju I) said that as a result of the investigation carried out by the committee, there would be equity in the recruitment exercise.
The Speaker, Mr Hyacinth Dajo, said that the board should reassess the recruitment process and ensure compliance with extant laws based on fairness, equity, and justice to reflect state character.
Dajo commended Gov. Hyacinth Alia for approving the recruitment of primary school teachers to bridge the existing gaps in public primary schools.
He said that the board does ensure that applicants are shortlisted and employed strictly in their local governments of origin, taking note of the financial autonomy granted to local governments.
He charged all government appointees to desist from actions that undermine the authority of the assembly.
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